Serving
Optical Products Division,
Southbridge
Vol.
2 No. 8
November,
1972
The
Powerhouse Gang
“There’s
only one ‘normal’ job in the Powerhouse...” said Powerhouse Manager Bernie
Devine”... mine!”
He
explained that his was about the only job in the Powerhouse with more or
less regular hours.
With
the exception of Technician Mary Navis, the other 11 members of the Powerhouse
Gang work irregular shifts.
But
it takes irregular shifts and exceptional men to supply the power for AO
in Southbridge.
The
Powerhouse supplies all electrical power - over 1 million kilowatts a week;
it provides all compressed air - for lens grinding and other necessities;
it supplies all steam - over 3 million pounds a day for process and heating;
it processes all wash water for lens grinding; it processes water for cooling
- at the rate of 19,000 gallons a minute; and supplies service water and
hot water heat.
Since
last year, the Powerhouse has been burning a 1% low sulphur fuel - at a
cost of many thousands of extra dollars - to minimize sulphur emissions
from the smokestack.
The
Powerhouse also has many devices, including alarms, to guard against an
excess of smoke coming out of the chimney.
The
members of the Powerhouse gang are proud of the Powerhouse and of the role
they play in keeping the AO industrial complex operating.
Mary
Navis is the member with the most AO service.A
basket of flowers denoting her 30 years with the company sits behind her
desk.
the
four Powerhouse firemen average 25 years of service.They
are Florian J. Navis (Mary’s husband), 29 years; Edward H. Kaczmarck and
Carmen Bastardo, both with about 25, and Gerald R. Lippe with nearly 20.
The
Mechanics are Jan Sekula with 20 years, Maurice R. Choiniere, 17, and Thomas
Titchen, 6.
Engineers
are William J. Collins, 10, Joseph N. Maciejewski, 5, Robert J. Smith,
3, and newcomer Walter Cimochowski.
And
Bernie Devine?He’s been there 22
years and still taking the responsibility for keeping AO in power.
The
AO Chimney
by:Charles
E. Lemoine
Looking
east from the Engineering Office, of the fourth floor of the Lens Plant,
one can see workmen silhouetted against a bright morning sky.
They
are scurrying confidently on circular staging, erecting a kaleidoscope
of steel bars and reinforcing a protective layer of new concrete to the
Powerhouse chimney.
According
to Powerhouse manager, Bernie Devine, the “Custodis Construction Company
of New Jersey” is doing the repair work...the same company which built
the chimney in 1909.
The
AO chimney is believed to be one of the first reinforced concrete structures
in the United States.Its 7-inch-thick
walls have withstood 63 years of New England weather.
The
chimney was 185 feet tall before workmen lopped 7 feet off the top to make
it conform to the straight chimneys of today.
With
its new concrete sleeve, the chimney weighs 300 tons - 600,000 pounds.Besides
the new 5-inch thick concrete sleeve on the outside, there is a 5 1/2-inch
layer of brick inside up to 82 feet.
The
300-ton structure rests on a steel pad four-feet thick by 25 feet square.