Westmont Public Works Department to receive 2015 Gimmicks and Gadgets Award.
Westmont Public Works Department to receive 2015 Gimmicks and Gadgets Award.
The Westmont Public Works Department recently learned that it will be presented with the 2015 Gimmicks and Gadgets Award at the annual Water Infrastructure Conference Oct. 14 in Bethesda, Maryland.
Also, the public works department will be featured in the October issue of OpFlow magazine.
The award will be given in regard to a unique innovation created by public works staff called the LUKey. Countries from throughout the world compete for the honor.
“This was truly a situation in which necessity was the mother of invention,” Village of Westmont Public Works Director Mike Ramsey said. “Whenever our crews were out in the field during nighttime service calls, it was very difficult to see down the dark valve vault so that we could connect the valve key. We would use flashlights to try to see where we needed to be, but it wasn’t effective. So we came up with the LUKey.”
The Light Up Key, or LUKey, is a design innovation in which a valve key is fitted with lights along the shaft of the key so that when the key descends into the valve vault or valve box, the bottom of the vault or box is illuminated, making it easier for public works staff to access and key the valve.
The concept was conceived by Ramsey and Jim Cates, of the public works department. They brought the idea to Virgil Viscuso, who then fabricated the product.
Village of Westmont is located at 31 W. Quincy St., Westmont.
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