Sam meets PDOT maintenance staff
Maria Thi Mai
This morning, Sam started his day with the maintenance staff from the Bureau of Transportation (PDOT). He told them about what he expects from PDOT and learned about their issues and ideas.
For example, Rudy Carmichael is the Vactor operator suggested that one of the 7 Vactor operators and an other worker work a night shift to handle sewer backups that are discovered while most of us are off-shift.
The issue of having only one site to de-water Vactor loads was raised. (The water and solids from each load have to be tested to ensure proper disposal, should they contain a concentration of environmentally deleterious substances.) It was suggested that perhaps some of the detention ponds around the city might be fitted with out to take and temporarily store water from Vactors. If this worked it would cut down the transit time and greatly increase the productivity of Vactors working far from the Inverness facility where all dumping occurs now. This led to discussion regarding the desirability of the city having satellite facilities, especially on the West side. There is currently essentially no equipment or maintenance personnel stationed west of the Willamette. It has been frequently observed that any impediment to crossing the Willamette during and after a disaster would be a very serious problem because we have no west-side presence.
And this is just the beginning. We've got a lot of work to do. While Sam has a ton of energy, he needs your help. Keep the ideas and comments coming.
Posted by Maria Thi Mai on July 5, 2005
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