The Hoist and Truss workshop featured the disassembly and reassembly of a one ton Lodestar, a Prostar as well as advanced troubleshooting with Dave Carmack of Columbus McKinnon. Dave Sowa (ETCP certified electrician and formerly of Tomcat USA) led a discussion on control systems and conducted demonstrations of load testing. Instruction was rounded out by Dana Bartholomew of Fisher Technical Services, who gave instruction and demonstrations on automation.
G. Anthony Phillips, of RigRider Rigging Services and ETCP certified rigger and instructor taught safe rigging practices and principles while Morgan Neff gave instruction on fall protection practices and equipment. Participants also had the opportunity to put those principles into practice during a session with a Tomcat ground support system.
Both workshops included a full day of truss instruction with Tomcat USA's Keith Bohn and Will Todd. The class included beginning and advanced concepts in truss usage, including: grid design, applying loads, ground support system considerations, structural design concepts, inspection techniques. The day culminated with one of the most popular features of the workshop: live destruction of truss
(Jim Evans)
