Logging trucks, excavators, and bobcats are just a few pieces of equipment kids got to work on during this year’s Project Heavy Duty.
Selected grades 10-12 kids from Burns Lake, Fraser Lake, Vanderhoof and Fort St. James took part in the 29 annual event in Vanderhoof for a hands-on taste of working with various heavy equipment machines. Each year the equipment and personal to run them are donated by local industry and we couldn’t do it without them, Darren Carpenter, Career Coordinator for School District 91 said.
“If we had to pay it would probably cost upwards of $40-$50 thousand to rent all the machines for two days. There are some pretty expensive ones here,” he said pointing to a large excavator on site.
The students spent two days outside rotating through 10 stations in groups of two working on 17 different machines.“We try to replicate the work site by having the loader fill the truck or excavator fill the rock truck and then come back and dump it so the grader can flatten it into a road. We try to make it as real and relevant as we can so it’s actually what they would be doing on the job,” Carpenter said.
Each station has an operator that gives a short orientation on safety and what to do and not do with the machine.
Nick Thompson,15, from Lakes District Secondary School, was able to use the clam grapple which is used to sort or load logs.
“The hardest thing is remembering what joy stick does what, all the while keeping it smooth,” he said.
There were 67 applicants this year but only 24 students were chosen based on interest and academics.