Cortney, Rick and crew have finished most of Marshall County, have paved some of Cedar County and are paving this week around Curt’s Ankeny plant.  On June 6^th, they have to be in Cedar County to close and pave an intersection off I-80.  This job has a critical closure date and must be completed in a short time frame.  They will then be off to the Cedar Rapids Airport.

Mike V, BJ and crew have been on East Lincoln Way in Ames.  Between this heavily staged-project, they have been working on our Story County job on I-35.

Kenny and crew have been helping Mike’s crew in Ames.  Brian should finish this week at the Ankeny recycle yard and prepare for a paradigm job in Shelby County.

The sewer crews have been bouncing all over.  Larry and crew have moved out of Huxley and started the Grinnell job. 

WK#1 Favorite Hobby:  Sports; Favorite Food:  Sea Food; Family:  Spouse’s name starts with J and kids’ names start with M, B, & J; Favorite Quote / Saying: gravity never sleeps; Favorite Vacation Spot:  Any Nascar Race; Pet  Peeve:   Tailgaters; Surprise Info:  I used to race stockcars; The one thing that drives me crazy is people who are late for work; When I was a kid, I was never in trouble; If I were a vegetable I would be okra;  If I were a color:  green; If I could be in any movie that I wanted, I would play Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder; As a Fear Factor Contestant I would just laugh.

This job is redoing the square in Grinnell.  Brett and crew have been in Ames and Brooklyn.  The plan is to move to Huxley to finish that project then move to Grinnell or Knoxville.  Monte and Ron Price and new crew have finished the sanitary sewer and storm drain in Brooklyn and plan to start water main next week.

Alan and crew have been moving dirt in Brooklyn and now plan to help on the Grinnell job.

All crews are very busy right now and most will be busy all year, but we do have some small holes to fill.

Turning to safety, we have not had the best start.  We have rolled a wet batch truck and had a pickup backed into.  We have also gotten way too many driving citations, I.E.; no Haz Mat endorsement, missing placards, improperly secured machine, inoperable lights to name a few.  We seem to talk safety and don’t act it.  I have been told that some of our drivers are going too fast.  Must be true because the rolled truck was going to fast to make the turn.  All the safety incidents and citations do affect our bottom line.  Our insurance costs are going through the roof.  The citations caused by our construction crew drivers affect the whole company.  The DOT looks at all of our citations and can start clamping down on all our trucks.

We need to slow down and think to be safe, and do the right things to make this happen.  Let’s work together continually to change our culture to think safety first.  Have a great construction season and return home safely to your family.