Mike Shandro joined DCL in 1961 , retiring in 1979 from the position of Project Engineer at CFB Edmonton . In the mid-1960s , he held a supervisory position for the operation and maintenance of the BRIDGE facility at CFB Shilo , Manitoba .
The honeymoon suite … CFB Penhold , 1967 — Fred Zmetana ( Fred Zmetana recalls an occasion when Joe Bland and Regional Manager Morgan Anderson arranged to pick him up one evening for dinner , from the motel at which he stayed whenever he was working at Penhold . He heard a knock at his door and opened it to find “ big eyes and then laughter .”)
The room that I was staying in was the bridal suite — it was the full meal deal , the mirrors on the ceiling and everything . When Joe Bland and Morgan Anderson saw that , they thought it was quite hilarious . The thing was that because I was a steady customer there on a weekly basis , four days a week , when the motel filled up and they had no more rooms , they always gave me the bridal suite .
Having worked briefly for Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation in 1953 , Fred Zmetana officially joined DCL in 1955 . He retired in Calgary in 1992 as Manager of the Calgary office .
A 1967 – 68 evaluation of DCL for Treasury Board recommended that one agency be responsible for the maintenance of the emergency sites . DND was interested in taking over that responsibility , but the date of handover depended on the outcome of collective bargaining at Valcartier and Nanaimo . On June 21 , 1971 , DCL operations and maintenance contractors at those two locations went on strike over issues of pay , job classification and job security . A federal mediator made a settlement possible , and the strike ended on
July 14 , making way for an agreement to be reached with DND . As of September 30 , 1971 , all the DCL contractors at the BRIDGE sites were transferred to DND as civilian employees . And at the end of the 1972 – 73 fiscal year , the contract with the civilian operator at the EASE site was terminated , and the operation taken over by DND personnel .
Project : Halifax Syncrolift
The contract for construction of the new Syncrolift drydock in Halifax was let in February of the 1965 – 66 fiscal year . DCL ’ s Annual Report noted that it was a new method of drydocking ships , designed specifically to handle both the new Royal Canadian Navy submarines and the proposed Hydrofoil anti-submarine craft : “ By means of a wheeled cradle on a structural steel platform , with the help of 34 powerful , synchronized , electrically driven winches , dock personnel will be able to raise one ship completely out of the water and roll it ashore on rails , leaving the off-shore apparatus free for the servicing of a second vessel .”
The $ 4.5 million project was projected to be ready for testing in June 1967 . The submarines received additional support in 1968 – 69 with a contract for a submarine battery shop in Halifax , and the following year for a submarine re-fit structure . The Hydrofoil craft , however , was cancelled due to development problems and changes in defence priorities .
BREAKING NEW GROUND DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION CANADA
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