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Picking on Faulconer is not entirely fair. Meeting dozens of men who have worked for some of the other pipe companies in the area it is probably fair to say that Faulconer actually better than many in regards to safety. This is dismal news.
On several occasions new hirees said stuff like "Ya'll use trench boxes?" or "What are those things?" when speaking of shoring jacks.
Basic trench safety left unchecked leaves the worker unsafe. It's business as usual with these guys - cut every corner, weasel your way out of legal stuff, and screw anyone to make a buck.
One fella recalled being lowered 25' into a trench holding on to a knotted rope attached to a trackhoe bucket because no one had a ladder handy.
So what is it that keeps these folks in line? Experience shows it requires a well informed and active management process... Barton Malow and Faulconer have worked together for several dozen years, and know eachother's tricks pretty well. The level of supervision and resulting quality of work on the South Lawn project dwarfed the epic fiascos of CAS and ITE buildings overseen by WM Jordan. Is WM Jordan less of a management company? Perhaps, although my suspcision is that they are simply not used to dealing with the likes of Faulconer, and were essentially railed.
At the end of the day full responsibility should land squarely on the shoulders of UVa's Facility Management - headed by Charles "Sack" Johannesmeyer, right? And where have they been? If I had one beer for every insight received from the "engineers" at UVa I would be a very sober young man. I have NEVER met an engineer from UVa with ANY experience in the field - much less interest. While many of their technicians and labor people are exceptional, my experience around the management was battle between arrogance, ignorance, and a general bearuocratic malaise. These loser birds are much of a feather.
