When staff in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District need quick, professional assistance with a task that seems way outside the box, who do they call?
Bryte Yard!
And you thought they just moved furniture and hung whiteboards?
The Sacramento District maintenance yard, located in the West Sacramento community of Bryte, is home to a six-man team of problem-solving craftsmen with skills in vessel and heavy equipment operation, carpentry, electrical, pipefitting, plumbing, metal fabrication, welding, painting and much more.
Referred to simply as “Bryte Yard,” the small team provides an extraordinary level of diversified support. Their positive attitude and diverse contributions were recognized by other district employees when the team was chosen for the “Be One Team Award” in the district’s 2016 People’s Choice Awards.
For numerous divisions, departments, sections and project offices throughout the Sacramento District, including offices in Utah and Colorado, a lot of sticking points are smoothed with help from this team.
Look at the variety in just a few of their most notable projects:
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Supported Sacramento District’s planning division in the fabrication, mounting and deploying of fish tracking equipment, including transporting and releasing of electronically-tagged fish into the Sacramento River as part of a study for the Sacramento River Bank Protection Project.
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Cleared tons of floating debris from in front of the new auxiliary spillway gates at Folsom Dam after big winter rains pushed tree logs and branches against the gates of the spillway. Mission was accomplished under very difficult condition with high winds, night time operations and very large debris.
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Supported the installation of steel grating over the fish ladders at Daguerre Point Dam, despite a very short, court-ordered time schedule.
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Regularly mow 25 miles of levee access road/embankment along the Sacramento River Deep Water Ship Channel and conduct maintenance mowing of Sacramento District dams and dikes.
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Deploy and maintain wing dam buoy marking on the Sacramento River. (This was particularly challenging in 2016 when late spring rains caused a rapid fluctuation in the river level requiring buoy maintenance and replacement right before Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of boating season on the river.)
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Support most every district ceremony or gathering, including help with changes of command, the summer picnic, town hall meetings and VIP visits.
One People’s Choice Award nomination for the Bryte Yard team summed it up this way.
“Their can-do attitude makes difficult tasks seem easy. The entire team is a joy to work with. Over the years, I have heard multiple people say Bryte Yard staff is the workhorse of SPK.”
“I can see why many people say SPK is truly lucky to have this team!”