Pile Drivers Apprentice Training Program, Carpenters Training Committee for Northern California

Organized Labor

Nick Bartlett, Apprentice
It's been an adventure traveling around working on different jobs. We did a wave wall along the peer at Yerba Buena Island. Wave walls prevent swells from damaging floating docks and boats. We stripped the old ones out and put new ones in the tracks. I learned to work with a vibro hammer. The trick to that is having a good operator to help you out with the spaghetti (hydraulic lines), so you're not having to wrestle the lines all the time.

It's dangerous work, but you’re always working with a partner, and you look out for each other. The guys you work with become family. Everything is dangerous out there. You always have to keep your eyes open and keep your head up, because in our industry, things that are going to hurt you can come falling out of the sky. You need to be prepared. You always want to have an exit, and more than one. You need to keep that in your mind, especially when you're under things.

I'm looking forward to working on land. It can be a little nervous out there on the water when it is windy and the swells get high, and you're walking over a plank that's only a foot and a half wide. It's like, “Oh wow, I've got a ways to go, and I better get there.” You see everybody else doing it, so you just jump in and do it too. It comes with the territory. You have to be brave for this.