Estimating
We are waiting for the revised floor plan for the North Bay project and then we can start the structural, mechanical and electrical designs. This project will be a spring of 2008 start.

Mike is working with the developer from Georgia on the secret project. The project will be on an island in Lake Superior and we are going through the approvals process which may take quite a bit of time.

Tom is waiting for the approval to proceed for the ASI Bent foundations. Hopefully he will receive it very soon and we can get going on it. It is a very nice concrete job.

Tom is still working on several ASI quote requests as is Mike. ASI has a lot of working coming in the next few months hopefully it all goes ahead.

Ken submitted pricing on a concrete job for Praxair and we are hoping to receive the approval to proceed this month.

We will be submitting a tender for the eight classroom addition to St. Mary's French Immersion school on Gibb Street. It closes on December 6th and construction will begin in January. We would really like to get this job. We are also waiting for the tender package for the Fisheries and Oceans project which involves the Sea Lamprey Department. I believe the budget on this one is about $7 million. This would be another project we would like to be awarded.

We cannot take any more work at this time but we need to be thinking about future work for February, March and the spring.

New Employees
Nothing new to report here although we could use a few more guys for the next two months both in the Sault and Sudbury.

OPP Forensic Lab

Wayne has been fighting the weather like everyone else. Our crew consisting of Donnie, Nick, Andy and Jerry C have completed all of the exterior sidewalks in between the rain. McLeod Bros have installed our temporary heating and are working on their rough-ins. Phase Four are working on rough-ins and are pulling wire back to the panels. Henderson's are installing ductwork, filter racks and roof curbs. Ideal Colour has been installing metal stud framing and drywall and are now taping and sanding the board. They have also started installing the hanger wires and wall angle for the suspended ceilings. They have completed the epoxy painting and are priming the drywall. Avery's were attempting to place and compact the granular "A' to the parking lot. Robinson's have completed all of the curbs and laid the asphalt binder course. The Owner wanted the finished coat of asphalt laid this year, but that will not happen. Tranberg is on site attempting to get started on the landscaping. Superior Asphalt has completed the waterproof membrane installation in the garage area. Wayne is still shooting for Substantial Performance around the middle of January, providing we receive the approvals on all of the outstanding Change Notices and get approvals on the outstanding Shop Drawings. This job has been a paper and scheduling nightmare!

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Collegiate Heights Retirement Home Addition

KC has been fighting with the wet weather and has lost some time on the schedule. Gough Masonry has completed the elevator tower and most of the brick and sills. KM Contracting has the first and second floor framing complete as well as the link and is completing the third floor framing and roof. Despite the rain, they are doing a great job. Steel Speed was on site and installed the columns and beams that were required. City Wide Electric has begun to do their rough-ins on the first floor. Once we get the building closed in we can start loading up the trades. Kenny has also had to install temporary heat and is happy now that we have Randy certified to run the forklift.

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AELP Co-Gen Foundations

John has been doing a great job and things are moving along well. His crew now consists of Mike M, Scott M, Cris P, Scott G, Dan, Gerry B, Andy, Jake K, Jake M, Joe, JR and Calvin. They have four of the six turbine columns poured and stripped and are working on various piers and pads. Coastal Steel has been erecting the mezzanine steel and Mike, Scott M and Calvin were working the afternoon shift to avoid the congestion. This site is beginning to get very busy; JR is doing an excellent job as the Safety Rep. Thanks to Dan Hedley for the pictures and we hope that you and your wife enjoy the Blue Rodeo concert. Hey John, please remind the SS Minnow chauffeur not to park the in the Security area, Jamie is getting tired of having to move it every Friday!

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EPTCON MacKay GS Concrete Repairs
This project was wrapped up for the season but EPTCON decided we should try and finish up the last bit of concrete. Bob and Craig went up and finished it during the last week of November. They had to get the road into the site sanded prior to bringing in the concrete trucks. We are now complete until next spring.

EPTCON Garden River Foundations
We will be completing the remaining work on this project in early December. We had to wait for EPTCON to relocate the existing transformer onto the new foundation. This concrete work will definitely be winter work.

INCO Revert Building, Copper Cliff
Jason along with Justin, Tyler S and Chris M. left for Sudbury on November 19th for their CCNR safety indoctrination. They started the siding on the next day and completed it on November 23rd. Anmar asked if we would work the weekend and our guys complied. They started the roof sheeting on November 23rd and finished it and the roof cap on Sunday. All that is left is some trim, roof and wall flashing which will be completed once the dust extraction ductwork has been installed. Great job guys! Great pictures Jason and excellent EdgeBuilder daily reports.
Photos:
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Kenworth Truck Centre Building, Sudbury
Anmar has erected all of the structural steel on this job and are waiting for our cladding crew. Jason and his crew finished up the Revert building and headed over to the Kenworth site to begin. We had hoped to be able to send him more men, but he will have to wait a week until Terry completes the GoodLife roof. This cladding project will take Jason and his crew well into the New Year.

Howard Avery Construction Building
All of the Steelway building has been delivered to the site. Graham Newman Construction has completed the foundations and Keith's crews have completed the backfilling. They are now waiting for our erection crews to arrive which won't be until December 3rd. Once Dwayne is finished in Wawa, he will be doing this job. The completion of this project will take us into the New Year as well. The weather has certainly put this project behind schedule.

Tenaris Algoma Tubes Oil Storage Building
The Steelway roofing material was delivered and unloaded on November 9th. We started the installation on Monday, November 12th. Our crew originally consisted of Jason, Terry, Trevor, Tyler, Justin and Dwayne. We have had to move some guys around; it now consists of Terry, Trevor, Bill, Ryan and Cris P. part-time. Terry is the foreman on site and is leading the troops; Tim is the PM. The guys have to work both sides of the roof and can't go right down one side so that the insulation is not exposed to the elements. They are installing the chair and hat sections ahead of the roofing, but only for as much roofing as they can install in one day. They cannot work in the rain because the insulation will get wet. McLeod Bros. will do any gas line relocations that may be required and Phase Four will be doing any electrical work necessary. Terry hoped to have this roof completed by the end of November, weather permitting, and no such luck.

GoodLife Fitness Re-roofing
We have negotiated this project and it involves installing a new 6" stand-off roofing system and new standing seam roofing. Steelway will be supplying the material and our guys will be doing the installation. Bob Wood is our Engineer. Tim will be the PM. The material is scheduled to be on site November 8th and we will be starting the work the following Monday hopefully, we are still working out that schedule. We know from experience that we will have to do battle with the seagulls on this roof.
Photos:
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Trans Pro Wawa Terminal - Loading Dock
Dwayne and Nick have just completed this job. They were on site for a week working with Joe Provost who was doing the excavating for the loading dock and drywell. They managed to pour the footing pad and dock walls despite the cold weather. They went up the last week of November to pour the upper slab and frame the dock shelter walls and roof. Soo Mill will be installing the overhead door and then Trans Pro (Mark Buller) can start using it. Clint PM'd this job. It was Dwayne's birthday on November 27th and we hope that Nick baked him a cake and took him out for supper. We know that Kim would have if Dwayne had been home. Happy Birthday Dwayne!
Photos:
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Gartshore TS Wall Repair
Ken M. started this job on November 26th with Can-Fab and it only took a few days to complete. It involved the reinforcing of a corner of the building that had some structural deficiencies.

ASI HLT Truck Scale Slabs
We started this job on Thursday, November 15th. Ken McL was the Super and Tom was the PM. General Contracting sawcut the asphalt and removed it on Thursday and Friday. DMC Reinforcing was on site Monday with the epoxy coated rebar and placed as much as they could on Monday in the pouring rain. Ken asked them to stay and get the east approach slab tied and they did. A special thanks to DMC's crew, they were soaked and did not stop for lunch. They placed the remaining rebar to the west approach on Tuesday and we started pouring at 10 AM. Our crew consisted of Nick, Bob, Jerry C, Craig and Andy. Since the weather was not bad, they decided to pour both the east and west slabs. They finished up under the lights and in the cold at around 8:30 PM. All in all they poured about 270 cubic metres of concrete. It made for a very long day but ASI was very pleased with our efforts. Great job guys and thanks for the extra effort! Sorry, no pictures allowed.

Pollard Banknote Renovations
Sid is the Super on this project and Ken Stitt is the PM. Sid has Len and Wayne McL helping him with demolition and safety talks. Sid is running a very tight ship when it comes to safety on this project; he has given our hard hat policy to the Owner and had two scissor lifts removed from site and sent back for proper certification. Sid started gearing up on site November 6th. The building Owner had some zoning issues which held up the building permit, resolving these are in the works. Gough Masonry is doing the block walls, Can-Fab will be supplying the misc. steel, S & T is on site doing plumbing, gas line removals and relocations, Red Star Electric have also started their removals, Advance Interiors are working on the metal stud framing and drywall, Henderson Metal are relocating heaters and Vipond Fire Protection are doing the sprinkler work. Sid says that someone from Soo Today.com was on site and took some pictures but we have not seen anything posted on their site. Sid is doing a great job and his EdgeBuilder reports are excellent. We are beginning to think that Sid has missed his calling and should have been a history professor.
Photos:
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Part 2 Continued from the November Team Link: Techniques for Skillful Winter Driving

Driving on slippery roads under winter conditions with reduced visibility requires all your skill and attention. Avoid sudden starts or stops. Any sudden application of power on brakes or steering is likely to cause a skid. Be alert, be cautious, take it slowly.

Smooth Starts
The professional driver practices smooth starting the whole year round. Smooth starts prevent many winter driving problems. First and foremost, avoid spinning the drive wheels because tires spinning on ice generate heat. This warms the ice directly under the tires and reduces traction by approximately half. The first sign of a wheel slip means you are using too much acceleration. Ease off a bit to avoid a traction-reducing wheel spin.

Speed Control
The key to safe and skillful driving is proper, safe speed at all times. Look ahead so that when a traffic situation requires slowing down or turning, you can do so gradually. Get the feel of the road so that you sense how much acceleration or braking power you can apply safely. Even a sudden release of the accelerator can cause trouble because engine braking is applied to drive wheels only. Set your speed to drive safely in the current conditions

Hills
If you downshift to go up a hill, do it smoothly or do it before starting up. Beware of the shaded side of hills which remain icy while the sunny side may be clear. Reduce speed at the crest of hills to be prepared for unseen hazards on the other side. There could be a stalled vehicle, an icy stretch, or a sharp curve on the downgrade.

Curves and Steering
Steering control must be applied smoothly. Fast and sudden moves of the steering wheels generate forces that will throw your vehicle into a skid as you enter a turn. All vehicles, when on a curved section of highway, are more sensitive to overpowering, over braking, and over steering. Any sudden steering application is hazardous. Sight distance on a curve is often reduced, hiding hazards around the bend. Proceed with caution.

Pavement Markings
Pavement markings may be covered with snow. Keep well to the right side of the road, but be aware of pavement drop off. Sometimes, after a snowfall, the edge of the road is not visible. This may cause the right wheels to drop off the pavement onto the shoulder. If this should occur, slow down and check traffic conditions to the front and rear before attempting to steer your vehicle back onto the pavement.

Lane Changes
Plan lane changes well in advance, giving you enough time to make the maneuver safely and other vehicles enough time to provide a clear path. When making lane changes, do so smoothly, signaling your intention and moving only when it is safe to do so.

Underpasses
Low subways and underpasses are marked with a clearance measurement. In winter, ice or packed snow can accumulate on the road, increasing the clearance height. Watch for reduced clearances.

Following Distance
Stopping distances on slippery surfaces are from 3 to 12 times as long as on dry roads. In addition, the heavier the vehicle, the greater the stopping distance required. Sometimes the driver ahead may slow down quickly on a dry piece of pavement and you may have only an icy piece of pavement on which to stop. It is difficult to explain why you couldn't stop when the driver in front of you could. Look well ahead and above all, don't tailgate. Remember, under ideal conditions, the safe following distance rule is 1 second for each 3 metres (10 feet) of vehicle length, so adjust your distance according to the existing conditions.

Stopping Safely without ABS Brakes
A rapid light pumping of the brakes is a recommended way to stop on ice. By pumping the brakes, steering control can be maintained. Apply the brakes for an instant and release them. Repeat this action - on and off, on and off, until you come to a complete stop. The effect is to give alternate short intervals of braking effort and effective steering control of all wheels when the brakes are released and the wheels roll. This technique can be used indefinitely with hydraulic brake systems. This method will increase your overall stopping distance.

Stopping Safely with ABS Brakes
Antilock Brake Systems (ABS) automatically pump the brakes for you if your vehicle wheels begin to lock up. This allows the vehicle to maintain effective steering control and reduces the risk of jackknifing or skidding. The brake pedal will pulsate but this is normal.

The above information was taken from the guide of the Transportation Health & Safety Association of Ontario.

"Safety is a state of mind; Accidents are an absence of mind"

We had our forklift training course on November 7th and Jake M, Randy, Craig and Cris P. are now certified to operate forklifts and all terrain telescopic boom forklifts. Congratulations guys.

We also scheduled a man lift training course for November 28th with Rick Wilson, our Training Coordinator from Construction Equipment Co. We sent Chris P, Chris G and Len B for their certificates.

We held our quarterly "All Employees" Safety Meeting on Friday, November 23rd. The Best Western Great Northern Resort and Conference Centre gave us a certificate for a "Complimentary Meeting Room" back on March 20th when we were awarded the National Safety Award and we decided to use it for this meeting since we had over 30 employees attending. Eight of our guys could not make it as they are working out of town. It was an excellent meeting and we reviewed the 2005 and 2007 safety survey results. We have really improved on a lot of items but still have a few to tune up. Our Safety Committee will be working on them.
A big "Thanks" to the Best Western for the complimentary room and it worked out so well that we think we will be booking that room for all of our all-employee safety meetings. And we completely forgot to get any pictures!

Conventions & Social Events
Our annual Christmas Party is scheduled for Friday, December 7th at Algoma's Water Tower.

Congratulations To:
Carmine Biasucci and his wife on the birth of their daughter, Emily Carley Biasucci, born on November 5th. Gino and Abby Biasucci are the proud grandparents.
Photos:
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The OGCA on the launching of their updated website. It looks great and is quite user friendly. I urge all of our employees to visit the site and have a look around. Go to www.ogca.ca.

Ken James on turning 60 on November 20th. We baked Ken a cake but were afraid to put all 60 candles on it as we could have burnt the building down, it would have been a safety issue!
Photos:
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Fern Moore for winning 10,000 quarters ($2,500.00) at Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, MI. on Dec. 1st. Watch out Gino, Fern is hot on your heels!!!!

The December Birthday Club:
Joseph Martin (JR) December 5th
Madison Crigger December 12th
David Shuttleworth December 14th
Jesse Thorne December 14th
Jake McFarling December 16th
Ryan Court December 17th
Bob Hyde December 19th
Justin Shuttleworth December 20th
Isaac Steele December 22nd
Taylor Shuttleworth December 23rd
Mike Mathieu December 27th
Trevor Stitt December 30th

Mike Moore & Sons Construction's Current Donation Status

2007 Donation Goal	100
Donations to Date	83

December Clinic Times
Tuesday, December 11th, 4:00 PM to 7:45 PM
Wednesday, December 12th, 12 noon to 2:30 PM and 4:00 to 7:45 PM
Thursday, December 13th, 9 AM to 11 AM

Tidbits
There are no tidbits this month as I am sure many of you are still attempting to finish reading last month's novel on Fern being locked in our fenced compound. Thanks to all of our readers who called or e-mailed after reading it. John Hollingsworth called me after he read it and asked if Fern could patrol Soo Mill's compound after closing time. John, Fern would like you to know that she could use the extra cash for Christmas shopping, when do her shifts start?

Margie's Corner is not a monthly item any more but here is a short one for you:

An elderly gentleman went into apply for his Canada Pension Plan. While standing in the line he noticed a sign that said "Please have your ID ready". Once at the counter he explained to the women on the other side that he did not have his ID with him. She asked him to unbutton his shirt; upon seeing his grey chest hair she knew he was of age and processed his application. When the man returned home he related his story to his wife and was so pleased that his standing in the line was not all in vane. She quickly added, "Well dear if you had dropped your pants you could have also got disability".

And here is a cute one from Marion.

It is too bad that the Liberals have appointed Donna Cansfield, MPP for Etobicoke Centre and former Minister of Transportation as the new Minister of Natural Resources. I think that was a very poor choice and not very good for the North. We need a Minister that is from the north and lives in the north.

With regards to "Ken's Corner" we have had a few weather related accidents with our guys. Defensive driving is a key to survival. Tim Buchan was returning from Toronto on Monday, November 26th with his son and another couple. When he was near Parry Sound he saw an oncoming truck with a trailer fish tailing. Tim managed to slow his car down to 60 km/hr before being struck by the truck and the trailer. Tim and his passengers were all right except for some cuts and bruises as was the pickup truck driver. His car and the Ford pickup did not do as well, both were totaled. Tim was practicing defensive driving and avoided any serious injuries in the very serious collision; it could have been a lot worse. Tim has provided us with the pictures.
Photos:
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Jamie called in Monday morning, just as I was finishing this newsletter to inform me that he would be quite late for work as he had just hit a deer on the Island and totaled his car. Again, there were no serious injuries in a very serious accident. Some guys at the office have suggested that since Jamie did not get a deer this season, he was making sure he had a supply of venison, one way or another. The main thing is that there were no injuries!

Here's one for you Bobby Mah. We had a meeting at the office last month and when it was over, Wayne went to his Ford truck to go home. However, much to his embarrassment, he had to come back into the office and ask for a boost, yes, his Ford would not start! I had to get out my "virgin" booster cables from the trusty old Chev and KC couldn't get his Toyota truck over to the failing Ford quick enough, he boosted it. Ken said that his former Ford truck used to need boosting all of the time. Wayne's now looking at a Toyota or Chev. How's that Bobby?

I make it a habit to read all of the Superintendent's EdgeBuilder Daily reports every morning. Some reports are very good and well detailed with information and some are lacking pertinent information and some reports are not even there! But I just had to mention this one as I received a history lesson from it. This Super was working on a door frame removal when he came across what he suspected might be asbestos and he stopped work. Here is part of the report "I stopped work on the door frame removal on the west wall due to suspected amphibole asbestos in the vermiculite insulation contained in the blocks. Of concern is vermiculite ore produced by the Libby Mine in Montana from the 1920's to 1990. The Libby Mine supplied the majority of the world market with vermiculite based insulation. Products made at the Libby Mine have not been on the market in Canada since 1990." This was great research and a dam fine report; I think I will nominate you for the "EdgeBuilder Daily Report of the Year" Award.

Safety Surveys are very useful tools to access your safety program; every one should be doing them. Ours has 100 questions, a bit much for one sitting, so we will do them 50 in the spring and 50 later on. We have decided to do them on an annual basis from now on. If you do not currently do a safety survey with your employees, I strongly suggest that you start; they are very, very useful tools and show you where your Safety Program is lacking, meeting the requirements or excelling.

Ken James is completing the "Self Evaluation" section for our OGCA Safety Group Veteran's Program and has been conducting interviews with 3 management persons and 7 workers. This will keep Ken busy for a few weeks as the interview has 135 questions!

Congratulations to Jim Hilsinger (JJ) on his completion of the grueling "Silk Route" tour from Istanbul, Turkey to Beijing, China. JJ's pledge was to cycle 11,000 km's and he challenged the Sault to pledge to save 11,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Fern and I have changed all of our light bulbs in the house to compact fluorescent bulbs where possible, we have a recycling program at work and we are using B10 bio-diesel in our diesel trucks.

Rick Thomas and I are working on some Gold Seal courses for early 2008 with some help from Frank Bruni. We will be meeting with Ted Newbery from Sault College to set it up. There will be a Gold Seal exam being held on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 1:00 pm at the Construction Association for those of you who are interested. Tim Buchan will be writing for his Project Manager's GSC. The CCA has produced a guideline for making Gold Seal a "Condition of Contract" and you can view it at "Standard Practices for Reference to Gold Seal Certification as a Condition of Contract" on the CCA website under the Gold Seal section at www.cca-acc.com

I am also working with Jim Shook of Northern Survey to set up an Introductory Course to Total Stations and there is already a lot of interest in this course. Rick Thomas will be helping me with this one too.

I found a very good website the other day called "Books for Business" and they have a lot of very good selection. They are located in Toronto and their website address is www.booksforbusiness.com. I ordered a book called Boom, Bust & Echo, Profiting from the Demographic Shift in the 21st Century and they shipped it to me in two days.

I was in Toronto on November 15th for an OGCA Education Committee meeting and on November 16th for an OGCA Board of Directors meeting and then a Safety Committee meeting.
We discussed the WSIB pilot program for Accreditation for Ontario Workplaces. Our Board had originally supported the pilot program but WSIB has removed all of the industry's suggestions, this is now a terrible program and the Board voted not to support it.WSIB had invited us to a Construction Safety Summit in Toronto on December 6th for us to express our concerns with the pilot program. When they presented us their agenda there was not adequate time set aside for us to touch on our concerns let alone discuss them. WSIB is becoming very difficult; they should be working in cooperation with our industry, not against it, particularly when the industry is their funding source.

The aging work force is going to start costing Contractors in a big way as is the "no mandatory" retirement age. CSAO predicts that within seven years, all contracting firms will be considered a high risk with WSIB due to the aging workforce. Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD's) are injuries that are not instantaneous, they reflect a more gradual or chronic development. Examples are degenerative bone or disc disease, repetitive motion disorders, overuse injuries, cumulative trauma disorders hearing impairment, etc. and will all be hitting contractors resulting in claims, this cannot be avoided. If a worker who has worked for another firm all of his life comes to work for you for one single day and puts in a claim like one of the above examples, the claim goes on your record. I was on the WSIB website last week and printed out their 2008 to 2012 Five Year Strategic Plan which they call "Road to Zero" and I will be trying to find time to read it. I am certain that I will find a need to challenge in at least one of their points.

We still need at least 17 more blood donations before the end of the year in order to meet our goal. Please consider donating at the December clinic. We have to meet our Partners for Life goal of 100 donations or more plus there will be a need for blood over the holiday season and what better gift to give? One donation will save up to three life's.