Apprentice to complete in ironworkers' 'world series'

Ironworker apprentices from the across the United States and Canada, including a Bonner County resident, will meet in Seattle next week to determine who is the best of the best.

Held every two years, this year’s event is being hosted by the Pacific Northwest District Council of Ironworkers, Local 86. The 55 apprentices demonstrating their skills during the competition had to have finished first or second in meets held at their district level during the past three months. An Ironworker apprenticeship is four years, after which the apprentice becomes a journeyman.

Jesse Doyle, a resident of Kootenai, will be representing Spokane Ironworkers local 14 in the two days of the international competition, which will be held from Sept. 18-19.

“The events of this competition include the basic skills every union Ironworker will need to perform on the job,” said Ron Piksa, president of the Pacific Northwest District Council of Ironworkers, “The object of turning these skills into a completion is to build pride in workmanship.”

Events at the “world series” include:

• A written test on safety and skill issues;

• The instrument test which requires competitors to use a leveling device  to accurately establish benchmarks at a simulated construction site;

• A burning competition where apprentices will lay out and “burn” a pattern in a piece of steel, judges award points on every detail of the work;

• The welding completion which requires the contestant to demonstrate different welds which are then judged for quality;

• Knot tying may seem very basic, but proper rigging on a job site is a big safety issue. Competitors must demonstrate their ability to tie various knots;

• Rod tying is a basic iron worker skill. So in one minute, contestents must tie as many rebar pieces as possible. Both number and quality of the ties are considered for the score;

• The ornamental completion is a race against the clock to assemble a glazed window;

• Considered the most energetic and challenging of the events is the column climb. Each contestant will race to the top of a 35-foot vertical steel column using only their strength and a good pair of boots.

    “For the 55 contestants, it is the World Series and the Superbowl of iron work,” Piksa said.

     The apprentices will compete for awards, but mostly the bragging rights for the next two years of being the best among the best.