Local 25 Iron Worker
Wins NEA's Craftsman Award

A Michigan ironworker brought home the prize! Dallas Compeau, Iron Workers Local 25, was honored by NEA - The Association of Union Constructors with its 2002 Craftsman Award for Ingenuity & Innovation in Construction in the association's 13th annual awards competition. In a ceremony April 19th during the NEA's 33rd annual meeting April 16-20 in Sanibel, Fla., Compeau, of Pinconning, received the prestigious honor in the 75,000 to 150,000 work hours

Dallas Compeau, Iron Workers Local 25

category for his turn as project superintendent on a Mackinac Bridge project in 2000-01.

"I really appreciate getting the award," the soft-spoken Compeau said shortly after returning to Michigan, where he shared the trophy with his wife, Gloria, and stepson Clay, 11. "But it was the men, the ironworkers and operators on the project, who made the job a success. It's too bad there isn't recognition for my foremen and the others who worked the project." Compeau said there were three iron worker locals represented on the job: Local 25 in metro Detroit, Local 8 out of Milwaukee, Wis., and Local 340 in Battle Creek.

The project involved replacing the bridge's inspection travelers and rail spanning the length of the Mighty Mac. The "travelers" are motorized work platforms suspended on trolley rails on the underside of the bridge deck. The two-year, $14 million project was completed last fall for the Chicago, Ill., office of general contractor and steel erector American Bridge Co. of Coraopolis, Pa. The work included tearing out six existing travelers and replacing them with eight custom-made new ones, and installing 14,800 lin. ft. of traveler rail. The new travelers are 8 ft. wide x 40 ft. long and weigh 50,000 lbs. each, considerably heftier than the 16,000-lbs. units they replaced. More than 800 tons of steel was erected on the job.

Raising the trophy with an enthusiastic "Yeah!" Compeau received his award from NEA President Donn Taylor, president of Century Steel Erectors, Pittsburgh, Pa., and Noel Borck, NEA Executive Vice President. Also on hand

Dallas Compeau, Iron Workers Local 25, center, was honored by NEA - The Association of Union Constructors with its Craftsman Award for Ingenuity and Innovation at the association's annual meeting April 16-20 in Sanibel, Fla. Compeau was recognized for his work as project superintendent on the 2000-01 Mackinac Bridge project for the Chicago office of American Bridge Co, Coraopolis, Pa. Photographed with him at the awards presentation are, from the left: NEA Executive Vice President Noel Borck, NEA President Donn Taylor, Bill Treharne, Chairman I.W. Local 25 J.A.C., GLFEA Past-President, and director of engineering & administration, Midwest Steel Inc., Detroit, and Joseph Hunt, General President, International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers.

were GLFEA Past President and current board member and NEA Safety Committee Co-chair William Treharne, P.E., Midwest Steel Inc., Detroit; Joseph J. Hunt, General President of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers; John Schober, project manager on the Mighty Mac job for American Bridge Co., which nominated Compeau; Flint, Mich., native and former Local 25 Business Manager and Business Agent Greg Hicks, currently an organizer for the Iron Workers International Union who also serves on the Arlington, Va.-based National Maintenance Agreements Policy Committee Inc., and GLFEA Executive Director Jim Walker.

Four Craftsman Awards were given this year, with the other categories honoring projects involving up to 25,000 work hours, 25,000 to 78,000 work hours, and more than 150,000 work hours.

Compeau recently resigned as project superintendent on an Iowa bridge project for American Bridge Co., to accept a position as apprentice instructor at Local 25's apprentice training facility in Flint. "He'll make a great instructor," American Bridge's Schober offered. "He's very patient and seems to genuinely want to help other people." Even as he lamented the loss of Compeau to the business side of steel erection, Schober praised Compeau's decision to "give back" to the industry as an instructor of young ironworkers. "He's very humble, gracious, talented, and capable," Schober said, adding he'd have him back as a project superintendent "in a minute. I'd love to have him back."

The 25-year veteran ironworker (he's been a member of Iron Workers Local 25 since 1977) and Michigan native (born in Standish) has a lot of admirers among the state's ironworkers, among them Local 25 President and Business Agent Patrick "Shorty" Gleason. "I've known Dallas for many years, and he's an ironworker and a Bridgeman in every aspect. We're very fortunate to have him as a (Local 25) member and now as an apprentice instructor." Gleason, who has worked with Compeau in the past, praised him beyond his ironworker skills. "He's a very humble and giving individual," Gleason observed. "He keeps on trucking and he never asks for anything in return. It (the award) couldn't have gone to a better person."

GLFEA's Treharne also praised Compeau's work ethic. "He's workwise," Treharne stated simply. "He knows what to do and when to do it. He's a hard worker and he knows the business."

Iron Workers Local 25 Joint Apprentice Training Center Apprentice Coordinator Doug Levack also has worked with Compeau, including on the nuclear plant in Midland, now called the Midland Co-Generation Venture, for Townsend & Bottum Inc., Ann Arbor. "Dallas was always part of the crew, no matter what his position on the job was," Levack said. The two also fish together, with one or the other catching a few steelhead recently in the east branch of the Au Gres River near National City.

In 25 years as a Local 25 Ironworker, Compeau has had a hand in building some of the state's major projects, including the Chrysler Corp. Technical Center in Auburn Hills; the Palace at Auburn Hills; the Detroit Opera House; the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center, and the Zilwaukee Bridge. "The opportunities are endless being an ironworker," Compeau enthused.