Concrete-pump simulator offers state-of-the-art training for operating engineers

OAKVILLE

A state-of-the-art concrete-pump simulator has been installed at the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario (OETIO) campus in Oakville.

In fact, the OETIO campus, located at the Local 793 head office on Speers Road, is the only training facility in Canada with a concrete-pump simulator.

Developed by CM Labs Inc. of Montreal, with input from instructors at the OETIO, the machine is a three-metre-tall, dome-shaped structure.

The operator can stand in the middle of the machine and use controls to conduct simulated pouring and other exercises in a virtual environment.

Mike Gallagher, business manager of Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, said the simulator is a valuable training tool for concrete-pump instructors at the OETIO.

“The simulator will enable apprentices to get a feel for operating these machines in a safe and controlled environment,” he said. “Concrete pumps are getting bigger and more dangerous to operate. We want to make sure that the operators are properly trained to operate these machines.”

The simulator is modelled after a Schwing 32-metre-boom concrete pump.

A pilot concrete-pump operator course was held recently at the Oakville campus. The three-week course, consisting of classroom and hands-on instruction, will put the union and OETIO at the forefront if Ontario decides to make concrete pumping a compulsory trade.

Gallagher said the union has asked the province to implement mandatory training of concrete-pump operators because it would make worksites safer. The number of accidents and fatalities involving crane operators has decreased dramatically since apprenticeships for hoisting trades were introduced.

OETIO training manager Shawn Robertson said instructors are excited about having the concrete-pump simulator on site.

“The simulator will enable our apprentices to get a feel for what it’s really like to operate a concrete pump. In the simulator, they’ll be given scenarios that duplicate what it’s like on the jobsite.”

The OETIO is also purchasing a smaller simulator that can be taken to career fairs. The combined cost of the two simulators is $390,000.

DCN News Services

This is what is wrong with us.

No really, I am serious. This is a big pile.

What is the easiest thing that an operator does? Answer, move the boom.

I wonder what that thing cost. How many dollars were sacrificed to the Nintendo Gods for that bit of fluff? How could that money have been better spent?  And then the part that REALLY bothers me… the people that bought it probably figured they were really, for real, doing the right thing. A union (the only real training left in America) shot the training budget on the easiest learned, least craft intensive portion of the pumpers day.

“OH COME ON BOB…….. YOU ARE SUCH AN ASSHOLE; GIVE US A BREAK HERE.”

No

Here is my case for my point; the references are easy to check:

I think that we would all pretty much agree that this site has a fair share of pump operators and want to be operators. The message board is representative of the questions that operators need answers to. How many times has the question of “How do you wiggle the boom” come up?

Any 3 year old girl could, after a couple of hours practice, be as proficient a boom operator as 99.9% of the people that do it for a living.

I very much appreciate the fact that the Operating Engineers Union is doing something, anything, to train the next generation of operators. For that thought alone I am grateful. They can not be faulted for their effort; Bravo!

My problem is that someone, sometime, must have been asked, “What can we do for the young members that want to be concrete pump operators?” That someone that was asked was a member of the pumping community. He could have suggested:

Aggregate properties & gradation specs

Basic concrete mix designs

Wrench – 101

Heavy truck troubleshooting

Hydraulic symbols and systems

Basic math –

Concrete pumping nomenclature

Clamp 101

System 101

Pump priming 101

Pump clean out 101

SAFETY 101

That local could have, for the $$$ invested, had the best educated crop of apprentice pump operators on anyone’s block. But what did they spend the money on? An area that anyone can figure out in a day.

For $390,000.00

they could have purchased a boom pump, a trailer pump, a bunch of system and really trained some operators

For the ultimate all round champion concrete pump operator............ hire a mfg's employee that has worked on the test stand for a couple of years. He knows!

Bob , you are right !

Move the boom will the most operators manage....

We had an mobilecrane operator that should start to pump but he didnt make it ( he was a very good craneoperator) but when the mud came in the hopper he didn´t manage to prime it...he had "concretefever" He had no feeling for the mud....He tried for some month but sadly he had to go...

You can never learn by a computer how the concrete should sounds and "feels" in the pipes....

A few weeks ago a mixer driver said, hey pumping concrete looks easy what is it up down left right? i asked him whats that have to do with pumping concrete? people dont realize that we are two different kinds of operators. pump operators and boom operators. hey we should get paid double lol

In looking over there web site it seems a viable training tool.I know it's not hands on but a teaching aid.I seem to remember chasing 2x4's around the yard learning the boom.

http://www.oetio.com/

$4.00 for a can of marking paint and an empty parking lot an 4 hours of practice was all I got and I havent knocked anyone off a wall yet!

Vasa

I agree 100%

You have to 'feel it'.

$4.00 for a can of paint. I rest my case.

When the Air Force wants to train a pilot they FIRST teach him about lift, wing shape; the why of it. Later he gets into the plane.

im on board w/ u guys, you can place a couple of buckets w/water in them and move  and  dip.

p.s. you can find free 5 gal. buckets on almost any job site,save the 4 bucks for a treat, venti latte, LOL

I believe in training tools this sucks in my books,start out on a trailer pump and work your way up,read every manual on the pump you run,talk to all the old guys ask questions,and be active on this site.

There's no way you can learn to run a pump that way! Anyone can push a lever, Knowing how to put concrete throw it day after day and not have ANY trubles LOL. I'm secont genaration pumper. I was trained on a Thomson 640 stiff boom LOL. After almost 40 years . I still look at new operators and smile. I grow up in a time were you would use 2 pumps to pour 300 yrds LOL. My dad has retirerd. And to this day he can't believe the things I do now! I put 130,000 yards throw a 36z in 11 months in 2006, With out even 1 brake down. a few pipes. 1 hydrolic hose LOl. If i wasn't pumping 180 yds a hr! I was pumping up to 700 feet throw 2 And haft hose with super p. Times have changed! I would like to think men like me are not replace able! I have 1 son that loves this busness, I wih he didn't. Rich