Photo By Sgt. Avery Cunningham | Sgt. Bryan Ebbs, concrete and asphalt equipment operator, 189th Engineer Team Asphalt,...... read more read more
CAMP JOHNSON, Vt. - The 189th Engineer Team Asphalt from Bridgewater, Massachusetts, assisted the Vermont National Guard by repaving parking lots in Vermont while training July, 2015.
“Our main mission is major parking lots, highways and runways,” said Staff Sgt. John Rockett, who currently holds assumption of command for the unit.
The engineers have built several parking lots in Vermont.
The company paved a parking lot at the Waterbury National Guard Armory, two parking lots at Camp Johnson, Vermont and two parking lots at Camp Ethan Allen Training Site, Vermont, said Rockett.
“The parking lots have deteriorated over the years and this paving will be better for parking vehicles,” said Staff Sgt. Steven Sanford. There will be less wear and tear on the vehicles.
The unit faces challenges with the frost, ice and erosion caused by water freezing and flooding the parking lot.
“We raised it six inches to get it off the water table, so it’d stop puddles, and we’re putting a four inch lift on it,” said Rockett. “So the whole parking lot came up 10 inches.”
“When it gets really, really cold in the Vermont, you have a lot of frost heaves,” said Sanford.
The frost heaves, along with standing water, damages the lot. The lift allows the water to run off the asphalt to prevent the issues caused by the water.
The training is important for the team, whose main mission is paving.
“This training is good for our 12N which are heavy equipment operators to be able to use some of the 12V [concrete and asphalt equipment operator] machinery,” said Sanford. “Conventionally, you’ll use a dump truck and grater to do what we’re doing, but you set a paver to the depth you want it, and it’ll stay straight and level. It’s just a good experience for those guys who have never done it before with guys who have.”
It’s a boost for the Soldiers to get to do their job.
“The morale is up. They’re all doing their job,” said Rockett. “They’re all doing their MOS [Military Occupation Specialty] training, and they’re loving it.”
This is what the 189th Engineer Team Asphalt was taught and tasked to do. It’s the mission they’ve drilled for.
“This is everything we trained for, talked about, and done, said Rockett. “This is the big event that proves that you can actually do it. Plus, we can’t do this all the time, we can’t do this on the drill weekends.”
| Date Taken: | 07.16.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.28.2015 12:31 |
| Story ID: | 171336 |
| Location: | CAMP JOHNSON, VT, US |
| Web Views: | 99 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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