‘Barn raising’ builds teamwork, saves money

Courtesy Photo | Members of the Directorate of Public Works’ Operation and Management Division team conduct repair on a heavy equipment shed. Workers from various parts of the division came together for team-building and repair the building. Heavy equipment operators would hold up the roof while carpenters would replace certain parts of the structure. Team members who did not have skills needed took charge of lunch and grilled hot dogs, hamburgers and sausages. (Photo by Whitney Hutto)  

FORT JACKSON, SC, UNITED STATES

03.21.2024

Story by Robert Timmons 

Fort Jackson Public Affairs Office

No one can say there’s no DPW in teamwork. At Fort Jackson there surely is.

Members of the Fort Jackson Directorate of Public Works’ Operations and Maintenance Division came together in a pseudo barn raising, March 11 to fix the Roads and Grounds heavy equipment shed.

“It reminds me of what you see with the Amish where the whole community comes together and pitches in for one day and gets it framed up,” said Steve Townsend, OMD chief.

Hideki Tsuboi, supervisor of the Vertical Shop, thought of the event as a way to get a lot of work done on the shed in one day and do some team building at the same time.

“The idea was we’ll do team building and get everybody working together and provide lunch and just have a great day and accomplish some goals,” Tsuboi said.

Tsuboi’s carpenters and PM team were joined by the electricians, Roads and Grounds equipment operators, and even the mechanic from the Central Energy Plant. Some team members, who didn’t have the skills to do certain tasks took charge of lunch and grilled hot dogs, hamburgers and sausages, all accompanied by coleslaw, chips and sodas.

The teams structured the work so they would complete their jobs “in such a manner that we’re not standing on each other’s toes,” Tsuboi said.
“Everybody had a priority for them to knock out … we were all here so why not do all the lunch stuff since it was actually a gorgeous day.”
Roads and Grounds guys used “their heavy equipment to lift the beams and stabilize the structure while carpenters cut away the old rotten wood and put new wood back in,” Townsend said about the project. “The electrical shop was taking out the old conduit and putting in new conduit and new lighting fixtures.”

Some team members even responded to emergency calls during the event.

This was all to help protect the heavy equipment stored in the structure.
Millions of dollars in heavy equipment is “parked under there and it keeps them out of direct sunlight and keeps it out of the rain” away from corrosion, Townsend said. “You want to protect the tires and hoses from (ultraviolet light) if you can when they are not being used – they will last longer.

“We are trying to be a good steward of the taxpayer’s dollar and make our equipment last longer.”

• Date Taken: 03.21.2024
• Date Posted: 03.21.2024 14:36
• Story ID: 466780
• Location: FORT JACKSON, SC, US