FALL 1993

M H goesckto

---·-01.

Newsmag zine for theEmployees of the Ministry ofTransportation and Highways

2 Road RUII ncr Fall 1993

IndexIt's Your Serve .4

Fan Mail 7

All Around Health 8

Personnel Connection 9

Spotlight On 12

Portrait o f a Judge 13

S.H.J.P. Sails 13

Avalanche Programs 14

In the Field 15

Enviro News and Views 18

Day in the Work Life 19

Highline Spans Savona 20

Safe Crossings Booklet 21

The Reflector 22

Turning Students to Technology ..24

ROADRUNNERRoad Ru nner is the employee

magazine for the British ColumbiaMinistry of Transportation andHighways. It is produced quarterly.

Published articles appearing inRoad Ru nner may he reprintedonly with the permission of the Edi­tor.

Dire ct e nquiries to :

Kris AitkenRoad RUIIncr EditorPublic Affairs513-940 Blanshard StreetVictoria , BC V8W 3E6

Co ve r Photo: Rena McKamey,e ng inee ring aide - Central IslandDistrict (st ory on page 10) .

Our New Minister

"It is an honor and a pleasure to beappointed Minister of Transportationand Highways," said Jackie Pemenr."A good transportation network is vitalto the social and economic develop­ment of this province. My co mm it­ment is to work with you to makesure the integrity of this network isprotected.

Thank You

"We've many challenges ahead butwith the ta lent and expertise yourministry displayed under my prede­cessor Art Charbonneau, I know wewill meet them."

Jackie Pement represents BulkleyValley-Stikine. She chaired the legisla­ture 's Environment and Tourism Com­mittee and the Task Force StudyingPost-Secondary Education in NorthernB.C.

Before her election, she worked asa constituency assistant to MP BrianGardiner (Prince George-Bulkley Val­ley) and an instructor for the Collegeof New Caledonia. At C NC she co­ordinated and taught employmentprograms and developed family-ori­ented programs that are still operatingsuccessfully in the Lak es distri ct.

Jackie Pement was also a formerchairperson of School Distri ct 55 'sboard of trustees and a member of theSafe Haven Society (dedicated to assistbattered and abused women) and theBurns Lake a nd District Cham her ofCo mme rce. As a cha mbe r member,she served in a number of executiveca p ac ities and chaired its economicdevelopment committee. She is mar­ried to Allan Pernent and they havefour children.

Although my new position as Minis­ter of Education promises to h e agood challenge, it is not easy to saygoodbye to the Ministry of Transporta­tion and Highways. This ministry andits staff have provided the strengthand sUPPOtt I needed to make a posi­tive impact through very difficulttimes. It was a rare pleasure doingbusiness with you. Though I will bevery busy with my new portfolio I willfollow with interest the developmentswithin your ministry .

I thank you all and wish you goodluck and prosperity . I've told yournew minister, Jackie Pement , thatshe's inheriting a great team.

Honourable An CharbonneauMinister ofEducation

Road Runner Fall 1993 3

Welcome Back Motor Vehicle BranchSeptember 15, Premier Mike Har­

court appointed Jackie Pement ournew Minister of Transportation andHighways and announced changes toseveral ministries - including ours.We lost H.C. Ferries and picked upthe Motor Vehicle Branch from theMinistry of Attorney General. Alongwith Motor Vehicle Branch comestheir AirCare Program.

As many will remember, MotorVehicle Branch was part of Trans­portation and Highways from 1985 to1988. They've grown since then. Wewelcome back 750 employees whoserve the public through:

- four regions (Vancouver Island,Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley, Inte­rior and Northern Region)

- 18 Motor Licence Offices , 75Appointed Agents and 29 Govern­ment Agents

Letter to the EditorI read your article (summer Road

RII n ncr, In the Field, Region 4) onthe Jiminy Cricket Curling trophy andthe origin source "myste ry;" perhapsI can help a little.

The bonspiel first started by invita­tion from the Vanderhoof District(George Kent, district supervisor) toBurns Lake District; (Phil Bishop, dis ­trict engineer) and Prince GeorgeDistrict (myself, Alan "AE" Park, dis­trict supervisor) and was held in Van­derhoof. (I 'm not sure what year,but early 60s.) It was only a one-dayaffair but a wonderful time,

In due course the Prince GeorgeDistrict and region decided to put upa trophy to be presented at thespring regional conference. This wasa leaner time and as Region 4 wassomewhat unique, a handmade arti­cle was in order. To my recollectionMike Nesbitt, region constructionengineer, manufactured Jiminy andhis first addition of apparel was aminiature hard hat , as the hard hat

- 22 portable patrol units around theprovince

- 36 static weigh scales- the Motor Carrier Department in

Burnaby- the Motor Vehicle Emissions

Inspection and MaintenanceDepartment (12 AirCare stations) inthe Lower Mainland.

- the Commercial Transport Inspec­tion Department

- 16 Motor Vehicle Inspectors

MVB also administers the DrinkingDriving CounterAttack Program, allprovincial violation tickets and theAirCare program.

The Motor Vehicle EmissionsInspection and Maintenance Program(AirCare) was developed in partner­ship with the Ministry of Environ­ment, Lands and Parks to address thedeteriorating air quality in the Lower

policy was very stringent at that time.Mike Nesbitt now lives near Nel­

son , and could be contacted throughtheir son "Dick " a MoTH employeein Nelson, if you want to pursue forfurther detail.

It is quite a thrill to see he (jiminy)is still doing well: if he could onlytalk, there would be great stories. Ihave enjoyed these few minutes ofnostalgia as we all had to struggle abit and became most sincere friends.Friendships which in many cases, stillexist.

Allall ParkVictoria

Your ReviewsStaff around the province were ran­

domly picked to make comments onthe Road Ru n ner. They said somegood things: neat to read, interesting,a big treat , positive and a valuable

Mainland . The program became amandatory condition of licensingeffective September L 1992 andruanda tory inspections commencedon the same date . During the firstyear of the program 750 ,000 inspec­tions were performed .

The program may be expanded toother areas of the Province whenand where the Ministry of Environ­ment, Lands and Parks determinesthe air quality to be detrimentallyaffected by concentrations of motorvehicle related pollutants.

Next edition, we 'll profile the peo­ple, programs and issues in MVB.All NIVB staff are invited to send intheir pictures and stories. The RoadRunner is your magazine too. Sendall material to the address on theinside cover page (below the table ofcontents) .

tool. And the y made some sugges­tions: more regional news, includecrossword puzzles and mazes ,devote less space to 200% Club, hirea professional cartoonist, do moreextra-curricular stories and use recy­clable paper.

One individual said that the all­time favorites in their office are the"Reflector" stories. An employeewho came from another ministry oneyear ago said: "Having worked inother ministry's it's hard not to com­pare . There are a lot of positivethings about here and Road Runneris one of them ."

In an effort to cut back costs andrespond to staff comments, the paperfor the Road RIIIIIler is changed andis now not just recycled but recy­clable, too. You'll have to wait untilthe next edition to see other changessuggested by staff. [f you have anycomments and suggestions, pleasesend a note or an E-Mail to the RoadRun ncr editor.

4 Road Runner Fall 1993

IT'S VOUR SERVEAdopting aGood Thing

Thanks to June Forsythe, regionalsecretary planning and services andthe Central /North East Region'snewsletter (The Open Road) for thisone.

Robson District has implemented a"Pub lic Communications Record Sys­tem" modeled after the one used inLakes District. It's to record all publiccalls and monitor their status .

Surprise, then appreciation , werethe reac tions district staff receivedfrom the public when they did a seriesof follow-up calls to advise clientstheir concerns were resolved and askif they were satisfied with their ser­vice .

Central Cariboo District officeadvised that they too are using a "Pub­lic Communications Record System" to

record requests or concerns expressedby the public.

Concerns are forwarded to theappropriate person for action. A fol­low-up report is done by an indepen­dent staff member to ensure theclient 's concern has been addressedand determine their level of satisfac­tion. To date , the majority of feed­back has been favorable.

Speedy Gazette Notice SearchesBy Alan Callander, Systems Planning Research Clerk

In the past, retrieval of gazette notices for a particularhighway used to take hours .. . or even days. Now it takesminutes, thanks to an initia tive completed by Highway Plan­ning Branch staff.

MoTH exercises some of its statutory authority (thatmeans informing the public of ministry act ivities) by givingnotice published in the B.C. Gazette . Highways wereclosed, various designations and classifications were final­ized and highways up to 1987 were established by givingnotice published in the Gazette.

The gazette notices are the legal documents establishingpublic highways. MoTH districts, regions, HQ branches,other provincial and federal ministries , private sector survey­ing and engineering companies request searches be com­pleted for these notices.

The Highway Planning Branch has maintained a manualdatabase of all these gazette notices. This collection hasbecome cumbersome to use and is literally falling apart .Consequently, branch staff Raymond Candy and AlanCallander, with assistance from Sharon McDonald and Gor­don \\!ebster from IS13, have automated this database into aFoxPro computer program. This automation has producedan indexing tool to a complete set of gazette notices datingfrom 1872 to present.

Requests to find a particular gazette notice that previouslymay have taken hours can now be done in a few minutesand with greater reliability. This has resulted in an increasedlevel of service to the Highway Planning Branch customers.

Requests for gazette notice searches can be directed toAlan Callander at 387-7539.

Alan Callander: Bye-bye slow, cumbersome paper and helloto quick-search computer capabilityfor gazette searches.

Road Runner Fall 1993 5

South Coast ARCS conoersion team toitb 200% Club members Dianne Friend (left) and H(ji'eMarsh (right) both ill tbeforeground.

200% ClubIf yo u are a rece nt 200% Club me m­

he r a nd yo u r na me di d not appear,p lease ca ll the Road Ru n ner edi tor at387-5705 .

Groups:South Coast Region, Project Man­

agement Support Staff: Dian neFriend, Ferna nda Ba dke , An netteKoper and Elfie Marsh, for their hardwork in implementing AI{CS andarchiving the Pro jec t ManagementDepa rtment, incl ud ing the field offices.

HQ, Information Systems Branch:Todd Frykas, Bill Hy nes, Chris Boreen,Kelly Mess, Phil Ratc liffe, Bill Sturrock,Darren Dempsey and Evan No rris , fortechnical support even ou tside of workhours to ass ist with the branch's co rn­purer installations and softwa re prob­lems so IS13 staff ca n complete theirprojects on deadline .

Individuals:Holly Adems , Howe Sound Dist rict:

Ho lly completes legal ads and corre­spondence in a time ly ma nner withoutrequiring time-consuming instructions .Her ability is also apparent when deal­ing wi th puhlic inquiries and assistingother dist rict staff.

H()/~V Adems

HQ, Information Systems Branch:Sh e lley Johnson and Lorna Oswaldextended 100 plus contrac ts twicebecause of the Korbin Commiss ion,with the first extension having a shortdeadline requiring work on the week­e nd and in ev enings.

Al Desimone. O ka naga n/ Shusw a pDistrict: provides a level of serviceresulting in formal compliments fromour MLA to the minister.

Sh irley Duncan, Personnel ServicesBranch , HQ : never says no. Staffappreciate her speed in processingbrunch travel vouchers .

Val Fabick , South Coast Region:puts her all into FMIS training.

Leah Glick-Stal , Highway SafetyBranch, HQ: an excellent ambassadoron activities .

Peter Gooch, Okanagan/ShuswapDistrict: provided a level of serviceresulting in formal com plime nts fromour MLA to the minister.

Frank Hart, South Carihoo District:service above and beyond in upgrad­ing all comp uter systems in the district.

HQ, Information Systems Branch:Sandra Jackman, Mary Brata no vi c,Michell e Boljesic, Val Irwin and MiriamBasic , for all their hard work and ser­vice with a smile to ensure the fiscalyear end was met on time and ransmooth!y.

Sue Lampman. South Coast Regi on:for all her hard w ork in compiling atraining manual for new employees inthe Co mm un icatio n Ce ntre . Sue didmost o f the work on her own time .

Val Fabicle

6 Road RII II ti er Fall 1993

Deb Lagadyn, Highway Engineer­ing, HQ: her team building efforts forthe ministry are outstanding as is herresourcefulness regarding ministry ini­tiatives , policies and procedures.

Colleen Lunde, South Coast Region:came to the rescue in doing a radiointerview on our Road Report Programfor CBe's French stati on .

Co n nie Mang, Thompson-Okana ­gan Region: over and above her regu­lar day-to-da y duties in the asphalt lab ,Co n nie initiated, organized and nowmaintains an e ligibility list of employeetraining developing and requests forGeotec h and Materials Engineering.

Brenda Nelso n , Personnel Servi cesBranch , HQ : approaches her duties ina goo d-na tured way and can alwaysbe counted on to go that extra step ­in arrangin g a bran ch social fun ctionor tracking down an applicant travel­ling across Canada.

Frank Hart

both away. He escalated the actionwithin BCSC, provided updates to allparties in vo lve d and ensured theequipment was received in the allottedtime.

Sherry Quirk, Infor mation ServicesBranch, HQ: for all her hard work onthe new Recor ds Management projectwhere s he provided staff orientat ionand assisted in implementation of theFoxPro da tabase for file tracking of thebra nches.

Evelyn Skelton, Howe Sou nd Dis­trict : on two occasions co-ordinatedconstruction closures to accommodateemergency situations.

Gordon Smith, Printing Services,HQ : Gords nominators from SafetyBranch, HQ said, "Gordon has provid­ed our Branch with e xem plary service.He has always gone the 'extra ' mile inassuring we meet deadlines and endup with a top quality product "

Paul Staples , Posta l Services, HQ:the entire Public Affairs Branch sharesin the fee ling of being ab le to give ajob to Paul and know it wi ll be donecorrectly the first time without worry,

Hayley Thomas , In formation Ser­vices Branch , HQ : input vast amountsinto the ce ntral Records Managementcomputer to clear away a backlog , cre­ated a file tra cking device for th eb ranch , and prepared the b ranch forthe implementation of a RM conver ­sion project.

Joanne Voss , Bulk ley Nass District :for co-ordinating the poster contest forTransportation Week in the district,even though this type of work is notpart of her job description.

SuggestionAwards

Ann Baines, office assistant,Claims Section, and StephenSw ansto n , c laims adjuster,both of Co nstruction Engineer­ing Bran ch were awarded$75 .00 for their jo in t sugges­tion - processing damage to

government property claimsusing computer genera tedforms.

Stephen Swanston, claimsadjus ter , Co nstruc tio n Engi­neering Branch was alsoawarded $276.00 for his sug­g estion to use co lor-codedcards for a diary file retrievalsystem,

Peter Provan, A/FinancialAna lyst, Highways Operat ionsDepartm ent, was awarded$ 1,000 for his suggestion to

initiate th e installation of"TPX" software, which allowsa user to toggle between twofinancial accounting systemswithout having to log on andoff. As log-ems cost about $5 ashot, it 's estimated that Petesaved the m ini stry abouts10,000 annually,

Brad Moores , Area Managerand Dan Keeler, Area Manag­er, Bridges, both of Nor th Cari­boo Distri ct, were awarded$2,965 .00 for their suggestion(see In the Field, Region 4 fortheir story) ,

Jana Pedersen, Information SystemsBranch , I-lQ: provides friend ly andknowledgeable service in her purchas­ing rol e ; th e quality and quantity ofher work is superior.

Eddy Pia s entin , Information Sys­tems Bran ch, HQ: received very shortnotice of telephone changes requiredin the minister's office at a time whenthe telecommunications co-ordinatorfor Mo'TlI and the BCSC liaison were

Sally Zackodnik, East KootenayDist rict : on leaving the ministry , Sallyreceived a 200% Club nomination as athank you for 13 years of se rvice tothe ministry.

IT'S YOUR SERVE Vii

Your Fan MailProactive Co-operation

While we are quick to complainabout highway employees, we do notoften compliment them. Peter Goochis the first civil servant to say to me :"No problem; that is my responsibili­ty." Peter has always co-operated withthe MLA's office (this in itself is unusu­al) and is unfailingly pleasant and effi­cient. In fact , the entire Salmon Armoffice has co-operated fully with Shan­non. Al Desimone (Des) of the Ver­non office is another of your employ­ees who is super to deal with . He notonly handles his own area problemsfor me but has on occasion handledanother jurisdiction's problem withoutbeing asked.

Heather Bianco, Constituency Assistant toiV[LA Shannon O 'Neill, Shusioap

Quick Solution to DifficultProblem

My thanks to your mmistry for thetemporary so lution to a difficult prob­le m ; the washing out of the Murt leLake Road. a vita l economic link to\X!e lls Gray Park at the community ofI31ue River. I express thanks to notonly yourself (our minister) and theot her ministers involved but (for) thehard work done by all the peopleinvolved. They too deserve credit.

Stephen QUi/Ill, ArC'a B Director.7ZJ011ljJso/l Okanagan Regional District

Able AssistanceOur firm is building a replacement

bridge on the Stave River. A girder inthe replacement structure was dam­aged . It is our desire to express ourgratitude to your ministry for the ableassistance given to us. First to TomBayntun (project supervisor , SouthCoast Region) and Cliff Ramsay (pro­ject manager, South Coast Region) ,who helped us keep a safe crossingwithout im ped ing traffic and assistedus in designing a replacement proce­du re . Special thanks to Steve

Swanston (Construction Branch. cla imsunit), who was instrumenta l in obtain­ing agreement from the insurer as tomethods to bring the bridge back to itsorigina l state and negotiated an amica­ble se ttlement to the costs incurred.

[obn Neels, NC'C'/co Construction Inc.

Efficient and PleasantI needed information regarding road

accesses on Gabrie la Is land. I tele­phoned Bob O'Brien's (area manager,Nanaimo South) office. Shortly afterlunch the same day Mr. O'Brien ca lledback with the information as well asthoughtful advice regarding a ra therawkward situation . He dealt with myrequest very efficiently and was a mostpleasant person to deal with . Mr.O 'Brien epitomized service quality.

Dennis E. Kent, DirectorCorporate andCommunity Programs, Jlinist lY ofAttorneyGeneral

Rapid and TimelyThank you for your rapid response

to the request for suitable warningsigns on the steep, 2.5 kilometre hillleading down into the Quesnel Forksghost town campsite near Likely.[)Hl'v! Tracy Cooper personally super­vised the installation .

Daoe Falconer, Lileely, B.C.

Spirit of Co-operationWe have been dealing with a bound­

ary extension situation in our villagethat would be in contlict with the pro­posed Warfield Hill Bypass. The spiritof co-operation by highways personnelin addressing our problem was exem­plary and extremely helpful.

Tip of the hat to: Gordon Sutherland,Kootenays highways director, JohnBodnarchuk, Kootenay Boundary high­ways manager, and Dick Matthews,project manager.

Bill Treuibella, Mayor , Vii/age o] W{//jiC'/d

Road Ru nner Fall 1993 7

Prompt and SupportiveOur company (Out of Town Pictures

Inc.) was dismayed at the thought offilming next to a road constructionproject. However, with DB ;\I D.S .Kirk's willingness to accelerate start ofconstruction, work will be completeJune 4, 1993, one day before we beginphotography. We are grateful to 1\1r.Kirk and wish to thank him and theministry.

Charles Wilkinson. Producer . Out cfTou-nPiauresInc .

Students Thank Staff(This letter was sent to Jane Stead,

PIO , Region 5.) Staff and students ofThornhill Primary would like to thankyou, Marv and the electrical staff forthe great pedestrian crosswalk presen­tation. The children learn so mu chmore when they can participate in apresentation and yours was just rightfor their age level.

roan Cox. Resource Teacher.Thornhill Primary School. Terrace.

New MaternityLeave Package

Having a baby? Or .. . thinkingof having a baby' Well. just com­pleted and now available is apackage containing informationand forms regarding maternit yleave.

This new ali-in-one maternityle a ve package was created byElaine Bayles. Leave ManagementAdministrator at HQ. with helpfulinput from others . Way to go,Elaine.

Packages will be available inyour office.

8 Road Runner Fall 1993

All Around HealthWellness Is ...B)'DaveRcbenson, Wellness Co-ordinator, HQ

We llness . .. Workplace hea lth pro­motion .. . Active living in th e work­place ... These te rms are used a lo tlately, often together with other in itia­t ives suc h as Se rvice Exce l lence ,Employee Recogn itio n , an d Emp loy­ment Equ ity. But what is "\'Vellness"?

What is Wellness?Ask a group of employees and yo u

will get a variety of answers. Most wi llsay physica l fitness and hea lth pro­grams. Though an important compo­nent, physica l healt h is only part of theovera ll Wel lness picture . \'Vell ne ssencompasses all aspects of health bothphysical and mental. seeking to createa balance in our lives . It gives us theability to achieve our persona l andprofessiona l goa ls.

What does Wellness include?Th e effects of home and work envi­

ronments o n employee heal th are inthe scope of \Vellness. Relations withsupervisors a nd co-workers, a nd thecontrol employees feel they have overtheir health an d work, is part of \'Vell­n ess. The social su pport ne tworks

ava ilable from th e community , fro mhome and the workplace are also con­tributors, As are phys ica l hea lth issuess uc h as lifestyle activities, nu trit ion,weight loss and smoking cessation.

Aren 't we doing these thingsalready?

Yes, We llness has always been partof the workplace. Employee ski trips,bran ch p ot-luck luncheo ns, and orga­niz ing groups to qualify for corporatediscounts at hea lth clubs are all We ll­ness activities . Family Days where wecan share our workplace with our fam­ilies promote Wellness . So do regularstaff meetings that provide a forum forhonest exchange of ideas and con­cerns, and Performance, Planning andAppra isals when you and your super­viso r work toget he r to enhance yourjob and your career. The creation ofin itiatives such as Wellness and ServiceExcelle nce helps us to define theseac tivities and improve them .

Is Wellness different from otherinitiatives?

Though each ini tiative has a differ­e nt focus, they work toward the samegoal. The initiatives cou ld be com­pared to four lanes on a highway,heading in the same direc tion . Well­n e s s m a xi mi ze s t h e health of the

employee and the workplace. ServiceExce lle nce takes down the ba rrie rs toperforming our jo b s . Employme n tEquity strives to ensure all employeeshave the op portunity to achieve theirfull potential. Employee Recognitionshows appreciation for the ministry'smost important resource , its people .(A ll these initiatives are now bei ngamalgamated as part of the goals setfo rt h by th e Dep u ty Mi n is te r inresponse to s taff in p ut th rough theSpeak Out '92 questionnaire , foc usgroups and forum.)

So what is the bottom line thatWellness is trying to achieve?

"Service Exce llence, \'Vel lness, Occu­pational Health .. , a ll these in itiati veswere d irected to only one purpose, toimprove ou r organization's effective­ness," sa id our Deputy Minister, VinceCo llins, in h is May Up d a te to sta ff.Commu nicat io n , social support, ahea lthy lifestyle, and a hea lthy work­place, both in its environme nt and itsattitudes : these are the things Wellnessis w o rk in g to a chi e ve . Both th eemployer and the employee are equalcontributors to \'Vellness. Eac h musttake advantage of 'the opportunity andbecome "Partners Investing in Healthand Well-Being. "

What Does Wellness Mean to You?Jack Chill, regionalcomputer technician,vancoucer Islalid Region.Lining life ioitba positiveattttude-: touardererytbing ... uorle. theelluironment.[a tn ily.

Cal'O~)'1I Ager, Alelurk 4,Correspondence Ullit, HQ:Being happy with yottr /[/e­at work and home.

Laurie Stein, managerfinancialservices, NOl1h I\lest Region:

A health)' mind and body.I keep stress levels down hI'

exercising and tratching my diet.

Go Ahead

&AskThe foll o w in g a re respo nses to

ano ny mous ques t ions from s ta ffthrougho ut the province who w ereca lled and asked ... "If you could askthe Deputy Min ister one ques tionw hat would it be?" Send your ques­tions to the Road Runner editor, Pub­lic Affairs Branch, HQ.

Why do adminisrratiue supportpeople feel so under-valued andunder-supported? Why are theytreated as if they're not a signifi­cant and valuable team member ­as opposed to managers and tech­nical staff?

VINCE COLLINS: A difficult ques­tion tha t does not lend itself to aneasy a nswer. Undoubtedly there aremany reaso ns why but let me offer afew possible explanations.a) People in administrative support

ro les are often the recip ients ofwork passed to them by others withlittle or no control over either thevolume or the timing of the work.In sma ller work groups they mayalso not be in a position to reassignwork to others. Hence the burdenfalls sole ly upon the m .

b) Un less good team work has beendeveloped, administrative supportstaff can become isolated from therelevance of their work to the suc­cessfu l completion of a work unit'sovera ll goals and hence , a feeling ofbeing "cut-off' can develop.

c) G iven th e technical nature of theministry's work, many administra ­tive support staff feel there isnowhere for them to go for careeradvancement.

To dea l with these circumstances,there are some things that the min­istry , its managers and individuals cando.

The ministry can and has attempted

to create a culture in our organizationwhere every member is valued for thecontribution they make. Being treatedwith respect , being included in w hat 'shappening in the work unit and beingencouraged to have a say in how theoffice functions can go a long way tobeing va lued and developing a senseof team work.

Beyond creating the environment forthis to happen though, the m inistry isreliant upon both its managers andour support staff to make it hap p e n .Managers at all le vels must commit topractice these behaviours and individ­ual support staff must pick up theopportunities that are given to the m .

The ministry has also committed todevelop ing programs such as the"O p po rtu nities 90s " initiative which istargetted specifically to administrativesupport staff. This program allowssupport staff to take on technical ro lesin order to develop some experiencein o ther occupational se ttings.

What can e mp loy e e s anticipateas a cost of living adjustmenteffective August I?

VINCE COLLINS: A 2.17 per centinc re ase for BCG EU sta ff came intoeffect August I , 1993.

What changes have you made inhighways policy as a result of anNDP government being elected?What's changed since the Socreds?

VINCE COLLINS: The major changeto date has been the emergence of theH.C. Transportation Financing Authori­ty which was passed into law this pastlegislative session as part of the Bui ldBC Act.

The Authority has been given th epower to borrow funds in order toconstruct highways and other trans­portation facilities. In order to repaythe funds borrowed to construct high­ways , it has also been given dedicatee!revenues that came from a S1.50 perday levy on all car rentals in theprovince and effective September 1,1993 it started to receive one cent perlitre from all gasoline sales in theprovince.

In addition to these dedicated rev­enues , the Transportation FinancingAuthority will also be permitted to

Ruad Runner Fall 1993 9

charge toll s on certain highway pro­jects and enter into joint ventures withprivate sector companies for purposesof building new highway faci lities.

The m a jo r advantage of this newpolicy direction is to give the ministrya secure financial base in order to bet­ter p lan and develop our new high­way construction program. As manyof you will be aware, we have histori­cally not known from one year to thenext how much will be allocated toour new highway program. This , inturn, creates great uncertainty for all ofus. By having a secure multi-yearfunding base, we should be able toplan our program much more effec­tively .

I would like to know more aboutthe cycling policy. What 'sin volved? Whell will it take place?

VINCE COLLINS: The ministry hasadopted a p roactive po licy with theintroduction of the In te r im CyclingPolicy in December 1992 to accommo­date cyclists on all new provincialinfrastructure . The policy incorporatesal l aspects of project managementfrom design to construction and main­tenance . It wi ll guide regions andmunicipalities in planning and devel­oping projects with cyclists in mind .

Comments on the interim policy arewelcome until November, 1993. Afterthis time, the policy will be revised.

For more information or a copy ofthe po licy, please contact JordanAlexander, pol icy ana lyst, Transporta­tion Policy Branch at 387-4667.

How come I dom 't make moremoney - regardless of the union?Money is high on our list ofpriori­ties.

VINCE COLLINS: The union is therecognized lega l bargaining agent fora ll terms and conditions of employ­ment for British Columbia governmentemployees. It is up to the union tomake your position known to theemployer at the barga ining table. Ifyou are in te re s te d in earning moremoney and fewer of the other itemsand benefits nego tiated for youthrough BCGEU , you should raise thisdirectly with your union representa­tive.

to Road RUI/I/er Fall 1993

MoTH Models for PostersI~l' TOIll IV Parkin, Public Infonnation Cfficer, vancouverIsland Region

The HIT (Futures in Tra nsportation Technolog ies)program to he launched this fa ll will take J"'loTHstaff into loca l high schools. Some of them w illmake presentations about wha t they do as e ng ineersor technologists . Other staff wi ll he seen, but notheard.

The latter group includes a dozen men and womenwho consented to be models for a poster se ries ofour staff at work. They were shot hy four MoT Hphotographers: regiona l public informatio n officersTom Parkin and Ron Wiebe, HQ m unic ipal programplanner Tim Zurowski and I-IQ educa tio na l mediatechnician in Pe rso nnel Services, Royce Kletke.

Surveyor Rena Mckamey on this issue 's cover, isone of the peop le yo u wi ll soon see o n two bythree foot color posters. Another is David Goodi ng,an engineer-in-train ing in Highwa y Env iro n men tBranch.

There is a shortage of people ente ring the e ng i­neering fields today and hy the year 2,00 0, th er e ispredicted to be a greater shortage. Our poste rs willsupport the FIT f program by encouraging studentsto finish a post -secondary ed ucat io n and tellingthem advantages o f working in th e tra nsportationfield. Each of our people wi ll be q uote d besidetheir image.

If you're proud of you r job and wou ld like to

make sc hool presenta tions for FITT ( Fu tu res inTransportation Technology). contact yo ur regionalpersonnel office and find ou t w ho your FITT co­ordinator is.

Funding Activities

David Gooding, E.l.T. Higbuay Enuircniment Branch. Photo I~ l' Tim Zurowsk i.

Many Well ness and Service Excel­le n ce committees use a variety ofmethods to promote p rog ram s a ndraise funds to support the ir activities.Bake sales and 50/50 draws havebecome qu ite popular. User contri­hutions have funded programsincluding. among other things , linedancing and aerobics. Employeeshave organized to negotiate groupdiscounts at local hea lth clubs.

When planning fund rais ing or pro­motional activities, p lease remember

th at as provincial employees we aregoverned by th e Sta ndards of Co n­duct set down in the Pe rsonnel Man­age men t Polici e s a nd Pr o cedu re s .Under the Sta ndards we cannot"s o l ic it gifts o r free services foremployee rel at ed leisure ac tivities. "For example , we should not ask for"gifts" of merchandise for a ministryevent such as a bowling o r golf tour­nament. However, if the se rvice isnormally offered without cha rge wecan take advantage of it. An exam-

ple of thi s wou ld he th e St. J ohnAmb ulance giv ing a talk on child firstaid or a finan cial inst itution offering asession on fina ncia l p lanning.

The reason for fund raising is toprovide fo r promotio na l activities thatmigh t not fit into "norma l" min istrybusiness or tha t may be incompa tib lew ith public perce ptions. We shou ldexercise ca ution to ensure we aren' tputt ing ourselves or th e ministry inconfl ict s ituations.

AIDS in the WorkplaceWe brought you pa rt one of this arti­

cle las t Road Runner. This materia lwas taken from a brochure producedby the Canadian AIDS Society.

"I feel uncomfortable around some­one who is dying .. . Do they have towork here?"

Ill n e ss makes us feel uncomfort­ab le ... sometimes even angry, Thesefeeli ngs are common first reactions.Bu t when you know the facts aboutHlY and AIDS, you understand that youdon't need to be afraid of people withHIV. You realize people with AIDSand HIV are our neighbors, co-workersa nd fellow human be ings. Theydeserve all the respect, compassion andunderstanding that everyone needs indifficu lt circumstances.

"I heard a rumor about Terry inaccounting ... "

Rumors and gossip aren't always true.In fact, there is only one thing you canbe sure about rumors and gossip: theywi ll hurt someone. Don' t be a part ofspreading them. Everyone has a right

to their privacy, including someoneinfected with HIV.

"Why do some p eople treat peoplewith AIDS badly?"

In this society, we feel uncomfortabledealing with sexuality, drug use, illnessand death. AIDS involves all of theseissues.

In Nort h America, HIV spread first ingroups often rejected by society ­homosexuals, drug users and some eth­nic minorities. Some people thinkAIDS is not their problem becausethey're not part of these groups. ButAIDS is not restricted to any group.HIV is now spreading at a faster rateamong heterosexuals , includingwomen.

AIDS is caused by a virus which canaffect anyone. It does not discriminate .Those who have strong feelings againstpeople with HJY speak and act fromfear and ignorance . The groups whichhave been most affected have showngreat courage and social responsibilityby attempting to curb the transmissionof HIY. They have set a good example

Road Ru n.ner Fall 1993 11

for everyone to follow.The actions of people in the work­

place should be based upon knowl­edge and understanding, not fear andignorance . That way. the workplacecan remain a product ive and supportiveenvironment for all.

"Ho w s ho uld I a ct? What should Isay ?"

Treat co-workers with HIV as youalways have. Join them for lunch or acup of coffee. Talk about the weather,current events , the latest workplacenews . Your friendship and goodhumor mean a lot. And you will set agood exa mple for other workers. [I'they choose to talk about HIV. be awilling listener and offer support.

"How call I get mo re information?"For more information , contact your

community AIDS organization: yourcommunity health centre should beable to help you locate it. You mayalso call or write the Canadian AIDSSociety, 701 - 100 Sparks Street, Onawa .Canada , KIP 5137, (613) 230-3580.

Marine "Characters" The Glade cable ferry, which crosses the Kootenay River near Nel-son, has been operated by MoTH since 1955. Travellers on this ferrywill readily notice that they' re surrounded by "characters" - two ofwhich are ferry operator Pe ter Shlaroff and , at the west ramp , the"Log Ness Monster. " Both were photographed in July 1993 by Van­couver Island Region Info rmatio n Officer Tom Parkin.

12 Road Nli IIncr Fall 1993

SPOTLIGHT ON ••• Central Kootenay District

B.C.'s Best Kept SecretLocation: In so uthe astern B.c. follow­ing the U.S. border in the south andborder ed by the Monash ee Mountainsand the Arrow Lakes on the n011h, andeast and west of Kootenay Lake.Offices: District office in Nelson and

sub-offices in Creston and New Denver.Lane Kilometres of Road: 3,688Number of Registered

Structures/Bridges: 202Number of District Staff: 33DHM: Chr istine LegaultMain Towns: Nelso n, Creston, NakuspMain Highways: 3. 3A, 6, 23 and 31Maintenance Contractor:

Bel Maintenan ce Inc.Scenic Points: Ko kan ee Gla cier, Val­hall a Provincia l Park . Co d y Caves ,Ain sworth Hot springs , Na k usp Hot­springs, Cres to n Valle y Wildlife Cen­tre . SS Moyie Pa d d le w heele r Museum,aba ndoned m ining towns th roughoutth e silve rv Slocan and across Koote­nay Lake '- the longest free ferry rid ein the world.Activities : Hiking . boating, fishing ,trai l rid es , golf ing , h unting , s k iing,snowmobi ling .

By Christine Legault, DHiVI, Picture expansive, glittering lakes , sur­

rounded by snow capped mountains,sunny skies, windy roads, quaint Victori­an era communities and restored miningtowns. Can yo u guess where you are?

Th e Ce ntral Kootenays were dev el­oped at the tum of the century in sup­port of the mining industry. An abun­dance of timber resources aided in thegrowth of the area on ce mining faded .Forestry is still active in the area tod ay.In recent yea rs, however, the tourismindustrv has mushroomed and communi­ties su~h as Nakusp, New Denver, Kaslo ,Nelso n and Cresto n are fast becomingdestinations for summer activities as wellas wint er ski enthusiasts.

Nelso n, a town of 8,760 is the centreof it all and if you visit the city you mightthink you stepped back in time . A shortwalk through town will introduce you tonumerous herita ge buildings.

Five Ferry SystemsThe abundance of major freshwater

lakes resulted in fiv e ferry systems .Th es e include tw o cable ferri es o n theArrow Lakes , on e ca b le ferry o nKootenav River . one ca b le fe rry onKo ot enay Lak e ' \V'e st Arm , a n d twoMotor Vessels operating simultaneous­ly across Kootenay Lake between Bal­four and Kootenay Bay. In additionto providing a criti cal link in the trans­portation network , th e ferries alsoprovide a unique tourist attraction .

In the Avalanche 's PathFrom November to April , district

avalanche technicians and highwaymaintenance staff are on site full timein the Kootenay Pass on Highway 3.Thi s stretch of road is o ne of the high­est a ll w eather highways in Ca nad aand ha s a total of 44 known avalanch epaths. Th e ministry is undertaking anestima ted 5500,000 in im p ro ve mentsto avalanche control systems in Koote­nay Pass.

Now that you 're e n lighte ned on theunique and interesting aspects of Cen­tral Kootenay District , how'd you liketo join our 33 hard working s taff inaction? Come for a tour; stop in forlunch (Aud rey is fam ous for orga niz­ing gourmet potluck extravaga nz as),or com e for a c h a lle ng in g workopportunity. If you 're interested sendyour name , PTE and a description ofwhat yo u do best , to me (ChristineLe gault, that 's h er with th e b oxinggloves on in th e picture) . .. it 's anexperience. But don't tell anyone ­it's the "best kept se cret. "

Left to right: (back roto)Kerry Gordon, Greg Lawrence, Graham Greensuo rd, Bill Ogden,Richard Nesbitt. Brent Bailey, Peter Moirbead. Greg Telford, Ken Davies, Gordon Rodney,John Ttreedy. Ii :)' Samge (front row) Chris Legault, Jack lHcCulloch, Janice Cbadney, RheaVermette, Derek Sine/ail; Laurie Fulford. Larry Brown, Lola Stcetlikoe. Lena Markin , TammyBell. Barb verigin. .lIark ,llcCandlisb, Audrey Kempin, Jim O'Bryan (0 11 tbe j700l) [ennifer.lIeDonald. Jlissing at the time the picture teas taken are Dalejeffs. Neil MeDrJl/ald, GregSmith. Robin Cberbo. Jan el Cole. Carma Sherrod,John MeNab and Will)' Gem)'.

ON THE ROAD •••

Road Runner Fall 1993 13

Portrait of aJudge

Lou ise Darts: "Becom iI//!, aill(~!!,(' iSI/ 't cas)'. "

,ow

As an internationa lly ranked judge ofsynchronized swimming, Louise Davisis n o stranger to l ife on the road.\\1hen she is not pounding out num­bers in the Financia l Planning Branch,Lou ise is examining the grace andtechniq ue of our futu re "olympians."

Louise Davis has bee n a judge ofsynchron ized swimmers since 199 1.Travelling w ith the Canadian team, sheattends swim meets a t least once amonth and week-long events once ayear.

"Becoming a judge isn't easy," saysLo u ise . "There is an init ial trainingprogram and continuous evaluation ofyour accuracy ." Whi le she judges,someone else is judging her perfor­mance, too.

Each judge unde rtakes a three-yearterm. Louise 's term is up this year, butshe has p lans to cont in ue her workwith the Canadian team as a statisti­cia n . This time , she wi ll be the one tokeep stars on th e accuracy of thejudges.

During her th ree -yea r term, Louisehas travelled to Japan and Mallorca, anisland off the coast of Spain . Thisyea r, she is setting her sights on Rome.

Judging a typ ica l event means evalu-

ating each com­pet itor for techni­cal difficulty andartistic interpreta­tion during a five­minute routine.

Judging theseathletes is not sub-jective, Louisesaid, "We usecarefully definedcategories. whichlook at everythingfrom how difficulttheir routine is tohow well it ischoreographed . Thecompetitors at thislevel are all equalin terms of skill ­it is the mistakesth a t win or losethe competition."

Louise is lookingforward to theCommonwealth Games where Cana­da 's "olympic" hopefuls will be aimingfor a gold medal. The competition iswi th the technically strong U.S.A. teamand the artistically strong Japaneseteam.

"Canada is trying to develop both ofthese skills." said Louise. "So far. weare not doing too had . \\1e\'e come infirst or second in past competitions."

We'l l all he watching out for youLouise .

S.H.I.P. SailsArt Charbonneau . then our m1l11S­

ter, a nd federa l defence ministerTom Siddon (acting for federal trans­portation m inister J e a n Corbe il)signed the $60-million . five-yearStrategic Highway Improve me nt Pro­g ra m (S .H .I.P.) Augu st 17. Underthe five-year ag ree me n t each gov­e rnment w ill pay S30 mill ion to

upgrade portions of the nationalhi ghw a Y system and major BritishColumbia highways.

"Th is is a down payment," saidCharbonneau at the sign ing ceremo­ny held in Victoria. "A beginning ofwhat I hope wi ll he a major contri­but ion .

"\\1e're in fierce competition with

alternative transportation routes inthe States and we must improve (ourhighways) or we will see it lost bitby bit , truck by truck."

Projects were chosen to addresssafer Y and efficiency problems aswell as to spread the benefitsaround the province.

Major projects include:- ~It Osoyoos. reconstructing the

Highway 3 and 97 intersectionbetween Cache Creek and Lac LaHache, building two passing lanesections on Trans-Canada Highway 1west of Monte Creek to De! Oro.twinning the Trans-Canada Higl1\uy 1between Golden and Edelweiss ,

twinning Trans-Canada Highwav 1- in Vanderhoof. improving lligh\vay

16 intersection at lsurrard Avenue- in Prince George. improving the

intersections at Highway 16 andDomono and at 1st Avenue andVictoria Street.

The rest are rehabilitation projects- 22 in total - including interchangeimprovements. repaving roads andredecking/replacing bridges.

In 19H7, the federal and provincialgovernmL'nts negotiated a three­year, S36 million cost-shared agree­ment for three projects along High­ways lei and 5.

14 Road Nil n ncr Fall 1993

AFirst for Avalanche Programs

Left to Rigbt. Dean Rogers (Information Systems Branch) discussing theneuicomputer system with Les Weick and Peter Weirji'Olll SIIOI/'

Aoalancbe Programs.

Thanks to Peter Weir, P.G'eo. /01' hisassistance with this article.

"We're pretty excited about this sys­tem," says Jack Bennette, Manager ofSnow Avalanche Programs. "We ' reone of the first using it and it's makingour business much easier. "

The cause of all this excitement is anew computer system designed to

move weather forecasts and satelliteimages from the Atmospheric Environ­ment Service (AES) to ministryavalanche technicians.

The BenefitsThe new computer system is expect­

ed to be commissioned this winter. Itwill free up more of the avalanchetechnician's time for field work byautomating processes that previouslyrequired manual control and by elimi­nating redundant tasks. Training newstaff will be quicker and easier, too,and the system will provide the techni-

fIII

cian with more current weather infor­mation and better tools for data analy­sis . Area managers and district high­ways managers will also benefit fromthe new computer system as soon asthey have a Vines Network user ID.This facility will be available early1994.

The HistoryRealizing that its exisnng computer

system was at , or well past , the end ofits life cycle, Snow Avalanche Pro­grams set about designing the newcomputer system in August 1991.Three major areas were identified:Alpine Monitoring Systems led by Gor­don Bonwick ; Weather InformationSystems under Ted \X!eick; and SnowAvalanche Technicians Software spear­headed by Peter Weir, P .Geo.

"I didn 't actually come here to orga­nize the computer system, but that wasthe most pressing need at the time. Itwas the first and highest priority task

so we could get at the data to do otherresearch," says Peter \X!eir, who cameto the program from the New ZealandMountain Safety Council's snow andavalanche committee.

The original meetings to design andset up the system involved the SnowAvalanche Program's nine district andregional avalanche technicians,avalanche programs staff in Victoriaand representatives of the InformationSystems Branch 's emerging technolo­gies group.

The Vines Network test system wasset up in Stewart and Terrace by theNorth West Region's systems co-ordi­nator Lance Jacques and assistantWilliam Parr, while John Tarter of ISBco-ordinated the work from Victoria.Tests of the system were conducted byavalanche technicians Tony Moore andAI Evenchick and by staff in the NorthWest Region's radio room.

Marri Todd-Stoanell, aile 0/the team who helped develop

the neiosystem.

This section is presented by the public information officers and theirsupport staff. To learn more about what's happening ill the regions, eachhas their oum unique neuisletter: These are available through the ministrylibrary or by calling your region public information.officer.(Headquarters has one, too.)

REGION 1Dungeon DebutantesBy Diana Lepin and Kathleen Batemall­tuo summer students

Each year, as the month of Mayapproaches, students begin the difficultand often frustrating task of findingsummer employment. Most w ill settlefor slinging hamburgers or working asa cashier. For a selected few a presti­gious position awaits, and for the pasttwo summers we have been the proudstudents to land one . \'Ve are officeassistants hired to archive old files atSouth Coast Region office.

Monday to Friday, we wake up ­curious about which files we w ill getto be up close and personal with.Once at work , we settle into ouroffice, a quaint little storage room offthe pa rking lot. Then comes the diffi­cult task of identifying every new and

REGION 2Driver Safety Awareness

Through the winter. road conditioninformation is posted on signs alongthe Coquihalla. These had to be cov­ered spring, su mmer and fall leaving ablank board for travellers to wonderabout. No more.

Malcolm Makeyev, with inp ut fromthe whole district team , came up witha better solution. "It made sense toprovide the motorist with some sort ofmessage to help them drive saferrather than just spend money toremove the winter messages, " saidMalcolm.

As part of their Road Se nse cam­paign, ICBC worked with the ministryto develop messages to go up on thewinter road condition signs during off­season. The messages are all aboutdriving smart and safe.

interesting smell . Realizing the smellsare only noxious car fumes and vari­ous types of leaking chemicals , webegin slinging 100 pound boxes whilemen stand in awe, admiring ourstrength . Comfortable in our fifty-year­o ld cha irs, we label boxes, put them inorder and begin the documentation ofeach and every file.

Like all people who hold prestigiouspositions , we experience some "rib­bing... . . about tying up the elevatorand never appearing to do any work,but we go along with it. Having funwhi le we work is a fine art we've goneto great lengths to perfect.

As for the qualifications for this job?\'Vell , a major in records managementis not required but a good attitude andan extensive wardrobe of old sweatsand ripped jeans are necessary . We

4:0,~

,

Safetyfirst 0 11 the Coqttiballa.

Road RII 11 ner Fall 1993 15

IN THE FIELD

O]rI' iEJII , I I f ( I J~ \

Students Kathleen Bateman (left) andDhllw Lepin.

must confess, though, the best part ofthe job is gelling to know all of thewarm and wonderful people that workfor this ministry and we are very gladto have the opportunity.

Another "Ho me Run"The 9th Annual Coquihalla Slopitch

Tournament hit a "home run " again.Two teams came up from Victoria, fourfrom South Coast Region and one fromSalmon Arm/Vernon . The tournamentcould not have happened without thehard work of region organizers: PaulIrn ad a from geotech and materials,Norm Parkes from highway engineeringand Bill Richards , our resident comput­er expert. And the winners were: inthe "A" finals the Kamloops "Rum Run­ners ," in the "13" finals the Kamloops"Road Builders" and in the "C fina lsthe Region 1 "Road Reekers ." "Nextyear it's going to be bigger because weexpect to have some teams from IslandHighway Project and other 'construc­tion ' teams ," said Paul. "We wouldlike to thank Grant Smith and his LowerMainland District team for bringing up"A" and "13 " final prizes and the iralways entertaining pre- and after-gameshows, " said Bill. Keep your calendaropen for the same time next year.

16 Road RIII/ner Fall 1993

IN THE FIELD

City AwardsThompson District

A "Be a ut ify Kamloops "plaque hangs on the Thomp­son District office wall. Thisaward was presented for alandscape project along Pacific\'Vay and the Trans-CanadaHighway. "We are verypleased with this award," saidSandy Hamer, regional road­side development technician.The project was completedwith the help of two compa­nies hired to do the design toministrv standards: LandformsWest of Victoria and L.A. Westof Kamloops. Congratulationsto all.

Region Hits the Big ScreenVancouver based Out of Town Pro­

ductions Inc. , recently finished filminga made-far-TV movie in the Merrittarea. June 10 to the first week of July,actors were on location on LauderRoad and in downtown Merritt filmingthe movie "Max" - a story about ayoung boy who moves from the city tothe country to get a better taste of life.In August, a television series called"Cobra " began shooting near Lytton.Now we get to the big screen. WaltDisney Productions has scheduled twolocation shoots in the interior inAugust. "White Fang II" will be shoton Phase I of the Coqhihalla in the oldquarry near Box Canyon. A recent callfrom the location scout for Walt DisneyProductions indicates that Highway 1,just outside of Savona, will also be thesite of a new movie called 'Tool Shed. "

Malcolm Makayet: area manager (left) and SandyHat II er, roadside development tech proudly displaytheir District's award.

REGION 4Hard Hat Saves Darrel

Darrel Norstrom, geotechnical opera­tions technician , was involved in anincident that could have caused seriousinjury or taken his life - if he hadn'tbeen wearing a hard hat. It was thelast day of an air track drilling programto obtain a profile of underlyingbedrock from 300 sites along a projectin the Pine Pass . The drill head cou­pling failed and a piece of metalweighing about .25 kilograms new offand struck Darrel in the head. There'sno doubt in Darrel 's mind that it washis hard hat that saved him. The BCSafety Council concurred and awardedDarrel with their "Turtle" award . Adouble congratulations to you Darrel.

BCIP Pays Big Div iden dsAn extra effort can pay big dividends!

Just ask the team of Brad n' Dan fromour North Cariboo District office whorecently received a sizable payout fromthe Employee Suggestion Program ­55,930. Nice work guys! Brad n' Danappeared in our Spring Road Runner.Brad Moores (Roads) and Dan Keeler(Bridges) knew there was a more effi-

cient way to record and track bridgeinspection information. After two and ahalf years of trial and error, 6,000 linesof programming, and considerable lossof sleep. the Bridge and Culvert Inspec­tion Program came to fruition. Brad n'Dan's BCIP can be found throughoutthe ministry, saving bridge area man­agers hours and hours of tedious work.The cost savings are projected to mountwell into hundreds of thousands of dol­lars in just a few short years.

Lachmuth Lurks AgainNow here's a walking testimonial for

the Cariboo-Chilcotin Tourist Association- Highways' very own Grant Lachmuth ,who previously led the charge in BurnsLake has succumbed to the allure of theCariboo and accepted the top post inour North Cariboo District. Small won­der why an outdoorsy sort of guy likeGrant would want to return to his oldstomping grounds in beautifulCentral/North East Region . After all. wecan boast of su peri or scenery, largerbugs , more snow and a district wherethe only thing certain is change. Wel­come back, Grant!

REGION 3Avalauncher Retired

An estimated 5500 ,000 will bespent to improve ava lanchecontrol systems in KootenayPass. During the first phase, tobe completed October '93, JohnTweedy, district avalanche con­tro l tech said, "We will be retir ­ing the current avalauncher sys­tem in place since 1976 whichhas limited capability in adverseweather o r darkness . This willbe followed by installation ofnew equipment to deliver alarger explosive charge withgreater accuracy over a sevenkilometre range ." Phase twoincludes installation of GazExexploders in sensitive areasthrough the spring and summerof 1994.

REGION 5National Transportation Week

Staff in Lakes , Bulkley Nass andStikine Districts really gave it their allfor National Transpo rtation Week .-Many hours of work were required (ontop of regular work) to organize andcarry out the poster contests, car rallyand school visits . Organizers wereJo a n n e Voss (B ulkley Nass) , LucilleGreen (St ik in e) , Kee Warner,Stephanie Price and Don Legault (a llfrom Lakes) with assistance fro m sev­era l others in the districts . You a lldeserve a b ig thank you and congratu­lations for your efforts'

The regional offices he ld the 2ndAnnua l Tricycle Race in honor ofNTW. The Highways teams were putto shame, however , by this year'schamps, Nec hako Northcoast Mainte­nance (NNC) . Area Manager LindaZurkerchen threatened to give them anNCR (non-conformance report) for

REGION 6Second District Staff Picnic

Our second picnic took place on July24 at Dave Boon's summer cottage onShawnigan Lake . (Same place as lastyear.) About 40 people attended, upfrom last year . Greg Ga lpin has abeautiful boat equipped with skiis,tubes and boogie board . All thosebrave enough had a try at it. DaveBoon took all enthusiastic flyers up inhis plane. The cooking was done byJohn Marriott and George Baldwin withhelp from Larry Griffith . . . great ham­burgers, ho t dogs and salads.

Staff Paint Street BannersThree regiona l staff painted two of

150 lamp standard banners wh ichlined the streets of Nanaimo this sum­mer. Congratulations to Connie Nico­letti, engineer-in-training, Julie Mieras,financial analyst and Tom Parkin, pub­lic information officer. Julie drew acollection of fish called "Aquarium."Tom took the regional logo and delet­ed identifying words - "Island Arbu­tus" was the resu lt.

under sized drivers , but she was dis ­qualified for poking too many peoplewith her jousting stick. Anyway, NNCwil l have to come back and defendtheir title next year.

So Long, DonThe Region said good-bye to Don

Shaw (manager of design and con­struction) in July. A big barbecue bashwas he ld to send him off to his newposition as manager of construction inKam loops (or "t h e Loops") . Donalways said he didn't want a picture ofa Kermodei Bear when he left theReg ion (standard Region 5 going awaygift) so, of course, that's what we gothim! Actually that was just to rattlehim. After he sweat it out for a bit wegave him his real gift which was abeautiful photo of the Old SkeenaBridge. To add to the celebration ourtalented cake decorator Cheryl Parkes

Greg Galpin demonstrates tbe boogie board.

Tom's Book Wins Aw ardTom Parkin, our region 's public

information officer , won a nationalbook aware! for h is "Green Giants ;Rain Forests of the Pacific Nor th West"in Douglas & Mclntyre 's "Earth Care"series,

The soft-cover volume discusses theecology of our coniferous coastal

Road Runner Fall 1993 17

IN THE FIELD

(secretary to regional manager profes­sional services), brought out a spectac­ular creation decorated with theregional logo . Good luck Don (andgood luck to your new colleagues inKamloopsl).

Welcome Back BobWe'd like to welcome back Bob

Smyth (D&S) after a lengthy absence.He was away on sick leave sinceDecember, but is now healthy andback to work. Bob's career started inEngland where he repaired bicycles.He moved to B .C. and learned torepair cars, trucks and heavy eq uip ­ment. He has been a mechanic orshop foreman at Terrace, Bob Quinn,Rossland and Port Clements. Afteryears of searching he has found happi­ness with Professional Services wherehe works with the field crews andkeeps our vehicles in good repair.

forests and reinforces that we mustmanage the m with sensitivity to natur­al systems , "Gree n Giants" rece ivedan award of merit by the Outdoor\'Vrite rs of Canada at their annual con­vention in Kamloops.

18 Road RII IIner Fall 1993

IN THE FIELD

HEADQUARTERSHere's to Our Health

August 19 was "Uncoffee/HealthySnack Day. " We were greeted by our\Vellness gurus as we came in to workand offered a healthy snack of abanana or apple. Then, at coffeetime, staff were invited to bring intheir coffee mugs to personnel breakroom and get it filled w ith a healthy"coffee-alternative" - a choice of fruitjuices. This was sponsored by HQ\Vellness Committee.

Dauid Robertson, HQ trellness co­ordinator.fills IIjJ Tim Osborne's (0111' IUl1/ '

PersonnelAdtnsor. Marine) coffee ClI/J toitba "ccffee-alternatite. "

We 're the Recycling Champs\Ve ' re recycling more and putting

less waste in our dumpster . . . so saysour bui lding services staff Tony Hub n­er and J im Ric hards as well as ourHCBC cleaning supervisor Nikki Cham­bers. We used to have two six-yarddumpsters; we now only need one.And our contamina tion rate is less thantwo per cent - the best of any down­town Victoria government bui lding.

Lions Gate: Public InvitedTo Participate

Within the next five years , a decisionm ust be made on what to do w ith theLions Gate Bridge. A specia l office hasbeen opened in downtown Vancouverand public meetings are scheduled thisfall. The plan is to involve the pu blicin helping the ministry choose the bestpossible so lu tion for everybody ...everything co ns idered .

Options up for consideration are todo noth ing, w iden the existing th reelanes, reb uild to allow for four lanes,b uild a new br idge ad jacent to the o ldone or construct a tunnel.

The process promises to be very con­tro ve rs ial. The most feasib le optionsa ll invol ve some im p act o n StanleyPark and ad join ing road systems inNorth Vancouver and Vancouver. Theintegrity of the harbour must be con-

sidered a nd then there's the issue ofheritage . We' ll keep you posted.

New DirectorsWe 've got two new directors at head­

quarters . Phi lip Newton is o ur newdirector of public affairs. He comes tous from the Ministry of Municipa lAffairs where he was thei r director ofpublic affairs . Philip plans a tour of theregions this fall to introduce himself tothe people and "life wi th highways"around the province. Ian Sma rt is ournew director of marine. Ian was previ­ously A/director and has managedmarine services fo r the ministry formany years. Congratulations, Philipand Ian.

Philip Neuson - IIC'Wdirector ofpnbltc affairs.

MichaelKetfoot cfSunergySystems with the"doumstaits"partcftbe composting toilet.

release, bu t roadside development staffon the Island installed the ir toilets earl i­er, without the fuss .

Arbutus Rest Area. situated no rth ofMalahat summit, is among several restareas , province Wide, receiving newtoi lets and improved visitor facilitiesthis year.

"Such 'o ld-fashioned' technology isan environmentally-friendly solution forthis site. which has no hydro power oravailable water," said roadside techni­cian Bruce Nixon . "The toile ts trans­fo rm waste into hu m us throughdecomposition, just like a compost.Solar panels will provide power to runcirculating fans and ligh ting."

By 1'0111 Parkin, PublicInfonnation Cfficer,V(IIlCOJll'er Island Region

Vancouver Island has b eat e n thepants off Lower Mainland Region in arace to be first to bu ild composting toi­lets in MoTH rest areas.

A popular viewpoint on Mala hatDrive between Victoria and Mill Bay onthe Trans -Canada Highway wasupgraded by Region 6 in August, giv­ing them the scoop. Lower Mainlandattempted to claim they were jiffy tothe biffy through a ministerial news

Enviro News and ViewsComposting Toilets

Road Runner Fall 1993 19

ADAY IN THE WORK LIFE ... Testing - One, Two, Three13)' Eduard Miska, P. Eng.,A/Traffic Research Engineer

How many times have you beenstuck at a red light at the same corner'Traffic Engineering's Research Group atheadquarters consider this to be aproblem and they've developed hightech solutions to improve the trafficHow. "The public is very conscientiousabout letting us know where the con­gestion is," says Miska .

Activities conducted so far by thegroup span the areas of expert systems,optimization, fuzzy modelling, neuralnetworks, object oriented programmingand intelligent optimal control for traf­fic engineering. All these things meanthat they're working to improve trafficnow on our highways.

The research group consists of threeregular employees and several graduateand undergraduate students from theUniversity of Victoria and the Universi­ty of British Columbia.

They've directed considerable effortto improving the timing of traffic con­trollers at intersections to move trafficmuch more efficiently through congest­ed areas. "Setting the best signal tim­ing possible is important, as it saves themotoring public time as well as thou­sands of dollars in fuel costs. Gettingpeople to their destination with a mini­mal amount of delay is also good forthe environment. since the amount ofvehicular emissions are reduced, "Miska adds

In addition , getting more efficiencyout of our existing roads may precludeor delay having to build additionalinfrastructure. These same benefits canbe realized in other facilities such asthe George Massey Tunnel where anIntelligent Real-Time Contraflow Sys­tem is being developed.

Not only are we concerned withincreasing efficiency for the motoristbut we're also improving the efficiencyof the design and review process by

increasing accuracy and decreasingdesign time. This has been achievedby automating as much of the designprocess as possible through the devel­opment of integrated software andexpert systems. \\1herever possible weuse commercially available designpackages and develop in-house soft­ware which manipulates these pack­ages to meet the special design criteriafor the ministry.

So far, ministry developed systemshave been used successfully for design­ing the signal timing on the Trans­Canada Highway through Duncan andthe King George Highway through Sur­rey (Whalley). The software will beextensively used for the ten "greenwave" systems being implemented aspart of the South Coast Signal Rehabili­tation Program.

"With the ever increasing number ofvehicles on the road, moving them effi­ciently is becoming much more impor­tant than ever," adds Miska.

71Je traffic research group: (lef! to right. standingljian ifill, YOllg Cao, Norm Stang, Patrick Liiolsi, lfIei-lfIu Zbou, Zuomei Dong. Kneeling:AIIII Lee, Ed Miska ill front of the Traffic Controller developed 17)' the TrafficEngineering Centre .

20 Road RII II tter Fall 1993

Highline Spans SavonaHi' Rae-Ann e KUnl CZ, Public tnformationCfficer, Tbompson-Cleanagan Re,~ ioll

This article was reprinted from theThompson-Oka nagan newslett er ­Paths and People - at the req ue st o fthe regi on 's resident bridge ex perts.

Ever wondered ho w a 44- to n steelgirder is lifted off the ground? WelL Idid and asked o ur bridge experts to le tus kn ow how things are being done atthe new Savona Bridge under con­struction 43 k ilometre s east of Kam ­loops on the Trans-Canada Highway.

At the Savona site, steel g irders areb eing pla ced using th e 'T Tigh lin e ."Veteran ir on w orker Patty Sh c rre rr ,foreman for Canro n Inc ., the pr ojectco ntrac to r. provid es some interestingfacts ab out the "Highline .' (Stru ctural

Highline Specs

"\'1

At this site , the "Highline' is set upwith a span o f 315 metres betweentowers and it has the ca pac ity to liftand carry 50 tons <the heaviest lift at

s tee l fabrication and installation wassub-contracted to Cortez Construc tio n.)It was chose n as the method of instal­lation over co nve n t io n a l methods ,barge or crane, as the most economi­ca l sy ste m th at co uld accommodatesite geometry and env ironmental co n­stra ints .

Installing a section of girder with the"Hig h line" is d one b y th e "ra is in ggan g," a nin e person crew cons istingof tw o hookers tw o co nnec to rs, tw ow inc h o pera to rs, two tag-line peopleand a "Highline" cont ro lle r who dir ectsmovements via radio communication .

Th e "Hi g h lin e " was originall ydesigned b y Dave Haliday and built byBrittian Steel to accommodate th e con­struc tion of th e Peterson Cree k Bridgeo n the Trans-Canad a Highway at Karn­loops in the ea rly 1970s. Th e "High-

Savona is 44 tons) . The head tow er is44 metres in height and is located onth e east side of the river ; th e mainwinch area is located east of the head

line" has since been used on severalbridges throughout the province suchas Kiskatinaw River Bridge, MacpheeBridge, Kitwanga Bridge , Carnes CreekBridge , Ingerson River Bridge and DIyGulch Bridg e .

In 19H6 Brittian Steel closed theirdoors and the ownership of "Highline"was passed to Interior Power in Lang­ley.

"Highline" work at the Savona site isnow co mp lete. The Highline took 18da ys to erect and will only take six torem ove . There are still two spans ofgirders to install on the west end ofthe bridge but the girder sections aresmall e nough to be installed by con­ventional methods.

As Patty puts it: "At only 12 tons persection, they ar e a piece of cake tomo ve ."

tower. The main winch providesfor hauling and hoisting; a sec­ond winch provides luffing (sideto side movement of the top ofthe tower) of the head tower.

Th e tall tower is located onthe west side of the river at thefirst pier. This tower is also 44metres in height and has a winchlocated to the west to control itsluffing . Strung between the twotowers is th e main track line("g ut line") co nsisting of two55mm diameter cables , 500metres in length. This track lineis anchored in place beyond thetowers and winches with over100 tons of poured-in-place con­crete at each end. The track lineis put in pla ce to allow a car­riage with a load block to travelbetween the towers . The car­riag e is maneuver ed by a haulline (a 22mm cabl e 1.5 kilome-tr es in length) . Guylines

an chored to the north and south ofboth tow ers aid in the luffing of thetow ers.

Road Runner Fall 1993 21

Safe Crossings BookletBy Leah Glicle-Stal, Branch Manager ,Administration, SafetyBranch

At long last, it's ready. After a lot ofhard work and dedication from a multi­displinary committee, Highway SafetyBranch has developed a 13.C. "ized"guide which will help school boards,teachers and parents in establishing asafe rou te to school for their students byworking with road officials and police.

The booklet is called "Safe Crossing."It guides the non-technical readerthrough the necessary steps in setting upthe following school crossing programs:

- Safe Route to School Program- School Patrol Program- Adult Crossing Guard Program

We are very excited about this publi­cation, as it is very pertinent to 13,C. Inthe past , due to the lack of Canadianmaterial on this subject , everyone hashad to use American literature, Whilewe will no longer have to rely on theAmerican literature , we recognize theAmerican Automobile Association 'sexcellent publications, as they were thestarting point for our material.

The booklet has been designed so itcan be photocopied easily. Ultimately, itwill be a companion to the 13.C. Pedes­trian Crossing Control Manual scheduledto be published this year.

This manual will provide moredetailed technical information. It wasproduced with the input of representa-

tives from the Ministry of Education,Insurance Corporation of British Colum­bia , British Columbia Automobile Associ­ation, Royal Canadian Mounted Police ­"E" Division in Vancouver and the citiesof Victoria and Vancouver as well as thecorporations of Esquimalt, Surrey, Bum­aby , West Vancouver and CentralSaanich.

Copies will be forwarded to theregions and districts for their use as wellas to the Ministry of Education, all ele­mentary schools, police departments,municipalities, ICBe. etc.

Porfurtber information. please contactLeah Glicle-Stal, Branch Manager. Admin­istration, H(f.!,hway Safety, at 356-52 J7.

Work WantedCall: 660-7307Geotech and Materials has a fair size crewLooking 'ro und the province for things to do.All the guys are willing, we need your cashValue for the money, this offer can't last!

We 'll drill some holes, deep in the ground\X1e 'll measure the movement, making sure it's sound.We'll climb your slopes, bolt in the rocksWe're so good it'll knock off your socks!

If you need to bore a hole, please call WayneRex will do your seismic, with just a little gain.If your rocks need attention, Dave's the man to callHe 'll tack them up so they won't fall'

If you need this done, please feel freeTo call us up, happy we will be!Budgets are low, recoveries must be high.\X1e need your work, we say with a sigh.

Al BrownDave GerragbtyRex CriderWayne Soglo

Meet the "Das" TeamIn the last Road Runner, you heard about the group that

brought the Development Approvals System (DASJ to life allaround the province. (See 200% Club, Tearns.) Now. you canmeet them.

DAS is a province-wide computer system for tracking and pro­cessing development approvals applications to improve consis­tency, fairness and turn around time. It's a major initiative inthe ministry to improve accountability and brought to you bythe DAS co-ordinators and trainers below:

Left 10 right (standing): She171e Applegate, Bulkley Nass; Claire Sol/ill,Central Island . Norm Fujino . Selkirk;Je./TJlloore, Louer Mainland. NielsEdelmann, Fort George; Dale Hillman, North Peace and South Coast'sRegional Directorjoejenson; (sitting) Lynn Tepsa, South Okanagan;Cindy Potrer. South Cariboo. Lorraine Clark, East Kootenay andjenniferQUi/III , Sheena,

22 Road Runner Fall 1993

THE REFLECTORFort Steele BridgesBVTomParkin. PublicInformation Cfficer.VaI/COIl&'('r Is/mid Region

"Your grandfather helped build thisbridge," I remember my father tellingme, He once mentioned the fact as wecrossed the Kootenay River on Highway"'93 over a wooden Howe truss , Thatbridge was replaced by the current con­crete span in 1966, when the highwaywas realigned to skin newly-establishedFort Steele Historic Provincial Park,

The bridge 1 knew as a boy wasn't ofparticular interest then , but after joiningHighways, 1 checked our annual reportfor 193'1-35,

The renewal of Fort Steele Bridgeconstituted the most important bridge­work in this district. This structure con­sists of three 120-foo[ spans throughHowe trusses, with I6-foot-wide road­way , on pile piers, All piles, timber fortrusses, and caps for piers and bents arecreosotcd. '

Grandfather was a carpenter, and thefamily had a lumber mill at nearby TaTa Creek at the time, It's possible mynamesake John Thomas Parkin wasinvolved with highways sixty years ago,

Todays Bridge ;;-0046 is fourth in aseries of crossings on this historic route,

Transportation began with a gold rushat nearby Wild Horse Creek in IH64, Assupplies were initially packed in onmules and horses from Walla Walla,Washington via the Moyie Trail, a ferrywas needed across Kootenay River.

John Galbraith obtained the govern­ment charter on January 1, 1865, forwhich he paid S500/year. By 1867 thiswas lowered to S200 as traffic haddecreased, During the peak of the rush,users willingly paid SlO/head for eachloaded pack animal and 55/person,The place was so busy that the town onthe riverbank was called Galbraith 'sFerry.

By 1870, fares fell to SI for animalsand 50 cents for people, Robert Gal ­braith took over the ferry from hisbrother in 1874, and continued to oper­ate it until the first bridge replaced himin lHH8, That design had a lift span toallow passage of paddle wheelers,which now ran upstream as far as Wasa,By then the town had been renamedFort Steele to honor Major Sam Steele, atrusted and respected law enforcer ofthe North West Mounted Police, whoestablished a post here,

A second bridge built in 1908-09replaced the first drawbridge, "Grandfa-

ther's bridge" was built in 1934,It was interesting because it was a

Howe truss, a style of structure quicklydisappearing from our highway system,In 1840, W, Howe had patented a tim­ber truss, Widely used on railroads inNorth America, in which the vertica lsconsisted of iron ties,

There were once more than 200Howe truss bridges in B,C, Typica llyused for long-span bridges, they rangedin length from 80 to 225 feet. Douglas­fir was used as it was available in largesizes and had superior strength, Makingmaximum use of timber and minimumuse of iron and steel , the Howe trusswas the least expensive way to buildlong spans,

As our highway system developed,wider and stronger bridges wererequired. This, combined with increas­ing costs of timber, made Howe trussesgenerally uneconomical and unsuitable.About 15 were built on secondary roadsbetween 1950 and 1960. Many are stillin use today, but none on principalhighways.

The year following construction ofFort Steele's Howe truss, high water didconsiderable damage to highways in thearea. The Kootenay River rose to withina few inches of its 1916 t1ood-levels, butgrandfather's work remained intact. Lit­tle did he know his bridge had protect­ed his grandson 's reputation!

F0I1 Steele bridgesill 7968. Courtesyo./B.C.Archives &RecordsService

The Last Tram

"''"I.- ....\. ";'\..0:» 4lIIiIif

May Anderson: shopping in doumtount Vancouoerwith her mother in /953.

Roud RIlIlJIer Fall 1993 23

"I can still hear the cl ickity-click .clickity-click, clickity-click, of thewheels on the track and feel the carsway from side to side as it picked upspeed ," said May Anderson, ExecutiveBranch, HQ as she remembered ridingthe electric tram that once ran fromBurnaby into Vancouver.

"I close my eyes and I can still see it.The chairs were made of tightly wovenrattan , the floors of wooden slats andleather straps hung down for those whohad to stand. At the end of the run, thetram didn 't turn around, the chairs weresimply flipped back the other way."

Forty-two years of tradition endedwhen the tram service on the BurnabyLake route stopped on October 23,1953, with a special run from DouglasRoad to Sapperton. May remembersthis day very well.

She was on the Student Council atDouglas Road School in Burnaby.When they heard that the tram servicewas to be terminated, the StudentCouncil suggested a special "Last Run"and B.C . Electric (now BC Hydro)thought this would be a fitting tribute.

"It was an exhilarating, fun day ,though [ remember it with more sad­ness now, reflecting on days gone by.Many students and teachers dressed inturn-of-the-century and 1920s periodcostumes. "

The "Last Run " carried 450 students,their teachers . members of the districtPTA and the reeve of Burnaby. Tramcars were gaily decked with flags andbanners that read "Last Trip - GoodbyeTrams - Pupils of Douglas RoadSchool."

May recalled that the fare in 1953 wasabout 30 cents. "It was the working­man's transportation to Vancouver. Itseldom didn't run, operating in everykind of weather and later hours thanthe buses, And, because most peoplerode the line for a number of years, theold tram conductors all knew who youwere.

"Eve n though the Pacific Stage buswas only a half block from my parents'house, we always walked the six orseven blocks to the tram station. I rodeit at least once a week . \X!hen theweekend came, my mom and I would

go downtown on the tram. The down­town station was on \X!est Hastings nearthe old Woodward 's store , so that 'swhere we did a lot of our shopping.

"My memories of it are fresh. as if itwere yesterday."

40th Anniversaryof Little Hill

A celebration was held Septem­her 26 to recognize the 40thanniversary of the section of High­way 20 known as The Hil!. Theroadway was blasted and bull­dozed into the side of the moun­tain by residents of the BellaCoola Valley , who wanted to

establish an overland route toinland British Columbia. Somevolunteered their labor and heavyequipment, and others madefinancial contributions for fuel.The road was constructed duringthe summer of 1953 without gov­ernment funding.

24 Road Runner Fall 1993

Turning Students on to Technology

One group o/huddillg engineers tritb great ambitions ll'Orkillg on tbeir totrer ofstratos.

By Wil/red A. FI)'. PEIlg.. Project Manager,South Coast Region

Last year. I was asked by the Associ­ation of Professional Engineers andGeoscientists of British Columbia(APEGBC), if I would volunteer for"Sc ie n t is ts and Innovators in theSchools. " Having enjoyed over 30years in Civil Engineering in numerouscountries covering six continents. I fig­ured it was time to give somethingback. The notion of trying to changethe traditional school kids' perceptionof science being boring and stuffybecame a challenge I couldn't refuse.

I joined a group of volunteers oneSaturday at Science World, where wewere taught how to make presenta­tions to students from kindergarten tohigh school. The key to keeping chil ­dren interested , we were told, is tokeep presentations short and encour­age participation through hands-onactivities. \'Ve were also told to begender sensitive during question ses­sions to ensure equal participation bygirls and boys.

Science \'Vorld matches each volun­teer with a school in their home area.The largest response to this program isin the grade four to seven range; itdoes seem a pity that grades 10 to 12seem to be missing a good thing.

I ran two workshops for grade sixchildren at Thompson Elementary inRichmond. To begin with, I asked theclass to tell me what they thought anengineer's work involved. This pro­duced a mixed response, including theinevitable old label: "An engineer dri ­ves a train ."

I was able to demonstrate the valu­able contrihution of women in engi­neering with a scale model of the pro­posed CP Rail underpass on Mary HillBypass which was skillfully made bydesign technician Lynn Sawatsky fromSouth Coast Region. After my shortpresentation on different types ofstructures and how forces of natureaffect engineering decisions. we gotdown to the fun part.

The children split into groups of fouror five. Each group was given a bun-

die of drinking straws and a roll of eel­lotape out of which they had to createa latticework, self-supporting tower.The tower had to he completed in 30minutes and be capable of supportinga golf ball suspended by a string andhook hom the tower apex.

The groups were highly competitiveand the maj ority quickly came tounderstand the benefit of my advice toagree upon a tower shape and allocatetasks hefore starting. (One group with

communications problems managed todevelop a structure three times biggerthan the base to support it')

The resulting masterpieces werejudged by the class teacher, and thechildren were asked to offer advice onhow to improve the less stable efforts .

I had a lot or fun with both theseworkshops and received positive vibesfrom the children and teaching staff,with the result I will be continuingwith the program next term.