The Boilermaker Crew recognized for Outstanding Quality Work: Steve Grondin (Foreman), Dino Gaudreau (Steward), Chris Murphy, Ray Clarke (Lead Hand), Jacob Tremblay, Dylan Dioone, Ryan Paquettte and Chris Jones. Absent in this picture are Jason Duggan, Jean Gaudreau and Brent Beaulieu.
In Sudbury, Ontario, Vale operates one of the largest integrated mining complexes in the world with nearly 4,000 employees. Boilermakers from Lodge 128 and their employer Ganotec were selected to install four steel liners on two stacks that reach 450 feet tall.
Lodge 128, the second largest local lodge in the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, has a union hall in Sudbury. “This job is another example of the elite skills 128 members have – tradespeople with an eye on safety and quality so our employers and clients can conduct a successful business,” said Joe Duprey, the Business Representative in the area.
Ganotec and the Boilermakers completed more than 2600 feet of carbon and stainless-steel flux core welding with a repair rate of less than 0.0015% that has been confirmed by a third-party inspection group.
The job started on November 19, 2018 at the beginning of a Northern Ontario winter that brought the most snow seen in 22 years. “Some of the challenges we had were keeping the yard clear of snow, but we did it”, said Ray Clarke, the lead hand for the job, adding “the other real challenge has been coordinating to ensure safety with the other trades.”
Rigging a section of the stack liner
Some of the liners for the stacks were assembled on-site. “The thing that the crew is most proud of is the quality of the work that we have done and the fact that we came in ahead of schedule. The crew has been exceptional,” Clark said. “We had four apprentices at the start of the job (two of them are now journeymen) and seven journeymen. There was very little missed time, and our journeymen did an exemplary job of demonstrating what a Boilermaker can accomplish. For a small crew we did a lot of work.”
The foreman on the project was Steve Grondin and by all reports he has done an excellent job of planning the work and smoothing out any problems that could have developed.
The job steward on the project was Dino Gaudreau, a 29-year proud Boilermaker who has worked right across Ontario. “The crew was very committed to quality and showing up on time, no matter what the weather was,” he said. “I also told them that the better we do our work with no repairs we will show to the client [that] union workers are better organized and do quality work all the time.”
Looking up inside the stack with the liner in place
The Boilermakers on the job tell us Ganotec has been excellent to work for. They have a very safety conscious attitude and provided the crew with the equipment they needed to get the results they expected. Vale (the client) steered safety tours through the site constantly to show the other contractors what they expect on a jobsite. “It is enjoyable to see other contractors recognizing how fair employers like Ganotec and organized Boilermakers do the job correctly to stay on time,” Clarke said.
Ray Clarke has been a Boilermaker for 12 years. He has worked all over Ontario from the refineries to the nukes and from dams to tanks. He wanted to try every facet of the Boilermaker trade possible. He has been out west to Alberta and Saskatchewan, plus out east to New Brunswick. “It has been a pleasure to work with all of these guys and I look forward to seeing them on the next one,” he said.
“I really enjoyed working with this crew of Boilermakers on this project as they worked very safely, took no shortcuts in regard to quality and did whatever they could to keep productivity factors up, even throughout the cold winter months and associated weather”, said Ganotec superintendent Andy Fournier. “Morale was always good even when the crew was faced with challenges. Ganotec, Commonwealth (prime contractor), SNC Lavalin and Vale were all very pleased with the performance of the Boilermakers on the Stack Liners project.”
Vale Smelter has six mines, a mill, a smelter, a refinery and the products include nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metal along with gold and silver. Ganotec is a full service, heavy industrial contractor serving the industrial sector across Canada.