Hi, I’m Kai Ginifer and I’m an apprentice with McPhillips. I’ve agreed to write a diary about what it’s like being an apprentice and hope that it might inspire others to check out this route into construction.
I’ve been with McPhillips for over a year. As an apprentice I spend 3 weeks a month on site and 1 week at Telford College studying towards an NVQ Level 2 in Construction Operations.
June
Phase 2 of our works at Dudley Road is nearing completion, we’ll be moving to stage 3 very soon. I’m enjoying driving the dumper and roller. The roller was compacting the type 1, which is the required level of compaction for a road. In the corners and tight areas where pre-existing concrete is awkwardly cut, I used a whacker plate, which is a walk-behind plate compactor.
At college we discussed our final exams – what questions to prepare for and to make sure our paperwork and portfolios were up to speed. Then we were outside for our set up exams. First up block paving and edging, which goes a bit like this…
Level the base then dig 2 rows for edgings. Mix the concrete and lay the edgings 940mm apart. Fill in with stone then add sand on top and consolidate. Finally, lay down the slabs and block pavers with even gaps, then fill in with sand as specified. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
The following day I created my concreting and drainage set ups. Over 2 days I completed all 3 of my practical exams. My teacher believes all my practical work is good enough for a clear pass mark. I hope so! Next up was written tests – exam style questions!
July
Things are really taking shape at our Dudley Road site. There are lots of concrete slabs to lay, with a strict procedure to follow – drill 300mm deep holes, blow out dust, add resin, then add dowel bars and roll a layer of polythene all over. Follow this by adding a stop end either side, pour concrete in and tamper with an expansion joint between each slab.
We started our dig on the final water valve, tracing it back to the main. We dug around the electrical cables and the pipe connecting the valve to the main. During the dig we discovered a redundant valve plus a back-up. We managed to expose the T Junction on the main without going too far into the road.
We’ve been tarmacking over the concrete now that it’s had time to set. The materials were brought to the area with the dumpers, levelled with rakes and compacted with the roller. We’re using this area for temporary traffic control, before we’re ready to start applying the final tarmac.
I’m still really enjoying life with McPhillips. I hope that my exams have gone well. I look forward to sharing more of my experiences with you next time…
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