The view from the top—six stories up—like a dream come true

Photo By Thiep Nguyen | 181116-N-CC918-003 BREMERTON, 10/26/2017-Riggers signal an operator during a lift. The distance from a rigger standing at the bottom of the dry dock to the operator sitting in the crane cab is approx. 120 ft. (Photo by Thiep Van Nguyen II, PSNS & IMF photographer)  

BREMERTON, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES

11.16.2017

Story by Michele L Fletcher 

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility

“This Shipyard’s filled with great people,” Thomas said. “They work hard and do the best job they can. They’re fabulous, every one of them.”
Thomas began his career at PSNS in 1975, and has spent 40-plus years as a rigger, crane operator and crane instructor. In cranes, he’s done it all—bridge cranes, portal cranes, the Hammerhead Crane—he’s operated, or taught others to operate, all of them.
We headed toward Crane 92 which was waiting to lift pipe off the submarine in dry dock. As we approached the crane, Rick Fowler, Code 740 rigger, walked up and shook Tim’s hand.
“I’m looking to take this young lady up and let her ride along while your operator’s doing a lift,” Thomas said to Fowler. “Is that something we could do this morning?”
“We’re ready to do a lift right now,” Fowler said. “Are you ready to go?”
“We’re ready,” Thomas said. He turned to me and asked with a grin, “Are you ready to do this?”
“Ready,” I said with gusto—as I caught my breath. Ok, I wondered, was I ready?
There were three sets of vertical ladders to climb and two more sets of stairs to get to the cab. Climbing up takes strength—physically and emotionally. It’s not uncommon for a first-timer to stop part way up and just hold-on until their legs stop shaking—at least that’s what they told me.
We entered the cab and Kyle Woyshnis, Code 740 crane operator, was sitting in the driver’s seat.
“Hey,” he said to Thomas. “How ya’ doing?”
Thomas made introductions and began explaining what was happening. As he talked, the crane began moving, the cab rotating and the rope lowered into the dry dock. In moments, the rope disappeared into a sea of scaffolding.
“See, the operator’s got to have complete trust in the team on the ground,” Thomas said to me. “It’s not long before he can’t see the end of the rope, so he’s got to know he can rely on them.”
As the riggers were working, we talked about the extensive training required, the need for someone to truly want to operate cranes.
“The ability to remain calm is important,” Woyshnis said. “You’ve got to be able to handle height and movement.” Both are crucial traits for operating multi-million dollar cranes—the biggest toys in the box, as they’re sometimes called.
They finished the lift and it was time to climb down. I adjusted my gloves, took a deep breath, and began. Concentrating on being calm and safe, I soon felt the ground under my feet. I made it!
For years I’ve seen the cranes. I’ve wondered what it would be like in the driver’s seat, working and watching out the window at all the amazing people and the work they are accomplishing on the ground. It took over 30 years to make it up those ladders, but the view from the top, for me, was like a dream come true.

Did you know?
• It takes hundreds of hours to fully qualify as a journeyman crane operator.
• There are approx. 2,000 crane operators at the Command, 226 of them are licensed to operate the most complex cranes—portals, mobile and floating cranes.
• The cab operated cranes at the Command complete over 65,000 lifts a year, the actual number of lifts for all types of cranes s substantially more.
• It is not unusual to count as many lifts in one year as the other three public shipyards combined.
• The Command has two of the highest capacity portal cranes in the Navy, the largest mobile crane and one of the largest capacity bridge cranes in the Navy.

• Date Taken: 11.16.2017
• Date Posted: 01.26.2018 15:09
• Story ID: 263414
• Location: BREMERTON, WASHINGTON, US