PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (June 24, 2014) -- Keeping the rivers navigable is no easy task considering the age of many of the locks and dams. Without the workers at the Pittsburgh Engineers Warehouse and Repair Station, this task would be impossible.
As PEWARS goes, so go the three rivers.
According to Don Fogel, Pittsburgh District Maintenance Branch chief, with a relatively small staff, PEWARS must rely on highly-skilled personnel working overtime to complete its mission.
Although PEWARS consists of many different occupations from engineers and mechanics to electricians and welders, the staff must be highly versatile.
"This is where the rubber meets the road," said Don Fogel, chief of the Pittsburgh District Maintenance Branch. "Everyone does a little bit of everything. We don't do repetitive work. We are not a manufacturing plant. We take a broken part and fix it or fabricate a new one."
While this is can be challenging, PEWARS is also facing a greater personnel challenge.
"Although, we have had some success with growing apprentices and students in-house, we don't have that luxury. We want a 25-year old worker with 30 years experience," he joked.
He also added that because of the workload to workface strength, employees are often working 200 hours of overtime in a busy year.
"We have a lot of talented people here, who can cover a lot of ground," he said. "Finding industrial electricians with high voltage experience is very difficult. There is a need across the board and there just aren't enough of them."
The workers must leverage their versatility especially when maintaining infrastructure. Because the facilities are so old, there are not many commercially available parts on the shelf. As a result, PEWARS focuses on creating or fabricating one-of-a-kind parts. These steel artisans use their skills to construct parts that have been discontinued for years due to changes in engineering and design standards.
"When rules, regulations and technology change over time, standardization goes out the window," he added. "Each one (facility) is unique."
One of the most challenging parts of fabrication process is when the older existing drawings are used to fabricate parts. Many times, the on-site conditions have changed since the initial design.
"We have to make sure that the design we receive will work." he said. "We usually have to modify the designs. The modifications make it easier to fabricate and install.."
Fabricating these unique parts often times begins many months before the actual repair work begins.
Once the Dashields Lock and Dam at Crescent, Pa., was scheduled for repairs, PEWARS went to work.
Because of the government furlough, fabrication for the upcoming work at Dashields didn't begin until March.
"The project was identified late last year, but we lost nearly three months because of the furlough," Fogel said. "We have been working a lot of Saturdays."
According to Fogel, the repair fleet just returned from the Phase I repair effort at Dashields Lock and Dam and will head to Elizabeth, Pa. next. The materials for Elizabeth Lock and Dam have been fabricated and more than 50 pieces will be loaded on barges and transported up the Monongahela River.
"This is pretty typical to come back from one job and load up for the next," he said.
As the need for repairs on aging infrastructure continues to increase, PEWARS will continue to face a challenge that is being seen across the county; the replacement of retiring workers.
"Between 25 and 30 percent of our workforce will be retiring in the next five years," said Fogel. "We are trying to be proactive on the 'difficult-to-fill' positions. We are also seeing a lot of temporary developmental assignments for supervisor and leadership positions."
No matter what happens in the future, the workers at PEWARS always seem to find a way to get the job done right.
"The level of effort and expertise of our workers allows us to be successful," he added. "This is one of the best crews I have seen in my 25 years here. They are very knowledgeable, capable and dedicated."
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