Masonry Magazine July 2006 Page. 20
Contractor
Contractors have a level of education that should be a minimum requirement for contractors in this field. As far as helping our business, I think it gives us some better credentials and enables us to be better prepared to do a better job.
I do believe that our industry is going to step up, and I see that happening a lot across the country. The Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute is a regional contractor association that seems fairly aggressive; you see a lot about them and they have a lot of programs going on.
Safety
Masonry: Your website describes the emphasis your company places on having a safe working environment. Tell us about some of the measures you've taken to ensure workplace safety.
Johnson: We really strive to have safety the focus on our job sites. I have to admit that the everyday diligence is hard to maintain. We have company safety classes, require all scaffolding to comply with standards, and we maintain equipment. Also, we provide the personal safety equipment for everyone.
We really do believe that when you go to work, it shouldn't be at a place where you're going to compromise your personal safety. When you have a site where you have multiple contractors, you've really got to work together to look out for hazards. I have to emphasize that it has to come from the top down. We have to have compliance to deal with these rules and regulations and methods, and you can't negotiate it. I really feel, though, that it's one of the places where we can improve a whole lot because we still see people being hurt in ways that are so easy to avoid.
Difficult Projects
Masonry: Looking back over the years, what was your most difficult masonry project and how did you overcome the obstacles?
Johnson: I think you have to be ready to overcome the obstacles that all jobs present, and hopefully that's part of your job- to see those things and anticipate them. We've done a lot of pretty challenging jobs in terms of heights, methods and scaffolding systems to do some very odd configurations of buildings.
We've done a lot of really great, beautiful masonry jobs, but I think the one that was really interesting was an industrial-type job. It was some 12-inch block, reinforced, baffle walls inside of a 30-million gallon water tank. There were 12-inch block walls that went up 28 feet tall, and each one was probably 260 feet long that started at alternating sides of the concrete structure, and they were just baffles for the water in the tank.
We stocked most of the block in there prior to the roof being completed, but at some point they had to proceed with the roof, and we ended up with the 12-foot by 12-foot hole in the roof. So we had to complete the masonry operations with the mortar and the grout going through this hole in the roof. The forklift had to have all the fluids drained out of it, be picked up with a crane, and then lowered down the hole. Then we had to put the fluids, fuels and hydraulics back in order to use it for managing our equipment and materials for the rest of the project. It was a very interesting job that no one will ever see placing the grout and the blocks, the lighting and ventilation everything you had to address to accomplish that job.
Misconceptions
Masonry: What do you feel is the biggest misconception about the masonry industry?
Johnson: I feel the skill level of our craftsmen in the masonry business is unsurpassed by any of the other construction trades. There's something about the trowel and the hand that really separates the 'erector-set' kind of trades. I'm not belittling anyone, but it's really a craft that's underrated. It looks easy, but to do it is a whole different story. The technology, the materials, the methods and way they've changed over the last 20 years is growing by leaps and bounds. You look at these things, and it's the same as the old days, but you have better methods of equipment now.
Future of Masonry
Masonry: Where do you think the masonry industry is going to be 10 years from now?
Johnson: People are looking for products that can serve a 50-to 100-year life cycle, but we have to be able to provide the manpower and expertise to get them built. The [masonry] building is kind of coming back, but maybe not the infrastructure - people-wise and contractor-wise - to get them all done. We have to have the skills to match the jobs that are coming. Those two lines are going to cross.