Gear - bibs, steel toes, hard hats, gloves and gas masks.... haute couture in the bottom of a ditch

A pair of the "Petal Pink Safety Toes" may have to go on the list of "must haves" for Andy. The gift that would keep on giving. Hell, he might wear them - go along great with the smiley face on the helmet.... Certainly as a form of punishment - being forced to wear the petal pink safety toes for any slip-ups or something.... it might be worth it.

Seriously - construction workers talk about their gear something like one might imagine knights talking about armor. The insulation levels of shoes and socks, the ANSI impact and compression standards of steel toe boots, the eyewear, the ear-plugs, the hard hats etc....

At the end of the day a lot of it is personal preference - along with many workers, I prefer the least expensive stuff I can find, except for the carhartts - they're worth every penny and last for years - even treated like hell.

Faulconer construction and OSHA require long sleeves and a bunch of other crap. Not certain when the whole thing got sullied with silliness..

The Army vs Construction Work

Before joining the world of construction the thought of joining the armed services did briefly flash. As fate would have it construction work a few minutes from the abode intervened and one year later it has delivered a few points

1) Yes, the army and construction work involve building and destroying stuff - however in construction work the emphasis is on building and moreover...
2) It's about building stuff in your neighborhood
3) There's never a point in construction work where killing someone - however annoying - is appropriate
4) With regards to machismo and general manliness - There are way more women in the field in the army than in construction - and some of the women we've got are formidable and friendly :)



probably safe to say the lady on the left is more macho than the punk on the right...
5) There are no medals for being wounded on the job - sure you may get a settlement, however almost everyone, almost every time is gonna think you are a screw-up.
6) Ok - the no guns or grenades thing is tough to overlook... hey - we do get dynamite on special occasions...
7) **Most** of the time you get to go home every night
8) Both construction work and the army require physical strength... in general you've prolly gotta hand it to the Armed Services here.... however there are some buff dudes on the site too....

It might be nice to get to a top ten... submit suggestions below... and remember - it's nothing against the armed services, heck the bluespaders.org folk are some great guys who've rolled me under the table partying more than one night...

Nothing brings folks together Part II - Sewer drainage

Nothing brings folks together like sewage running 30' under the roads.

Seriously - it's great stuff. Your remains of the day sail away - traversing mystical terrains - off to a better, less in your face kinda places. Places where it's ok to be a stinker. Well it isn't entirely magic. A lot of it happens because people work hard to make it happen. As discussed previously - underground sewer systems have existed for thousands of years - and it beats many alternatives such as caca en la calle - spanish for "The bathroom is any and everywhere" or "Welcome to Tijuana." Is it a great solution? No. From far below it blows on high. It costs millions of dollars to install these systems, and at the end of the analysis you're losing all of that potentially valuable organic fertilizer. The Aztecs recognized this and were keen to collect all of the stuff and sell it back to the population as fertilizer....

Oh well. Maybe one day. In the mean time we're making certain that the stuff goes underground and arrives safely to a central destination.

Sewer lines are the most difficult lines to set - the tests are rigorous to ensure a proper seal on every section, pressure and vacuum tests are basic along with a host of other tests. Our recent work led us almost 30' below the earth to lower an existing sewer line 2/10s of a foot - roughly 2.5 inches.

Technical Specs
All lines are required to pass a ~5-10 minute pressure test. 10 psi is applied inside the line using a flowthrough plug on one end and a solid plug on the other.

The manhole must pass a vacuum test of -10 bars Hg for one minute without dropping a pound

Mandrel test - all the PVC must have a mandrel sent through to ensure that no warpage has occurred during the backfilling of the ditch

Duct banks - heating PVC for the bends

The Greenlee PVC heater #847 helps get the blues outta the bends and saves a lot of money in couplings and prefabricated PVC bends. Overheating, however is a real concern and may lead to egg-shaped pipe. For best results set the timer, and be prepared with an extra hand in the ditch. In cold weather all of this is more critical as it may require 20+ minutes to heat a a single piece of PVC.

Photo
In the photo at left a piece has been overheated and removed. It's tricky to get the temperatures perfect in 15-20 degree weather - this piece'll be used for smaller cuts.

Tech specs
In general the older fellas on the site say they are comfortable getting ~22-45 degree bends in the pipe, and favor using couplings for anything over 10-15 degrees. Some of the younger and more ambitious guys swear they'll get several bends up to 90 degrees and beyond... am waiting to see it.

Tips
Probably the best thing to remember is that you need to heat the pipe only where you want to bend it. Most of the PVC heaters are ~4-6 feet in length and your pipe may be 8-10 feet long. Center the pipe where you know you need a bend and it'll save you time in the ditch.

Video - a nice 20-30 degree bend sent home (Rodney top, Ryan + Harley ditch)
Credits
Faulconer construction credits: Andy Fitzgerald = Superintendent - Greg and Dan Baily = foremen - Rodney on the top with the heater - Harley St Clair and Ryan in the pit

Clearing the air

Complaining much over air quality in Charlottesville may at times seem silly. Given that UVa is still notoriously producing much of its electricity from heinously polluting coal towers in the middle of town... such that it has been passed down by word of mouth that EVERYONE in the city - man, woman, child, critter - smokes the equivalent of 5 cigarettes PER DAY. So on the one hand - Thank you UVa for requiring Faulconer to have these great air scrubbers on their machines. Really. Thanks - we who are living around them all day genuinely thank you. Hint hint, nudge nudge - what about 'dem coal towers (fwiw the nuke lab on O-Hill is mighty rad :)

So anyhow... Hawkins and Graves showed up Wednesday to install diesel exhaust air scrubbers on the heavy machinery - including the IT38 Front-End Loader, the Hitachi Zaxis 350's and 450's, the CAT excavator, and a few others - eight in all... All the machines were installed rapidly and back in service sometimes within half an hour. Thank you Scott and Mike for your help - the scrubbers allegedly cut emissions down by 70% without dramatically reducing horse power. At a cost of $32,000+ total we certainly hope they do some work.



Often times less expensive techniques are sufficient to really help construction worker's lives. When cutting concrete a simple dust mask helps tremendously. You never now what additives may be in the concrete - cover your mouth and cut on through...

Originally purchased to better enjoy metal casting and the lost styrofoam technique - this nuclear, biological, chemical mask really made sewer manholes more tolerable. Granted my boss Andy Fitzgerald regards them as sissy and warns he's going to "flush me" if I have cardiac arrest while wearing one... whatever - time in a manhole may be necessary at times - it is hardly pleasurable - certainly a great task for robots...


One thing to consider too... there's often splashing in live lines and covering them mucous membranes is a fine thing.

Andy Fitzgerald at the center of CAS and ITE development

Andy Fitzgerald, aka Fitz, aka Cue Ball - 'cause he calls all the shots - aka dip lip - cuz he drools on hisself - has developed UVa's utility infrastructure for the last eighteen years - way up on the UVa Grounds underground - an expert in sewer, storm, duct bank, water, chilled water, steam tunneling and then some.

Nothing brings folks together like running electricity

Nothing brings folks together like running water, electric, and HVAC lines in, plus raw sewage out.



Today's episode involves duct banks. Housed in PVC and encased in rebar reinforced concrete - underground duct banks make nice homes for 16000 Volt plus cables. The big fat kind that may arc flash and blow you to little bittie pieces. The kind that leave people looking for burnt embers to remember you by. So the specs on electrical duct banks are pretty tight... For more info on the safety for electricians go to OSHA's site



Anyhow, that's not really our deal - we prepare the lines. The prep work for duct banks may be done in the ditch or occasionally outside - really depends on the stretch being laid.

Helpful tools:
1) Tie wire and pliers - connect any overlapping seams, tie the pipe to the plastic seats, tie the rebar to the rebar and to the plastic seats... basically if it seems like it might wiggle free tie it down with plenty of tie wire.

2) Pipe primer and glue - here is a great video on glueing and priming PVC pipe

3) Sledge hammer and 2x4" beater block - especially with the larger lines 12"+ These lines may take a beating to get into place. Don't hit the plastic directly - it may snap - rail the back of a 2x4.

Hecho a Mexicano - Excuses, excuses, excuses

hecho a mexicano - a polite way to say we're gonna do it by hand "hecho a mano" because there's nothing really to do and so rather than stand around like a bunch of lazy bum construction workers we're gonna stand around trading turns leaning on shovels, picks, digging bars, and whatever else we can score to appear plausibly potentially useful.

Seriously though. It's rough being a construction worker. I've spent years in offices. It is easy to blow off in an office. Checking email is called "work". Surfing e-bay is "research". Calling your mom's neighbor's plumber... well it's a stretch, yet a daily recurrence in offices around the world.

Construction work happens in the great outdoors. Right there for everyone to see. Screw around
for 30 seconds and you've got your neighbor's plumber's wife calling your mother and superintendent to let the world know. And that's not the half of it. There are a lot of legitimate reasons for standing around on a job site. So here's a growing list of excuses for when you see...

1) a man standing around doing nothing for a few? He's been in a ditch or manhole all day - and he's resurfaced and taking a brief rest. Go check your e-mail fool.... Harley St Clair after several hours spreading something like perma-liner epoxy in sewer manholes... give the guy a break.


2) a man sitting on top of a manhole or ditch? Sitting there for hours without doing much of anything? That's the law (thank goodness) and it's a good one. In fact two guys isn't a bad plan, one to be there just in case and a "bank man" to run errands for the guy(s) in the hole.

Hawk, Teeter, and Enrique in the ditch with Hawthorne on the bank.... would you really want to jump in and out of that twenty times an hour? It gets old... believe me.

3) 2+ guys watching a backhoe dig? Do they appear to be just standing there looking at the teeth of the trackhoe? That too, is real work. It's serious. Seriously. Those teeth are great at ripping up things like gas lines, unprotected electric lines, telephone cables, etc... Ditch digging is forilla and until the robots replace us we're stuck with it.

4) Four guys watching one guy dig a hole? OK, yeah, one guy probably could do the whole hole thing alone.... you do it. Go five feet down, three by four and stepped for safety. And try not to rest too much - the neighbors are watching. Seriously ya'll, the deeper you get the tougher it is - you gotta throw the dirt further etc etc...

Setting 12" Megalug Style Chilled Water Lines at UVa South Lawn

Chilled Water Lines and the Megalug system
Water serves as a great way to move thermal energies. Many large and intensive heating and cooling systems are heated and cooled more efficiently with heat exchangers built with water lines than with traditional AC cooling.

The megalug system is designed to join ductile iron pipes from 3 inches to 4 feet in diameter. Placed around the UVa underground they serve with steam tunnel pipes, water lines, and chilled water systems.

Technical Notes
Capable of handling lines with up to 350 psi the megalug system is very popular. At UVa the lines are usually carrying a load of 60 psi and are tested for 2 hours at 200 psi*. These lines were given bedding in several inches of stone dust. All bolts are tightened to 90 lbs.

Insulation
Depending on the depth of the line the lines may require insulation of some sort - I believe this is the stinky glass insulation stuff we use - watch out! it's got glass shards in it and has cut many hands, beware of it in your eyes as well.

Tools needed
Every megalug kit contains a megalug, the nuts 'n bolts, and a gasket. Armed with an 1-1/4" wrench, a chipping hammer (for banging in gasket), and a torque wrench (set to 90 lbs) you're good to go. An air wrench may be helpful on larger pipes - deep-welled 6 sided sockets work the best. In case for some reason you need to back up a broken megalug use the 5/8" socket.

Here's a video of Johnny aka "Blaze", Travis aka "T-Bone", installing a 12" line for the South Lawn project - "Happy Dawg" is the bank man, Norris operating, Rick Lane foreman.



*When it comes to testing water lines
***Many lines are going to have small pockets of air in them - it's often impossible to avoid this. Over time air may leak out, or with enough flow of water it may eventually lessen it's impact...
***Remember to consider the temperature outside when you start and finish - 4 degrees Celsius water's most dense temperature.
***Seal's often require some time to harden into place - pressurize lines over night and expect the gaskets to be in better positions - a few drops of water in a line may lower psi markedly.

Not here for a long time, we're here for a good time

Dan Bailey during a reflective rest.


A free meal never hurts either...Thanks Bob Zerringher and Steve Ratcliff (with Ryan, Rodney, George at the table)

---

Juan

Justin and Hudson

Andy Fitzgerald, Ben Morris, Richard

A few purty pictures

At least it ain't plop art... this stuff actually works. And then there's the real advantage of working outdoors - it's beautiful around here. As everyone knows the most important thing about "art" is a stupid title, so I've done my best...

Highway to smell


Seven construction workers and one shovel (being tossed aside)


My favorite dinosaur is the Trackasaurous Rex


Zen rock gardens love Jumping Jacks (photo courtesy of Brian Utz)
it's a rainbow ya'll, no title needed...

How to set a sewer manhole

Setting manholes is an old tradition beginning in the Indus Valley almost 2000 BCE. Many Roman manhole covers still exist with the SPQR notation on them. When the European expansionists arrived in the Americas they were amazed to see an Aztec sewer system vastly superior to their own (ie throwing it in the streets and bringing about the great plagues).

Today we set manhole covers over the structures set in the ground to allow access should something go wrong. Whereas storm sewers are unlikely to carry filth and foulness, it is assumed that all sorts of nastiness may pass through a sewer line, and thus the porosity of the system must be maintained to a minimum. In most cases we are expected to achieve ~4psi during a smoke test of the system. This ensures that there are no major leaks where said nastiness may pass through the pipes and into the ground water.

Setting the covers is an essential part of the test. Not that the stuff in the pipes is likely to rise up that high, rather that it's a common point of failure and simple enough to fix in a few simple steps.

1) Clean the surface up nice 'n purty.

2) Slap some tar on there - we like Clipper Ship tar - it's swell.

3) Flipper over and check the level - you may need to slope it to work with the existing asphalt - when all else fails use your brain.

4) Mix up some mud. We like to blend 50% non-shrink grout (red bag) + 50% sand and mortar mix (yellow bag). Mix it very wet to get underneath the manhole. FYI - the non-shrink stuff smells like coke, however I'm told it tastes lousy and won't numb up a thing unless you swallow a few pounds of it. It's great stuff though - really helps to prevent cracks later.

5) Slop the stuff on there.

6) and once the mortar gets a bit drier use what's left to seal the inside.

Added Jan 15 - Had a tough time getting the manholes to hold -10Hg during the vacuum test a few days ago. We lined all the seams with carboline epoxy yesterday, let it harden overnight (plus almost an hour per manhole with a 70,000 BTU jet furnace to complete the setting) and tested today - none of the manholes leaked so much as a pound.

yippee - a new manhole. humorously enough these are made in the Capital Foundry in India - known to be one of the worst places on earth to work - conditions are so rotten the discovery channel did a series on them. Pictures of a bunch of small brown people running around shoeless pouring 3000+ degree steel so that we can drive over manhole covers. Aren't we the lucky ones!