CHRISTOPHER DOHERTY

A first of its kind in the U.K. in over 40 years the galloway is used for deep shaft mining, we were excavating an MTS shaft (mineral transport shaft) for the mining and production of polyhalite(potash). This is hard rock mining so its a drill and blast A galloway is a 5 tier platform suspended on massive winder ropes and drums which descend us and raise us as we request. As there is a lot of noise so we communicated to our winder drivers via a belling signal system. A galloway is designed to work as a double drum system, one side goes up and one side goes down in sequence. My job required extensive training, tests and SOPS were carried out prior to being competent for the job

Duties on the job included

• Going through a tally system putting our belongings in a locker as the shaft may be a hazard because of gases, signing in and picking up tally number, cap lamp, MSA, gas monitor, radio, harness and lanyard, tool tethers and tool bag, insuring all gear is on correctly and working prior to entering pit top.
• Drilling the bench as per design on drawings from engineers, plugging holes once drilled to keep rocks out, then sending jumbos back up for servicing.
• Communicating with winder driver using bell signals for conveyances of man rider, buckets, tool baskets, equipment entering and leaving the shaft, installing temporary support (mesh and rock bolts)
• Assisting shotfirer with charging the bench
• Building, pouring and stripping running shutter
• Help shaft techs install plumb bobs, prisms and other instruments to ensure the shaft is kept straight
• Extending services as shaft descends
• Operating various machines (excavator, brokk, scissor lifts, shotcrete pumps, mirlo, wearing full ppe which also includes gas monitor, head lamp, harness, MSA, wiki feeder, tool tethers, filling out pre-work risk assessments

• Company Overview: Construction of Queen Elizabeth line (Cross rail)/Various projects across the UK
• Excavating shafts with excavator and telescopic grab, sometimes a machine in the shaft too depending on size, duties include measuring for shaft, checking for services, pushing sheet piles and building frames inside for support, keeping shaft dry, for segmental shaft, building cutting edge and rings as the shaft advances, constructing and pouring collar so the shaft doesn't move, using jacks to push the shaft when needed, grouting up to seal the shaft, timber headings for cross passages, sewage breakings, emergency tunnels, short drives and long drives
• Excavate the ground using FL-22 and other tools, ensure ground is safe by installing headboards and sideboards, grout up every shift depending how good/bad the ground is, build steel for permanent support, building and grouting cast iron rings if the excavation is for cross passages, pipejacking from one shaft to another, set up hydraulic jacking machine, insure sloop is working so rods don't jam, start jacking and threading rods after each push, micro tunnelling assist the TBM driver, operate over dump valves when needed, strip out all pipes(sloop and slurry lines)coms, electrics when preparing to push another pipe, keep area clean and be looking out for anything that doesn't seem right, the use of grinders, chop/skill saws, drills and other hand tools on a daily basis
• Construction of Queen Elizabeth line (Cross rail)/Various projects across the UK
• more can be added if requested

Construction of New Children's Hospital Perth

• Erecting aluminum peri pans propped up by screw jack legs, using props to plum the pan to engineers spec, upon completions of level when all pans are locked in, it is then safe for the steel fixers to start working above getting ready for the pour, removing all steel off cuts from the steel fixers as these cannot be in the pour
• Shuttering columns with ply after steel has been set in, sparing all formwork with form oil insuring pans and ply are easily removed, pouring columns and using a poker to remove air and to get a nice finish upon stripping the shutter
• use of different power tools, kangos, sds drill, circular saw, chop saw, angle grinders, laser levels, scablers,
• Strip shuttering once concrete has cured, pouring cubes for crush tests for each individual pour

Construction of a new 83-meter high dam for the growing population of Canberra, this was a unique one off job, this was a valley widened to suit the new one, all rock was taking up to the top of the valley and crushed to be used in the RCC(roller compressed concrete) concrete was then conveyed down to the work area, this was a 24/7 job when formworkers, concrete workers any heavy machinery drivers(dozers, excavators, skid steers, 32t articulated dumpers) worked together to insure safety was paramount, good communication and walkways and barriers insured everyone's safety. As we climbed the dam got much narrower as we were stepping back every time we went up a level.

Duties included

• Building shutters with strongbacks(sometimes 2x4 for corners and propped individually)), clipping aluminium beams to them and nailing the ply to the beams, getting the dogman to land the shutter, we then secured it using push poles from the previous row behind, push poles are then used to plum the shutter, tie roads are then threaded into

sheer bolts, plates and nuts secure it to the strongback, shutters are oiled.

• Building megashoring to hold up the concrete slabs that will be placed through the dam building a tunnel to reach the operations room inside. The shoring pieces were lifted into place by the crane and dogman and we bolted it together to the correct torque spec. Any high hard to reach places were accessed by cherry picker or MEWP wearing harness and lanyards for fall protection.
• As the job was seen as a risk as of its nature we had a lot of safety officers monitoring the job, i was assigned each week to carry out check with the officers, making changes to different parts off the site.