Well, it has been since September since I have had any field work. One of the drillers pointed out that was 6 months ago. No wonder the office has been driving me crazy. So this current project is kinda cool. There are only 7 test holes which should be like a 2 day job. BUT the holes are located a half mile to a mile off the existing road system in the forest. AND we are not drilling 30 foot holes. This project has cuts that are 100 feet deep so we are drilling 100 foot test holes minimum. On top of that, we need information on the bedrock in the area because there is very little geotechnical data for the area and they are planning on constructing a bridge on slopes that have been historically not so stable. So, there will also be rock coring, unless we don't hit rock for some reason. To get to a test hole, we have to cut a path through the forest with chainsaws (yayy!!! The drillers even let me help!) and then winch a 40,000 pound drill rig and air compressor up steep hills.
So that is the background on this project. That said, what looks easy on paper really isn't. It will probably take a few weeks if everything goes perfectly. Anyway, in similar fashion to my last projects, I will be updating the world on random things that I have learned and that have happened in bullet form. I might add some pictures to some posts if I feel really ambitious. As of now, I have driven to the site and worked on it for one day. Oh the fun things that have happened!
-Driving in the dark in glowing shoes is really distracting, but AWESOME. (btw... I have super brightly colored shoes that GLOW IN THE FUCKING DARK. and are awesome! If you didn't know, now you do.)
- PVC is a pain in the ass. I ordered 1000 feet of it on Friday and was told it would be picked up by the drillers by tuesday... on wednesday i get a call from the plumbing store wondering why no one had picked it up. Apparently the drillers left town without it. When we are buying close to the entire stock of 1 inch PVC they want us to actually get it...
-When I am with a driller and tell him "I am flagging this tree with 4 flags so you know where to set up here when you mob the rig in and I am not here", they set up somewhere completely different. On a random flag that was only marking an access point. I guess I need more colors of flagging... Maybe I can convince the boss to get blue :)
-I show up at 10 and they are all ready to drill.... on a spot that isn't even a test hole or in the proposed road alignment... and I get to be the asshole that tells them that everything has to be taken down and moved.... up a hill... with lots of trees on it.
-All this lovely warm weather means the bears are probably gonna be waking up soon... and be really happy about life in general.
-Snowmachines are still fun
-Buying a toothbrush and toothpaste because I forgot to pack is expensive in Cooper Landing... arguably more expensive than Chignik Bay. I might have somehow picked out the most expensive toothbrush in the store though...
-I am really awesome at losing pencils in the forest. From my facebook post if you aren't on my facebook: Day one and I have already lost 3 pencils in
the forest. Ask me how much of a test hole we have done. At this rate,
I am going to go through 3 pencils per 30 feet of drilling. At a
maximum of 150 feet per test hole and 7 total holes, that puts me at a
total of 105 pencils per project. I brought 5. Three are lost and one
is currently broken :p Looks like I need to change my ways...
-Chainsaws are fun, through the drillers were a little skeptical about giving me one. "Have you ever used one of these before??" "um, ya, who the hell do you think I am?!?!!?"
-I really hate driving at night
-People that forget to turn off their brights still piss me off
-My work truck lights are inferior to my Tacoma's lights.
-Sometimes I get lucky and remember that I forgot my work boots 2 miles from the office instead of 100....
-It is possible to winch a stuck 40,000 pound drill rig and air compressor up a hill...
-.... it just requires a snatch block... that isn't even technically a snatch block.
-35 degrees is pretty nice for work... until it gets windy and snowy. Horizontally blowing snow is not so fun.
-Hands stay warmer when my gloves are not soaking wet.
-Field work is awesome!
Well, that's about all for now. Tune in for more excitement later as the project goes on... and maybe I will be better about updating this thing :)
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