U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District employee Shane Roe, lead welder at the Robert S. Kerr Marine Terminal in Sallisaw, is the 2013 recipient of the Corps of Engineers national Castle award.
Each year, since 2002, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee is recognized for outstanding contribution and performance as a wage grade employee.
“Nominees must have demonstrated a pattern of excellence and exceptional performance of their duties reflecting exemplary team support and interaction. They must demonstrated qualities to serve as a role model for other wage grade employees through facilitation and support to their team,” according to USACE selection criteria.
This year Roe was selected as the employee in the Corps who most demonstrated those qualities.
past several years Roe has provided service to the district’s navigation, hydropower and flood risk management projects and occasionally supports nearby districts with technical problem solving and welding.
His supervisor Greg Barns had a hard time describing Roe saying, “This guy is one of a kind. No single thing describes him. But I can tell you, he sets the bar high for everyone who works with him.”
When the Tulsa District discovered it had a major problem with Lock 17, the consensus by the leaders on the navigation channel that the person to put in charge was Roe.
“This is the guy who leads by example. Put him in charge and he’ll find a way to get the job done,” said Rodney Beard, Tulsa District navigation office.
When told he was the recipient of the Castle award, he said his first reaction was a stunned silence. Roe admits he was at a loss for words. “…and I’m not usually at a loss for words. Just ask the guys I work with.” Asked about his family’s reaction to the national award, Roe thought a moment then said, “Well, my dad, who has been a farmer all his life, kind of grinned and said ‘I guess all that farm work paid off.’ ”
A recent assignment for Roe was considered a good example of why he was selected for the 2013 Castle award.
When a grinding noise in the downstream lock gates of Lock 17 in 2012 heralded a potentially serious problem it was decided to expose the gate and pintle ball to see what causes the grinding The pintle Ball supports and pivots the gate.
Consensus by the leaders of the operation division in Tulsa District was to put Roe in charge of the planning, execution and repair of whatever would surface. This was no easy task as there was no place to buy a replacement part manufactured 50 years ago. There also was no set of engineering drawings to work from.
To conduct a close up examination of the gate and pintle ball required lifting the 350,000 pound miter gate, find a way to support the gate while disconnected and replacing critical parts all within a 3 week timeframe. Any delays in schedule would have cost stakeholders up to $1.3 million per day. Roe planned out each specific task and provided alternate means for accomplishing the job in case any unforeseen problems arose. He also had to take into account specific safety measures to insure crew safety for each task.
The project finished ahead of schedule with zero accidents.
“None of us were all that surprised when Shane won the Castle (Award). He’s just that good,” said Johnny Bell, Johnny Bell, Tulsa District’s Technical Support Branch Chief.