yojimbo

FWIW, a job is a job is a job... Once you are in the groove it IS the SOS Different Day... I just like variety and am easily bored. Not like I'm James Bond or Jason Bourne and get to bop around the planet at will, kill the bad guys and have a hot supermodel sooth me every night.

How many welders building the tank? There are 3 tanks 66' in dia. X 40' tall and I have 6 stick welders, 1 sub arc operator and 1 tacker that I'm about pull off if he doesn't stop chicken scratching all over the tanks! Unfortunately, he now thinks he's a welder which is a step up in the local social ladder. There is an inflated sense of self worth, but I must be gentle with him.... There are 10 tanks total on my phase of this project. The other 7 (much smaller) though are 80% - 100% prefabbed and require minor assembly and anchoring as far as any welding is concerned.
Are they local or foriegn expats? All locals
What codes are you working to? API 650 and associated ASTM Standards for milled and rolled plate
Are there different work gangs/contractors for the pipeline in the background. Yes. The other contractor will tie in to the tanks... I think??? Thanks for reminding me. I gotta ask Mr. UFO photographer where his prints end. Sorry, I tend to be a bit myopic and often don't look at the Big Picture until necessary. The Jetty pipeline way off in the distance is Iraqi oil. This gig is recycling ballast water from the tanker ships.
Are those Lincoln machines? Nope
Is it American consumables. No. But look to the top right of your screen for the name brand of the parent company....
National source of steel? See myopia comment above.
National source for roof beam fabrication. See myopia problem comment above. There is a resident engineer on site that does all the receiving inspections and documentation.
Is this DOD work or Petrol industry? Petroleum.
Whats the inspection criteria on the tank/pipeline work? API 650, ASME sec. V and since it's "inside the fence", the pipe lines are to ASME B31.3
How much interaction do you have with the welders. Intense surveillance. Plus I have a good rapport with them.
Do you work with a translator? Nope. And there in lies the quandary. When dealing with locals that have minimum "text book" English, many things are lost or misconstrued in translation. Such as; "I have penetration tomorrow to make you smile"... STOP THINKING IT! He's trying to say "I will FINALLY get the Dye Penetrant test report to you in the morning that you've been hassling me for the past week"!!!
What differences working with non-US welders? Uhhh BOY! Somewhere in the big scheme of things, all welding hood manufacturers must smear some unknown pathogen into the sweat bands of every welding hood that has ever been manufactured. It gives the owner/bearer of said device an instant inflation of ego and blinds them of any and all flaws produced while this mask is strapped onto their face. Welders ARE the same Planet wide. Unless you have a mixture of Pipe and Structural. The aforementioned pathogen can detect the presence of round stuff view through the lenses and filters. This view somehow creates a rich and fertile environment/breeding ground in which the virus further enhances the ego and degrades the vision. Even in a Structural Steel shop, if you have welders working on the "O Beam", watch out. It will now metastasize throughout the whole body and all of the "O-beam" welders have now become immedicable and gained Super Powers.
Beyond CWI what special inspection certs. were you required to have? None/Nada. But 30 years as a welder (Chief Engr likes his QC to have a solid background in hands on welding) plus having a Level II PT, MT, UT, VT probably helped me make the final cut.
How much does a beer cost? Purdy much the same as every where except unless you are in a "Dry County" in the Bible Belt, USA and it's a Sunday and you've resorted to a boot legger. see foto. That's about $2.50 USD over the counter. One or 50 don't matter, the price is the same.

FWIW, I've never qualified for the 335 days out of country tax exempt status (up to $95K?) and I DO pay to the US IRS. I know some very well to do folks that lie about their time out of country and (supposedly) have Swiss, Bahama and/or Cayman Island bank accounts. When you listen carefully past the BS, they actually spend as much if not more time and money avoiding taxes. Then again, no one has offered nor have I requested to see full disclosure of their personal financial portfolio. So it's all here say.
All that glitters is not gold. At the end of the day, I've dealt with Super welders, minimally competent "in house" QC, over thinking engineers and zealous management.
Damn! I'm gonna have me one of them $2.50 beers now.

CB&I do have sky hooks, you ever see them float a roof up? Amazing engineering!

Whoops did I just type that?

Allan,

The story I've heard was that Lampson was an engineer for Manitowoc and designed a large mobile unit on tracks. After all the hard work, the chief of design R&D discredited his efforts.  He quit, found investors and the rest is history.
Who knows what the real or whole story might be (non disclosure and intellectual R&D property would seem to prevail over my tale). But Lampson DOES make some awesome rigs. I love being on a job when you see one of the big blue rigs!
We set a 240 ton Crude Column in '78 in Denver with a mediocre sized Manitowoc 4000W Ringer one time.
Same job, we broke the boom on an American brand crane trying to pull a 1600' well casing. Fortunately my weld was not what failed, but it ripped the casing in two, flung the main block back and took out a couple of the pieces of lattice. Our operator had a near death experience over that one.
When the heavy lifts take place, anything can go wrong.