Happy Thanksgiving

Hello Everyone, I know this post comes a few days late but because of the short holiday work week I decided to hold off last weeks post and combine it with this short weeks post. Anyways Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I cant wait to get some of moms homemade cooking in me, I can already smell the turkey in oven.

Anyways at Levy I have been super busy, John and I went out to the landfill twice last week to survey elevations, this was a very tough and very cold experience. Before going to the landfill wasn't that bad but add sub 35degree, 30mph wind to the equation everything comes a bit more difficult. So the next time you see a surveying crew just know that the job isn't as easy as it may seem. Also last week I completed work on the 612 conveyor drawing and sent that over to John for approval. The main project I involved myself with last week was the CMS copper plant walkway, Getting this correct and safe are the key focal points of my proposal.

Now onto this short week, one of the main projects going on right now is Wallace Stone Jaw Crusher Replacement. This last week as been filled with computer aided drafting. I have been generating 3D models of the structure, crusher, and many other components. This will be to give others a better grasp of what the changes will be. The 3D generations will be a assets in the construction faze as well. So the better part of 3 days has been dedicated to this project.

Over the last week and a half I have used not only my knowledge in CAD, but also my practical experience  from many past group projects that you attain through different ME classes. Keeping it simple is how I would best describe at how I approached the last week and half. On another note, Levy's office atmosphere has really picked up around the holiday's which has a nice feel to it.

By the way my Spartans are going to the Big Ten Championship Game  as winners of the Legends Division, I cant wait to watch them win it all in Indianapolis. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!!!! Go Lions

As the Weather Changes

Hey everyone, its been another interesting week here at Levy. This week the weather in Michigan went from cold to out right snow on the ground and old man winter finally making his presence. This is starting to drive me a little mad because people seem to forget how to navigate I-94 when the weather changes. So now I can literally add 25-30 plus mins of morning and afternoon commute from Home to Work and vice versus. If you cant tell this is really frustrating me now more than rush hour traffic has since starting.

Now onto Levy Projects, As I stated last week I was in Charleston, SC and yes the trip was awesome. John and I measured the copper building out to give us and better Idea of what we need to design for the fall protection. While observing the copper building in Charleston we notice the steel structure or for better words the "lack" of steel structure that makes up the skeleton of the building, Seeing this got us very concerned for safety. So once I got back into the office I talk with my supervisor (Al) about the concerns that I had with the building, he suggested that I calculate the Stress/Strain and Deflections on the steel columns and connecting beams. This required me to use my previous class knowledge of Statics(CE221) and Deformable Solids(ME222), this was actually a fun realization that the classes I have took have truly come in hand on this project.(So thank you Professor Baladi and Professor Liu). After crunching some numbers I found the beams and columns were adequate for the loads but only had a 11.5 safety factor(SCARY). So after talking it over with Al we decided that more steel was need to allow us to modify the structure so we could continue our design for the fall protection walkway. I'm currently working on the design in CAD and should have proposal ready early next week.

On top of that I've also been working on a redesign for the engineering office area, so we can add a new cubical for the new Project Manager for the Granulator project at the Rouge Severstal Site. This consist of drawing the modifications into the current floor plan CAD file and ordering the new materials necessary for the construction of the new cubical. Also the existing wall well be torn out and we are having contractors come in next week to give us pricing. We should have this project completed in a few weeks. Below is a picture of the area that is to be converted to the new office.

Also here is photos of the GTMS Copper Plant and the piles of picked shred that has been stockpiled.

Charleston, SC

Hey everyone, tomorrow I will be heading out to Charleston, SC for 3days. John and I will be taking measurements of their copper plant so we can adequately design fall protection for roof access during maintenance. We will be using a array of equipment to attain the correct measurement as well as carefully deciding what the best way to perform the current maintenance jobs is. This trip should provided me with knowledge of another Levy Mini Mill site as well as in field engineering experience. John and I will have to design a easy to install but cost effective design for the plant. This project as been in the discussion stages for about a month or so, and I have brought many ideas to the table, this will be a opportunity to determine if any of those will work. Hopefully looking forward to nice weather and a productive trip.

Stock Piles at Plants 6

Hey everyone, its been a slightly less busy week here at Levy, However I did get to climb some stockpiles for so we could measure them. We use the measurements to give a estimated value of how much material is in the pile so that they can call for a boat to come and take the pile away to be sold. Also this week we retook some arc flash safety photos to help better the Arc Flash Safety training Power Point and make the visualizations a bit more clear. So this week I used basic mathematics to figure the tonnage of the stockpiles as well as my communication skills to relay the info to the plant manager. On thing to mention is this job defiantly requires you to be physically fit as I'm a average athlete and climbing those stockpiles can be one heck of a challenge. On the other hand I'm preparing for my trip to Charleston on Thursday, I will be packing tonight I need to remember to bring certain things, however this trip should be great field experience and I hope to have some fun while down there.