LUMBERTON – Steven Blanton, an N.C. Department of Transportation bridge maintenance employee based in Robeson County, stood behind a control panel of a crane capable of lifting 29,000 pounds. The machine revved as he hoisted a concrete cylinder over a barrel. Blanton kept a steady gaze under a hard hat and a pair of sunglasses as he gently lowered the cylinder into the barrel without grazing the sides of it.
The crane competition was one of seven events at the Highway Division 6's annual equipment and safety ‘roadeo’ held May 7-9. About 150 division employees squared off behind the controls of the crane – plus large dump trucks, motor graders, tractors and other heavy equipment – on an abandoned tarmac at the Lumberton Regional Airport.
“This is an opportunity for the employees to get away from the grind of every-day training and have fun and compete,” said Karol Koval, the division’s safety officer.
Division 6 includes maintenance yards and NCDOT offices in Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Harnett and Robeson counties.
The employees were graded on completing obstacles, such as maneuvering equipment around orange cones, among other criteria. Watchful judges deducted points when drivers made mistakes, such as nicking a drum.
The winning employees who earned the highest score in each equipment category were recently announced. They advance to the state championship roadeo in Raleigh on June 20.
The crane competition will be held at the state level for the first time this year. Among the department’s 14 highway divisions, Division 6 was the first to employ a crane event at a roadeo in 2013. Since then, the competition has grown in popularity in the other divisions. Bridge maintenance employees use cranes to lift equipment at bridges and to put pontoons in the water to inspect bridges.
Division 6 has created a trophy that includes the names of past winners of crane events. The trophy is displayed each year at the bridge maintenance office where the winning employee works.
“The trophy and the plaques on it are a bragging right,” said Darren Pittman, the Division 6 bridge maintenance engineer. “People are competing over being safe and getting that trophy in their office.”
These highest-scoring drivers won, with their work area within Division 6 listed:
- Single-axle dump truck: Mike Breakiron, Harnett maintenance
- Crane: Steven Powell, Columbus bridge maintenance
- Tandem-axle dump truck: Keith Wrench, Harnett maintenance
- Tractor mower: Wade Kinlaw, Bladen maintenance
- Motor grader: Tracy Dowless, Bladen maintenance
- Backhoe tractor: Daniel Langston, Harnett maintenance
- Lowboy truck trailer: Keith Jackson, Division 6’s unit that does road maintenance