From jumping out of helicopters on top of mountains to innovating new technologies to keep highway users as safe as possible, both Dave Ratch and Blaine Turner have seen and done it all in the road maintenance industry.
Ratch, Maintenance Manager, and Turner, Superintendent of Roads, both predate Dawson Road Maintenance’s (DRM) highway contract in the Cariboo region and both celebrated their 30-year work anniversary earlier this fall.
“There’s no other job that becomes part of your life like this one does, serving the public for as long as we have,” said Ratch, whose first day was on Sept. 13, 1994. “I love what I am doing and who I get to do it with. Driving into the yard has the same welcoming feeling as driving home at the end of the day.”
As Ratch was moving to Lillooet, Turner was putting in his final days in the logging industry in the early 90s. Turner was newly married and looking to settle down. Bill Balbirnie, a family friend and former Road Foreman with Cariboo Road Services (the previous maintenance contract holder), got wind of Turner’s desires and hired him as an auxiliary machine operator in 1994.
Left: Davids Rhodes (Quality Manager) and Blaine Turner. Right: Chris Rottluff (Operations Manager) and Blaine Turner inspect avalanche conditions.
“Everything about that job was what I needed: stability, better hours and safer working conditions. It also allowed us to buy a house in town and begin to raise our family,” said Turner.
Previous experience managing teams in the bush provided him the experience to necessary to earn the Assistant Road Foreman position in 2005, before eventually becoming the Superintendent, where the excitement never stopped in one of B.C.’s trickier highway corridors.
Just as Turner was progressing, on the other side of the shop, Ratch was developing his encyclopedic knowledge of equipment maintenance.
Ratch, who also worked a career in the logging industry for a decade after high school, wanted a change and enrolled himself into a heavy-duty mechanics course. With his wife being from Lillooet, the decision to move to the Interior was an easy one once he got hired as a second-year apprentice.
The learning didn’t stop for Ratch after he earned his red seal certification. He would often assign himself homework, taking home manuals and books for evening reading.
“Just because you get your license, doesn’t make you a master. I had to continue to advance myself so I could be confident in working on all our equipment, returning them safely on the road as soon as possible,” said Ratch.
The two paths often crossed when it came to equipment usage, repair and turnaround time.
“Dave and I are both very passionate about our jobs and we’ve had a few difference in opinions over the years, but that doesn’t change how much respect I have for the guy,” said Turner.
One thing the two stalwarts never disagreed on is doing everything in their power to keep highway users safe.
Turner loves the adrenaline that comes with his role. He can often be found outside, inspecting snowpacks, clearing a path through mudslides and rockfalls. Indoors, Ratch is always busy trying to find innovative ways to enhance road maintenance, as was the case when he created a brine maker out of spare parts, or designed the new Rapid Response units.
They are also both grateful for the opportunity DRM has provided them over the past three decades, to perform jobs they love and in the community that they have made home.
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