Thursday, September 13, 2012

Been breaking stuff all day

We're in a part of base that hasn't had any utilities upgraded lately.
-as in about the last twenty-thirty years...lately.

So yesterday I start from where CPS starts the high wire to the bases system.
I get there and don't see any paint on the ground...BUT I do see a fire hydrant (that I know isn't feeding it's self), a pavement cut for a sewer main, and a drain box (with drain tile crossing my path).

I found a 36" concrete drain culvert that I had to dig under, a 6" cast water line that was almost too close to the culvert to get my bucket past,  the sand and tape for the sanitary sewer, and when I thought I was in the clear another storm drain running almost parallel with my trench.

All in all, it took about 5 hours to go about 120 feet.


Today I was scraping up San Antonio river rock at about 28" and smelling their old spilled diesel that they paved over decades ago.
I'm kind of surprised we didn't have the enviro-weinies out in their hazmat suits trying to make us bag some 300 yards of contaminated dirt.

Then I got into the old utilities---- In cobble rock (potatoes), unmarked and clay pipe. 
Two were abandoned and we're fixing the other one this Sat.

Anyone free this week-end?

2 comments:

  1. I've put in miles of underground utilities. If I was in San Antonio, I'd give you a hand in a heartbeat.

    At one time, there were few people in the entire South as good as I was in the trench. I kept my probing rod handy and my shovel sharp.

    Now, I'm slow, but haven't forgotten a thing.

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  2. I appreciate the thought, but it's on Lackland.

    As far as the probing, I was in cobbles packed so tight that id I tried to get more than an inch or two of bite I was pulling the Cat b/h three feet towards the trench on asphault.
    200 feet of trench had those wide teeth looking like someone took a grinder to the outside corners.

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