A Day in the Life

As a Project Superintendent, my daily preparation for work begins at 10:00 PM, the night before, when I do a mental run through tomorrow’s to-do list. My actual day begins at 5:15 AM when the alarm beeps. After years in the construction industry where early mornings are par for the course, I rarely need that alarm to wake up. I’m on the road by 6 AM to the job site. My current project, the Pinellas County Public Works Emergency Responders Building (PWERB) is the largest in history of Hennessy Construction Services. Our massive project includes an on-site project team which is also the largest in HCS history. Our team includes three Project Superintendents, with me as the junior man on site along with two Project Managers, and an Administrative Assistant.

As I near the job site, I fall in behind a concrete truck and follow its progress to the site where I see it line up behind a convoy of similar trucks, 14 in all. It's still dark and the two lines of trucks make for a pretty impressive sight. The drivers are awaiting their turn to empty their load of concrete into the 32 meter boom truck that's been on site pumping since 4 AM. Today we'll have 70 trucks visit our site and 700 yards of concrete poured.

After a quick visit to our jobsite trailer complex, I start my morning by checking in with the lead Project Superintendent. He’s been on site since 4 AM so he fills me on the progress of the concrete pour so far, as well as giving me a few directives. Today, we have approximately 100 men on site; 50 for the concrete pour alone. The site is packed with vehicles so my first course of business is to plan out traffic patterns. We have not only the concrete trucks entering and exiting the site, but also landscapers with a semi-truck load of sod, to say nothing of all the site sub-contractors needing access. Never underestimate the need for a "traffic cop.”

As the pour nears completion, I need to set up the builder’s level to set anchor bolt elevations for the steel erectors who are due to be on site the following day. The problem is that if you have concrete all over your bolts, it is impossible to get the bolts to proper elevation. The steel guys (who won't be here until tomorrow) have a great modified impact gun to deal with this situation. I am not a steel guy. I do not have a modified impact gun; I have a wrench and a wire brush. What was going to be an hour long project has now morphed into three hours, and I have a bad case of tool envy.

Back in the job site trailer, it's time to go over the prints of the specific areas that will be part of the next pour. Using our prints and 8x11's of the pertinent shop drawings for comparison and confirmation allows us to verify that the embeds and block-outs have been placed in the proper locations prior to the pour. After physically verifying their locations in the field, we can confirm that we are ready for the next pour.

My day ends with a final meeting with the lead Project Superintendent where we do a walk-through for quality control and to ensure that everything is in order for tomorrow’s crews. Just another productive day at PWERB.

Posted by: Troy Kerr

Troy’s career with Hennessy began over six years ago as a Carpenter and, after just three short years, started taking on more of a supervisory role. Shortly thereafter he was officially promoted to Project Superintendent and began running his own projects.

For additional information on this project and others, please visit our website at www.hcsfl.com.