Each year Underground Construction announces the winner of the Golden Trench Jack Award. This year we are proud to announce that the 31st winner is Allen Lee. Our president, Mr. Lynn Barr, presented the award to Allen at the December Quarterly Superintendents' Safety Breakfast. Allen supervised 33,093 man-hours during 1998 without a single lost time accident. This award represented Allen's and his crews' attention to detail when it comes to a safe work place. There are many pitfalls just waiting to grab this prestigious award out of their hands.
Allen received an all expense paid cruise for two to a destination of his choice. Rick Martin was the first runner-up with 27,461 man-hours. The second runner-up, Mel Jennings, came in with 22,583 man-hours, and with 21,881 man-hours, Rafael Saavedra was the third runner-up. As a sign of appreciation for their outstanding efforts, cash prizes were awarded. Thirty-seven other supervisors were recognized as winners with prizes ranging from $100.00 to $600.00.
In 1970, Tom McManus and Dick Hall saw the need to advance the importance of Safety in the Company. Weekly safety meetings, along with quarterly superintendents' safety breakfasts, were only part of the plan to give our crews a safe place to work. We at Underground Construction believe that our people are the backbone of our success and the key to our future. The Golden Trench Jack Award symbolizes our dedication each year to a person who believes as we do ... Safety is number one at Underground Construction Co., Inc.
Thanks, Phil! |
"An Engineer's Engineer"
by Robert Loudermilk
This past January, Phil Smith retired after twenty years with Underground. I enjoyed doing the research for this article, and feel that I got to know Phil a little better. Phil started with Underground on a Transfer Station Complex in San Leandro, and then moved on to major projects in Utah. This is where he was introduced to Jim Curry's four-wheel driving (white knuckled, with his feet propped up on the dashboard).
Phil taught Jim about the roll of 1"x 1" grid paper used for scheduling, as he had done earlier with Harry Robinson when they both worked at Peter Kiewit, in the early seventies. According to Lynn Barr, Utah is also where Phil learned to appreciate Joe Woodruff's "good news-bad news stories."
After Utah, Phil worked on the San Francisco Cable Car Rehabilitation Project; a project he truly enjoyed. Phil has always enjoyed being an engineer and it showed in his work. He spent the last several years in the Benicia office as the resident shoring and heavy concrete expert. In the twenty years Phil worked for Underground, he was involved in pouring literally hundreds of thousands of yards of concrete.
Phil and his wife Carolyn are planning to travel to Nevada and Mexico within the next few months, and would like to take a cruise later this year. Along with traveling, he'll have plenty of time to enjoy his grandchildren more, and might even take up golf again.
This article wouldn't be complete without some personal thoughts from Phil. He would like to thank Dick Hall and Jim Siler for helping to create a company that has always had high ethical standards, and where the employees have been made to feel that they were the top priority - a rare combination for a company of today.
Thanks Phil, for twenty great years, and we wish you a long and happy
retirement!