True meaning of the word service

Kevin J. Shelton, left, with his family.

By Kevin J. Shelton Growing up in the work zone. Yes, that is my story. You see, when I helped to start the company, C-Hawkk Construction Inc., I was only 19 years old. I remember opening my first set of plans and wondering, “Where do we start?”

Then my father made a statement to me, “Son, every sign that anyone will provide for this project will say the same thing, and what matters is the service that you provide behind that sign.” That has stuck with me for all of the 31 years of my career in traffic control.

I set out to try to give the best response and service that I could to that general contractor no matter the distance or time of day that a call would come into our office. I still to this day believe with everything in me how important that statement remains, but I must be honest as I write this blog about work zone safety. I believe I have learned that there are more important things that I must share.

You see as I was answering the phones and personally responding to all the calls for service and repairs, traffic switches and road closures, it became clearer to me than ever before that there are people depending upon what I do each and every day, and I am not just talking about the general contractor. Every person who drove through one of the work zones I have deployed is relying upon that work zone to get them home to their family. And then I realized that MY FAMILY was also relying upon me just as much to make it home.

Do I have personal accounts of close calls and near misses on the highway? YES I DO, and probably too many to list here. It doesn’t take too many drums knocked out of your hand while walking down the side of a roadway by a vehicle speeding by to get your attention or the sound of screeching tires on the pavement to absolutely scare you to death. That is when I decided to do everything that I could possibly do to train myself and those working with me better.

I searched for ways and ideas to make our company and employees safer from the very first day they began to work for us.  I learned through sharing those experiences of close calls and training through a great association I became involved with, ATSSA , the American Traffic Safety Services Association, which provides training, corroboration and ideas, that we could as a company do our job and do it safer.  Not only could we become safer as a company, but what we provided to the traveling public became safer as well. That is when I realized the true meaning of the word “SERVICE” that my father had been trying to teach me those many years ago. Thanks Dad!

Kevin J. Shelton is the owner/estimator of C-Hawkk Construction, Inc., in Eudora

 

 

This is why it’s important to move over

By Caleb Provo

I was only eight months into my job at the Kansas Turnpike when my vehicle was struck on July 9, 2019. In less than one year, I already have a moment I’ll look back on and be grateful it didn’t end up a different way.

Last summer, I was with our crew doing our annual paint striping at mile marker 8.8, which is just north of the Oklahoma border. I was sitting in a dump truck with an attenuator attached to it. This was blocking the passing lane of the roadway. And a different vehicle was behind me informing traffic of the lane blockage.

Things were proceeding as normal, when I saw it out of my side mirror. In a quick instant, I see a semi that hadn’t moved over coming right at my tail end! There was no way the driver could stop in time, and he tried to—unsuccessfully—squeeze between me and the barrier wall to avoid a collision.

Ultimately, the semi driver ended up crashing into the back end of my attenuator, and I radioed to our teams that I had been hit. Then things got even crazier. A piece of metal from the attenuator broke off and pierced my fuel tank, which in and of itself is a dangerous situation.

However, to make matters worse, the impact also caused the semi to catch fire. I’m glad I was there in that moment and uninjured because I helped the driver, and his wife who was with him, out of the on-fire semi. They wanted to try and save their belongings, and I told them, “Stuff is replaceable, you aren’t.”

It’s good they got out when they did. I tried using an extinguisher on the semi, but within a matter of minutes, it was completely engulfed in flames. In less than 20 minutes, the entire thing was destroyed. You could barely recognize it.

Still to this day, I don’t know exactly why they didn’t move over, but I’m so glad this incident didn’t end up worse than what it was. Please, take a lesson from this — pay attention, read signage and move over for roadway workers. Our lives truly do depend on it.

 

Caleb Provo is a Structures Worker for the Kansas Turnpike Authority in Wichita

Set in stone: Concrete pavement patching extends life of Kansas roads

Bryant & Bryant Construction crew members use a concrete saw to score the pavement in a rectangular shape. 

By Donna Tollerton,

Public Affairs Manager, northcentral Kansas 

Concrete pavement patching plays a critical role in extending the life of our roads. A recent example of this type of project took place in Saline County on I-135.

The process starts with KDOT crews marking the areas that need to be patched by the contractor. This allows our crews to specify the amount of concrete needed and helps make sure all areas are patched.

A concrete saw is then brought in to score the pavement in the shape of a rectangle. This shape is important because the patches are rectangular for ease of constructability, requiring less manual labor. They generally last for about seven to 10 years. 

Crews patch concrete to extend the life of the road surface. 

After the concrete saw carves out the shape, a milling machine is used to break up the existing concrete. This process is completed by hand with jack hammers because the machine can't cut square corners. After this process is finished, the concrete is then poured in place.

Remember, if you see highway workers to slow down, move over and give them room to work. 

A handheld jackhammer is able to reach the sharp corners of the shape.  

Watch for responders at traffic incidents: lives depend on it

Every minute of every day, emergency responders across the country work to help save lives at the scene of traffic incidents. But every year hundreds of emergency responders representing fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services, towing and transportation agencies are struck and either injured or killed while responding.

To raise awareness of the dangers these emergency responders are exposed to and to remind drivers of their obligation to use caution when approaching a traffic incident, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has declared Nov. 13 – 19 as Traffic Incident Response Week.

In 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported a 7.2 percent increase in roadway fatalities over 2014. In 2016, another 6 percent jump was reported. Emergency responders work at each one of these scenes and unfortunately, are sometimes victims of secondary crashes caused by inattentive drivers.

KDOT, the Kansas Highway Patrol and partner agencies across Kansas remind drivers to move over for any emergency or maintenance vehicle with flashing lights.

The Kansas Move Over law requires drivers on four-lane roads or highways to move over when passing emergency vehicles. On two-lane roads, drivers should slow down and proceed with caution. 

To help emergency responders in Kansas, a FHWA Traffic Incident Management multi-disciplinary training course is presented to promote a shared understanding of the requirements for quick incident clearance and best-practice safeguards for responders and motorists. More than 3,000 emergency responders in Kansas have received the training.

Motorists are encouraged to always slow down, move over and give emergency responders room to work when approaching a traffic incident.

 

Poster winner donates prizes to kids in need

Austin Lamb, pictured in the center,  a regional winner in the Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day poster contest donates his prizes to school children in need. 

Normally when someone wins a prize, the winner keeps everything for themselves. For one youngster, winning means giving to others in need.

Austin Lamb, a statewide and regional winner of the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Put the Brakes on Fatalities poster contest, takes an extra interest in participating each year.

His interest stems from when his dad was hit by a car while on duty as an Osage County Sheriff’s Office Deputy. Lamb witnessed the accident and now actively promotes traffic and law enforcement safety by entering this contest.

This is Lamb’s way of trying to make a difference at this age. His poster this year encourages drivers to pay attention when you see those in uniform helping stranded motorists.The various officers assisting communities across Kansas are keeping us safe  and Lamb wants everyone to keep officers safe as well.

Austin Lamb's winning design encourages drivers to pay attention when officers are assisting other motorists. 

For being a statewide and regional winner, Lamb won several prizes including:  A new bike, a bike helmet, a Kindle Fire Tablet and case, a $50 Amazon gift card and a $50 Wal-Mart card. 

This is the second year that Lamb was the regional poster contest winner and this year he is donating his bike from last year to a child in need.  Lamb also plans to donate the new Kindle Fire Tablet, tablet case, and Amazon gift card to his school. These gifts from Lamb will be raffled or auctioned off; and all proceeds will be used to purchase sports balls for elementary students to use for recess. 

Lamb would like to thank the group of people that attended his presentation:  His dad Richard, his mom Nancy, his sister Taylor, and his Grandma Beverly. He would also like to thank Lieutenant Dax Lewis of the Kansas Highway Patrol, Deputy Scott Brenner of the Osage County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Robert Brenner of the Osage County Sheriff’s Office and the Osage City Chief of Police Fred Nech. 

Throwback Thursday addresses Traffic Incident Response Awareness Week

Last December, we shared a chilling account of a traffic accident in Montana and the dangers emergency responders face while they assist at the scene of an accident or roadside emergency. This video could be hard to watch but the message is important.

November 14-18th is Incident Response Awareness Week. Every year, hundreds of emergency responders, including EMTs, firefighters, police officers, transportation and towing service providers, are struck or killed on the job in secondary crashes. These crashes result in increased risk, traffic congestion and impact on communities nationwide. 

A majority of these secondary crashes could be avoided if distracted driving were eliminated.

They have our back, do we have theirs? Watch out for responders at traffic incidents: Lives depend on it.