DPW Operations Manual

Mission Statement

The Department of Public Works (DPW) is dedicated to building the physical infrastructure of Black Rock City (BRC), maintaining the infrastructure during the event, cleaning up Black Rock City after the event, Leaving No Trace, and restoring the Black Rock Desert to pre-established standards. DPW works with all departments within the Burning Man Organization, and with outside agencies, to insure that BRC is safe, nonpolluting, and artistically accessible.

DPW maintains an operating relationship with the Bureau of Land Management, the Washoe and Pershing County Sheriffs Departments, the Nevada State and Washoe and Pershing County Health Departments, the BRC Fire Department, the local communities of Gerlach and Empire, Nevada, and various service vendors such as debris box service and potable water service.

A Work Ranch is maintained year round near the event site to store materials and equipment, and to provide a workspace for construction and fabrication. Also, an office space, housing, and warehouse is maintained in the town of Gerlach, Nevada.

Conditions and Effects of Operation

The following conditions are addressed:

• Importance of the Infrastructure
• Work Conditions
• Hours of Operation
• Increased Preparation
• Labor Force
• Life Style Change

Many other conditions both gross and subtle exist. Safety hazards inherent to using heavy machinery and production power tools and the dangers present when coming into contact with local flora and fauna will be covered in the forthcoming DPW Manual.

1. Importance of the Infrastructure
   The DPW builds the framework for the event, as we know it today. Without the present infrastructure the event would revert to the chaos that was evident in 1996 or worse. Since the 1997 event the DPW, hand-in-hand with other departments, has instituted the City Plan with logical roads, signage, an established gate, spires and city lighting, dust suppression, approved potable water systems, desert proof temporary structures, and developed a Depot for material storage, among many other innovative solutions to prior problems. These mentioned and unmentioned solutions to prior problems are the imperatives of what Black Rock City is as we know it today.
2. Work Conditions
   1. DUST: Dust is prevalent everywhere in the high desert of northern Nevada. Alkali dust is abrasive, corrosive, and conductive and will eventually abrade, corrode, and short out components in vehicles, tools, computers and all other exposed apparatus. Many tools don't last the work season. Vehicles are especially vulnerable and require constant maintenance. Workers often choose to wear ski goggles and respirators for dust protection, which inhibit visibility and decrease productivity.
   2. WIND: Sustained wind speeds of over 100 mph have been recorded near the Depot. These high winds can last for several days and mixed with the ever-present dust will cause white-outs, making work impossible. High winds can make objects airborne and dangerous. Breathing wind blown dust can cause serious health problems including Valley Fever, Desert Bronchitis, and other respiratory ailments. Alkali dust can also cause serious and painful skin problems. Additionally, there is no running water, no place to shower, nor indoor bathrooms.
   3. RAIN: While rain is generally uncommon in the high desert during July, August, and September, it does occur with unpredictable timing and duration. Small-scale rainstorms are welcome and help settle dust. Large-scale rainstorm events do in fact happen as evidenced by the post-event storms of 1998. Those storms halted transportation of any kind and created an emergency situation on the playa. The DPW labor force, with the help of members of other departments, rescued the remaining Black Rock City citizens and helped them weather the storm in a safe fashion. These larger storms are unpredictable and could occur at any time during the four-month work period.
   4. HEAT & COLD: During the July site surveying in 1999, daily high temperatures of over 120 degrees F. in the shade were not unheard of In October and November of the same year, during the cleanup, nighttime temperatures below freezing were not uncommon. Extreme heat and dry wind can cause disorientation, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Often work schedules must be built around the heat of the day. Extreme cold must also be considered, as hypothermia is a present danger.
3. Hours of Operation
   Most operations are conducted from sun up to sun down. This includes all site preparation activities and cleanup activities. For some crew this equates to 12-14 hours a day for four months with no scheduled days off. Often production crews must work through the night, especially if the daytime winds are too severe or temperatures too excessive, using generators and portable lighting. Interstate truck deliveries can occur anytime night or day and require crew to unload. DPW management is subject to visits from agency personnel and local citizens at any time. Altogether, this comprises a 24-hour day, seven days a week, for up to four months.
4. Increased Preparation
   The growing size and visibility of Black Rock City necessarily requires increased preparation. The increased size of the City Plan requires an increase of all DPW tasks and responsibilities. The visibility and public awareness of Black Rock City has caused more scrutiny of the DPW operations both in-house, from outside agencies and the general public. Every year, major efforts are made to arrive on the playa better prepared and with a better-organized work force.
5. Labor Force
   DPW requires of its workers a high degree of various creative, technical, management, construction, survival and adaptive social skills. In all cases, workers are asked to labor in the aforementioned conditions for 4 weeks to 4 months, for less than equitable compensation, isolated from their normal cultural existence. In addition, the work pressures are great, the timelines are fixed and compressed, and the outcomes are highly visible to everyone. Errors of any kind could be dangerous, life threatening and/or alter the foundation of the infrastructure. Because of these factors the management of DPW has endeavored tocreate a high degree of Esprit-de-Corp among the workers. This "workers spirit" may be viewed as unconventional to those who are not involved in the desert operation or live outside of the DPW desert lifestyle, but in fact this spirit is the glue that creates the very infrastructure that is Black Rock City.
6. Life Style Change
   Several members of the DPW staff have found it necessary to undertake major changes in their lives to facilitate the responsibilities of their jobs. In some instances, this necessitated becoming Gerlach, Nevada, residents, to help develop better local relations, to legally register vehicles in compliance with Nevada codes, and to truly reflect the locale where they live a portion of the year. In addition, much personal equipment, including vehicles, tools, camping equipment, clothing, and recreation equipment were purchased by the individuals for the expressed use in the high desert while completing their responsibilities for the DPW. To many of these individuals, working and living for an extended period in the high desert has caused a profound, lasting and unique life style change. Some people can live in the high desert and some cannot!
   The popularized image of DPW as "drunken people welding" or as outlaw laborers, or whatever is the current myth, undermines the fact that we are heroic, determined, hardworking, responsible, creative, interesting, dedicated, unusual, individuals, working together for extended periods, in dangerous and hostile conditions, toward a common and vital goal. That goal is to create, maintain, and cleanup, Black Rock City, in a timely manor, so that Burning Man can continue to be the most unusual and profound art event in the world.

   Will Roger
   DPW Chief of Staff