How many inspectors/Qc guys.

[Gary Fowler]

I have to tell this one. We had a PE soils engineer that would not approve the road base "because the moisture content was too high". WE (construction QC) and his own tech tried to tell him that the nuclear density gauge was reading hydrated moisture in the limed dirt that we had put down. We had put down several truck loads of liquid lime, chopping it in with a soil mixed (BA tiller) then grading it and compacting it with a roller. We used this road as a construction road for over a year and it held up fine. You could walk a 200T crane down it or across it and leave no depression, just black marks from the steel tracks rubbing the hard soil. The geotechnical inspector would have to have a 14# sledge hammer to drive in his spike to make a Nuke test, then we would need a 20 T cherry picker to pull it out but the PE said too soft. Had to drag his Arse out of the office to witness first hand how the road bed was before he would accept that he was wrong and we were right. It didn't hurt that we made him drive in one of the spikes to test, he was sweating pretty good when he finished.

Lots of over-educated folks hate to admit that an old construction person can out do them in common knowledge.

 

[oosik]

I was an Environmental quality supervisor for the government for a little over twenty years. What I used to hear from my new inspectors, and it made me grind my teeth, "I do not care what you say, the code says this---". Being in Alaska, and being I started in the early '60's - - its VERY lucky I didn't get some of my inspectors shot dead on the spot. The '60's, in Alaska, was not a time for the meek & mild.

 

[kenmac]

I'm my own QC /inspector. Then, the city or county inspector inspects behind me and signs off on any permits

 

[QRTRHRS]

Having worked with many an engineer, reading the threads makes me chuckle. When I worked semi I was union so I could just of well have said "yeah well" and let it pass. Being I like a challenge, I like to push issues.

I was one of five QA people per shift covering certain areas in a class ten clean room. We had this annealing furnace that processed one wafer at a time. Mostly, one other person and myself were asked to look into the more difficult situations and we happened to be working the same time. The operators called us on the annealing furnace saying that they did not like the end results they were seeing in a microscope. We did not either but could not say positively what the issue was.

So I call the engineer who proceeds to blow me off. Seems he and another engineer had fine tuned the machine that day which we had not been made aware of. Numbers multiply fast in the semi world so perhaps three days later and many costly steps, perhaps a hundred grand worth of product had failed. Mr. engineer got the machine right but never apologized to my co-worker and myself. I don't need no atta-boy but thanks for the effort is appreciated.

Just so happened, same engineer made the paper for solicitation a couple of days later. What with several hundred people covering 24/7 in this clean room, they had this newsletter that came out once a month just to try to make it a more family atmosphere. I clipped a copy of the police blotter and imposed it under some blue ribbon fillers on the latest paper. Then, I put a copy of the hijacked paper on every engineeer and management desk covering the department. LOL!

Like I said, a simple thanks would have sufficed.

Lastly, some of the most dedicated and helpful engineers I have ever had the privilege and good fortune to work with were orientals or east indians. They were savy enough to recognize that I did not want to one up their thunder but only to learn and earn.