ODESSA JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2012 | THE NEWSLETTER FOR THE ODESSA DISTRICT OF THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION In ought-12, it snowed so hard... Safety Corner Page 2 Surveying The District Page 4 Salcido bridges to new career, Page 6-7 Construction updates Pages 5, 7, 13, 14 Snow plows came down from the Lubbock District to help move some of the 10 inches of snow that fell in the Permian Basin on Jan. 9. Special crew helped with the plows, but it was Odessa District maintenance offices workers who were on duty around the clock dealing with the weather that made a huge difference for drivers. Please see Page 3.
Transcript
ODESSAJA
NU
AR
Y-F
EB
RU
AR
Y20
12 |
TH
EN
EW
SLE
TT
ER
FO
RT
HE
OD
ESS
AD
IST
RIC
TO
FT
HE
TE
XA
SD
EPA
RT
ME
NT
OF
TR
AN
SPO
RT
AT
ION
In ought-12, it snowed so hard...
Safety CornerPage 2
Surveying TheDistrictPage 4
Salcido bridgesto new career,
Page 6-7
Construction updates
Pages 5, 7, 13, 14
Snow plows came down from the Lubbock District to help move some of the 10 inches of
snow that fell in the Permian Basin on Jan. 9. Special crew helped with the plows, but it was
Odessa District maintenance offices workers who were on duty around the clock dealing with
the weather that made a huge difference for drivers. Please see Page 3.
Get to know yourS.P.O.C.
1. How long have you worked for the Department?I have been with TxDOT 25 years come March 2,
2012.
2. How long have you been a S.P.O.C.?I accepted the position four years and six months
ago.
3. What is your biggest safety concern when youare working on the roadway?
One of my biggest safety concerns is the traveling
public going 80 mph — there’s not much room for
error. I want to see the crew go home at the end of the
day.
4. If you were to win $10 million, what would youdo with all that money?
This is a hard one to answer. I guess the first thing I
would do is pay off all my bills. Then I’d invest a big
portion of it and let it go to work for me.
I’d help our kids out, buy new vehicles and a new
fifth-wheel travel trailer, and then we would go on a
road trip visiting all of our family members from
Arizona to Florida.
5. What are the 5 important things you wouldinclude in your things to-do list?
Make a will; get organized at work and home; make
my home solar-powered; drill a water well; and build
ramps for my wife’s wheelchair.
6. What celebrity do you get mistaken for?Gentle Ben from TV. When I was in junior high, my
girlfriend said I looked like Wayne Newton.
7. What do you want to be when you grow up?A good man remembered for the good he has done.
Hello, Odessa District!
What a snowy last couple of
months we had! I wanted to take
this opportunity to thank the
employees who recently worked
snow and ice events and for doing
it SAFELY.I know you do a lot of good
things each and every day and
usually do not get the thanks you
deserve. Please take the time to
read the story on Page 3 that
includes a thank you letter. It’s nice to know there are
people out there who do appreciate all the work you do.
See you next month for ROADEO, practice, practice,
practice!!!!
— Eddy
S FETYCORNER
L
E
A
V
E
P
R
O
O
T
I
L
P
L
X
S
G
A
M
S
E
Y
E
U
Y
N
H
P
E
E
K
R
S
P
I
C
T
U
R
E
O
W
G
V
U
L
U
A
U
Y
H
O
O
S
T
F
I
E
A
B
N
M
B
U
K
P
M
K
A
E
G
A
G
N
I
R
E
E
T
S
Smith System KeysFind the BOLD words in the search grid below
Key 1: AIM HIGH in STEERINGKey 2: Get the big PICTUREKey 3: KEEP your EYES MOVINGKey 4: LEAVE yourself AN OUTKey 5: Make SURE they SEE you
Mike Rodriguez
is the
Safety Point
Of Contact in
the Balmorhea
Maintenance
Office.
Like many maintenance workers in
TxDOT, Odessa District crews are
skilled at dealing with icy roads. Ice
storms typically hit Odessa a few
times a year, so getting out ahead of a
freeze is “old hat.”
Dealing with 10 inches of snow is a
different matter altogether. On
Monday, Jan. 9, an unusually heavy
snowfall moved across the Odessa
District in the early hours of the day,
and TxDOT crews sprang into action.
Fortunately, members of Odessa’s
special crew, led by Saul Acosta, had
completed snow plow simulator train-
ing and had some hands-on experience
helping other districts with past
weather events.
Crew members Ramon Rodriguez,
Homero Perez, Rene Melendez,
Robert Wright, Luis Rodriguez, Eu-
gene Montez and Zeke Ramirez were
able to get a jump start on clearing the
snow by using “pony plows,” which
are small blades attached to the rear of
a dump truck.
A few hours later, snow equipment
from neighboring districts arrived. The
Lubbock District sent 10 snow plows,
10 crew members and a supervisor.
Supervisors were able to team
Odessa’s special crew members with
Lubbock workers, putting a seasoned
operator in every plow to trade off
work with the ODA staff.
Meanwhile, maintenance crews in
several sections rotated shifts around
the clock for the better part of three
days, treating trouble spots for ice.
“We concentrated on I-20, because
the state wanted that roadway to stay
open,” said Acosta, a 19-year veteran
of TxDOT. “We had four plows going
east, and four plows going west.” Two
plows from the El Paso District also
chipped in along Interstate 10, clearing
the road to Fort Stockton.
Maintenance Engineer Mike
Stroope recently joined the ODA staff
after working in the Lubbock District
for nearly 11 years. Though he’s seen
plenty of snow events, he was im-
pressed by Odessa’s handling of the
unexpected snowfall. Virtually all 13
Odessa District maintenance sections
responded to the weather in one way
or another.
“They hit it early and never let it
build up,” he said of the district crews.
“They just handled it perfectly.”
Mother Nature also lent a hand. Be-
cause there was no rain before the
snow, the pretreatments on the roads
weren’t washed away and therefore
worked properly. Also, the powdery
snow was easier to move than snow
that packs down and freezes. Since
temperatures never got far below
freezing, most roads stayed manage-
able.
As for the 10 inches that fell that
Monday, area drivers had to look hard
come Wednesday afternoon to find
any traces of a snowfall.
The preplanning, training,
teamwork, quick response and a little
luck made this weather event a major
win for the Odessa District.
Acosta said the most rewarding part
of the snow experience was an e-mail
sent by one appreciative citizen.
It read: “I would like to personally
thank all of your employees for keep-
ing the interstate safe for all of us that
had to travel back and forth to work
during the winter storm,” she wrote. “I
am a nurse at Medical Center Hospital,
and as you know, hospitals do not
close for ‘snow days.’ I travel from
Monahans daily and appreciate what
you all do for us on a daily basis. God
Bless all of you.”
“Any time we can help the public,
that's what we're here for,” Acosta
smiled.
S n o w da ze
Plows get busy westbound on Highway 302 on Jan. 10.
By Mike C. McAnally
District Engineer
The way the sun is shining right now, it’s
hard to believe that we were buried in a
record snowfall in Odessa and Midland less
than two months ago.
From Pecos to Sanderson to Crane to
Stanton to Andrews and here in Midland-
Odessa, everyone in the district who
responded to weather can take great pride in
the way this district handled the event.
Yes, we got help with snow plows from up
north, but it was the prevention efforts and
other work Odessa District employees did in
support of the overall weather response that
made things really work.
And, almost as fast as the weather changes
in these parts, our maintenance crews are now
gearing up for summer and the different
challenges summer work can bring.
Before summer gets here though, mark
April 26 on your calendars. That’s the day of
this year’s Safety Banquet. Pecos will be the
host section this time around.
Speaking of safety, one of the summer
focuses will be the 1-2-3 Safe Days of
Summer campaign.
Safety is one topic that we can’t seem to
stress enough. Eddy Rentas can’t stress it
enough; I can’t stress it enough; and your
supervisor can’t stress it enough.
Safety has to be the foundation in
everything we do. After a rough first half of
the fiscal year, we absolutely must get better
in safety. Safety isn’t just about a rating we
get from Austin, it’s about sending people
home safely every night and protecting
taxpayer dollars in the form of undamaged
equipment.
Make sure you wear all of you PPE and
make sure you have each other’s backs out in
the field. Use some common sense measures:
minimize backing, review your driving habits
for improvement, be smart and make sure
your co-workers are paying attention to safety
rules.
I’ll be blunt, in the past three months we’ve
had a number of reckless, almost senseless,
accidents, some of which involved injuries or
property damage. This simply can’t continue.
I want to implore each and every one of
you to rededicate yourself to safety each and
every day you come to work. Do it for your
loved ones if you won’t do it for yourself.
Be safe out there.
Surveying the district
Mike McAnallyOdessa District Engineer
Tweaked turnsMotorists using the Highway
191 service road at FM 1788
got some new traffic rules in
January when it was decided
that the inside (left-hand) lane
should be a left-turn-only lane
and that the right-hand lane
should offer the option to turn
left or go straight. The move
was made to allow for more
vehicles to turn left since
backlogs of those wanting to
turn would develop at peak
times. Because of public input,
left-turn arrows were added to
lights over the inside lanes to
make the traffic pattern clearer.
On 115It may not be Price
Construction’s best piece
of work in terms of on-time
construction, but the bridge
on Highway 115 looks
really good. A variety of
delays has pushed the
project past it’s planned
completion date, but at
least the bridge is open to
traffic. After Price finishes
the last details on the
Andrews County overpass,
workers will move to Ector
County for a rehabilitation
project on West Loop 338.
When John Salcido joined TxDOT
in 1984, his plan was to work a
summer job. Tom Schlegel changed
that by turning Salcido’s summer job
into a full-time gig that would last
more than a quarter of a century.
For the then-still-newly married
Salcido, switching gears was easy
thanks to his faith that God would put
him on the right path. Salcido, who
proudly displays photos of Pope John
Paul II and Mother Teresa in his
office, has always been comfortable in
following God’s hand in his life —
even if the path took off in a direction
that was a little different from
Salcido’s own plan.
That divine guidance now is taking
Salcido away from TxDOT and into a
role as the chief executive officer of
the Pecos Housing Authority.
“I know for a fact that if the man
upstairs didn’t want me in this, I
wouldn’t have gotten this job,”
Salcido said recently while reflecting
on his TxDOT career and the path
ahead.
And even as he shifts gears on
March 1, there are some constants in
his life — like serving others — that
can’t be ignored. He, like all other
TxDOT employees, served Texas
residents in his stint with this agency
and now he’ll serve those helped by
the Pecos Housing Authority.
“When this job came up, I thought it
was something I wanted to consider,”
the 50-year-old said. “Hopefully I can
help out taking care of them.”
While the gigs with TxDOT and
(soon) the Pecos Housing Authority
paid the bills, Salcido has also served
as a coach for kids and as a member of
the Knights of Columbus.
“I’ve always been involved here in
our town,” Salcido said. “It’s just my
upbringing. My parents taught me
about prayers and giving and not
worrying about receiving.”
Salcido said he’ll be taking a lot of
lessons learned at TxDOT into his next
job. Having worked under 14
supervisors, he had plenty of examples
to observe. While he said it’s been
great to work under his current boss
(Heather Sinclair), he’s had a boss or
two he would have rather skipped.
“I try to take the good of them —
even the two or three I didn’t get along
with — take from them, learn from
them,” Salcido said.
Salcido, who has been the bridge
inspector for the Odessa District for
the past two-and-a-half years, said not
being afraid to learn is one trait that
will serve him well in his new job.
“Luckily I learned through the years
to pick up the phone and ask,” Salcido
said. That trait served him well under
Schlegel early on and also served him
after Gary Law promoted Salcido to
bridge inspector.
“I am barely getting comfortable
with this job. I really enjoy this job. I
wish I had started 10 or 20 years ago,”
Salcido said even as he was training
Evans Kessey to replace him. It’s a tall
task considering that the Odessa
District has more than 1,100 structures
that qualify as bridges.
In addition to leaving a job he
Salcido passes bridge torch on way out
Evans Kessey,
left, discusses a
Reeves County
bridge with
John Salcido.
Salcido, the
Odessa District
bridge inspector
the past two-
and-a-half
years, is
leaving TxDOT
to become the
chief executive
officer of the
Pecos Housing
Authority.
Getting closeThe safety rest area project
west of Monahans on
Interstate 20 is moving right
along. Scheduled for opening
in late spring, the rest areas
will feature displays on local
wildlife and native plants as
well as on area tourist
information. The facilities also
include walking trails and
playgrounds. WiFi is also
available at the facility.
enjoys, Salcido said he would
miss the people he leaves
behind.
“It’s more than just friends
you come up with, it’s family,”
he said. “I can’t be grateful
enough for the job here. It’s
been excellent for me. It’s
given me the opportunity to
move up. It’s been excellent for
my family because I was able
to go to all my son’s events.
TxDOT allowed me to do that.
As long as you’re doing your
job, TxDOT has always been
supportive of families.”
Now Salcido will forge a
new path, confident it will go
well.
“You can’t be set on not
changing, you’ve got to go
with the times,” he said. “It’s
going to be a big transition, but
it’s going to be fun. For me, it’s
a perfect opportunity. Sure it’s
another paycheck, but I’m
doing something I like.”
And while retirement from
TxDOT means a new career
choice for Salcido, he’ll remain
focused on helping others and
his wife, Rosie, and son, John
Paul — a doctoral candidate in
biomedical engineering.
“It’s a privilege to work, but
at the end of the day you have
to take care of your family,” he
said. “My family at home is the
world to me.”
ABOVE: John
Salcido, right,
checks out a watch
that was just
handed to him by
District Engineer
Mike McAnally.
LEFT: John Salcido
and his wife, Rosie,
share a hug and a
smile just before his
retirement
celebration kicked
off at the Pecos
office on Feb. 24.
The January blood drive was a rousing success. A total of 13 people
registered (not counting a couple who were turned away) and 15 units
were collected. The bus was busy from the time it rolled in until a little
after 5 p.m. As you can see in the picture above, Midland maintenance
supervisor Eric Lopez (left) and Stanton maintenance supervisor Zane
Honeyfield (right) came to Odessa to donate as did Andrews office
manager Diana Ortiz (below left). Jeanna Lambert (bottom right) of
Traffic Field Operations is a frequent bleeder at these events.
Givea little
Service AwardsDecember
Becky Bragg ............................Midland............................30 years
Kathy Schlegel ..............Odessa Construction ..................30 years
Benny P. Carrasco ....................Kermit ............................25 years
Omar M. Flores ......................Monahans ..........................25 years
Joe S. Hinojos ............................Crane..............................25 years
Daniel Reyes..............................Pecos ..............................25 years
Adan R. Garcia................Fort Stockton Area ..................15 years
Vincent Granado ............Odessa Maintenance ..................15 years
Fred G. Herrera ..................Central Design ......................15 years
William R. Wilson ....................Crane..............................10 years
January
Mike McAnally ................District Engineer ....................30 years
Rey E. Brown..........................Andrews ..........................25 years
Cathy O’Reilly ..............Odessa Construction ..................25 years
