square pipe????

[reddot556]

well the enviroment goobers have really gone crazy..this is one of 4 such crossings we are putting in on this road realignment project in livermore,ca..you can;t see but inside these box culverts is dirt..yes,dirt..filled up each section about 1/4 full of dirt, lay it all, then a couple laborers go in to smooth it out for...the salamanders..yup..thats what this is for

 

[stumpjumper83]

how much does it cost to train the salamanders to use the pipe?? Or haven't the green people thought about that end of it...

 

[willie59]

I find it offensive that the green police are making a provision to accommodate the Salamanders, but place no equal consideration for the Snails and Crawdads! :Banghead

 

[stumpjumper83]

I just want the salamander training manual, might make bass fishing a little easier...

 

[willie59]

I just want the salamander training manual, might make bass fishing a little easier...

Man, that's just messed up, just ain't right! :lmao

 

[pwrstroke6john]

Wow, thats worse then what they did along us31 about 60 miles south of me. Apparently the wetland area that it crosses through has alot of turtles so they built a fence about 2-3 feet high to keep the turtles from getting hit, and from driving this route for 10 years before I never seen a turtle on the road.

 

[stock]

nice work

Just a few observations and let me just say before hand that I intend no criticism to anyone ,

Firstly over here they make us put in geotech and a min of 300mm stone and top it with 75mm of asphalt sand prior to setting the boxes.
none of the boxes in the pictures have been blackjacked (tanked)
All the joints are packed and sealed with a bitumen based sealer.
The boxes are seated using a culvert pullers or 20t+ excavator and spreader bar

The boxes are backfilled with alternating layers of 6n grade stone.
The top of the boxes are capped with 50mm of concrete and 300mm of stone with nukes done at every meter /200t .
The 6n is placed at a 1:1 slope backed up with 1C grade rock, and all internal joints are sealed with polysulphide and the boxes are sealed with xyelene to seal the concrete .

How does this compare to your system of installation?

 

[EddieWalker]

A fried of mine had some land on the Pleasonton Ridge. The park was trying to take it from him and they were fighting legal battles with them for years. One of their gimmicks was to accuse him of endangering a certain type of salamander. A quick search of information about that salamander showed that it didn't even exist in the hills where his land was located. They said that he had to prove to them that they were not there by doing a study. We had to clean an area of land to bare soil and then record the tracks of what walked across that soil for a month. It was ridiculous, but the park hired some college kids to monitor this and make sure we were doing it correctly. I just helped out, so I wasn't there every day. Those college kids took this very seriously and had done this on other properties all over the area. The one I talked to, a young girl, told me that she had never seen or found any sign of that type of salamander yet, and that she was very worried about them. I asked her about the book that we had which stated that it wasn't in the hills and shouldn't even be there. She said that the book was wrong and that there were there to find out where they existed for themselves.

There has to be a point when those college kids realize that they are just being used for somebodies political agenda, but when that happens and how it happens is beyond me.

Seeing those pictures and knowing that area, it's hard to imagine that there are any salamanders of any kind out there roaming those hills. Just another way for the government to spend money that it does't have, pandering to the wacko extremist in their pursuit of feel good policies that have nothing to do with reality.

Thanks for the pics and update on your project. It's always fun to hear first hand what's going on in the Bay Area.

Eddie

 

[JDOFMEMI]

Just when you think you have heard it all, just try to build something in California

 

[digger242j]

Just a few observations and let me just say before hand that I intend no criticism to anyone ,

Firstly....

<snip>

.....How does this compare to your system of installation?

Stock, obviously you're unenlightened. All the extra noise involved in doing it your way would bother the salamanders... :cool2

 

[Turbo21835]

Just when you think you have heard it all, just try to build something in California

but what about those shrimp you have living in the puddle on the corner of your jobsite?

 

[stock]

Stock, obviously you're unenlightened.

Be that as it may but I have more of those boxes put in for everything from fish to bovines,and pipes for badgers (to help the spread of TB) mink to help decimate the local species (not native to Eire do gooders let them out of a mink farm) and otter passes ,but it was work for which we got a financial reimbursement ,so I will take work where I get it.:Banghead:Banghead

 

[stock]

Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by slender bodies, short noses, and long tails.


Didn't appear to be much water in them pictures!!

 

[Red Bank]

I don't know where to start, this is absolutely ridiculous. With that being said, I will resort back to "if you have nothing good to say, don't say anything". Well, I guess the concrete company made out by making the boxes, and I hope for Reddot this was factored in the bid, so the extra time to lay that pipe will pay him and future generations of bass will be grateful for the job that he did. How's that?

 

[Reuben]

pretty much all box culverts here in Pa have "fish baffles" to collect stream gravel during high flow. This gives the bottom of the concrete box culvert a natural bottom for aquatic species. I think it is a good idea.

 

[JDOFMEMI]

but what about those shrimp you have living in the puddle on the corner of your jobsite?

Shrimp, what shrimp, I don't see any shrimp.

Puddle, what puddle, I don't see any puddle either.

And if you say you seen either of them, I will deny it.

 

[BlackbeardMX]

I find it offensive that the green police are making a provision to accommodate the Salamanders, but place no equal consideration for the Snails and Crawdads! :Banghead

Yeah, I agree. Somebody needs to call the ACLU (I guess).

But seriously, I would be willing to bet that the salamanders would love any pipe, square or otherwise to get inside to escape the sun out there.

 

[Buckethead]

At least it didn't stop the job

It does seem excessive to require box culverts for salamanders to move around. But, they are working there so it didn't prevent the road from being built. So the contracting company gets to make money to stay in business and their guys get the work to earn a living.

 

[CM1995]

Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians.
Didn't appear to be much water in them pictures!!

That is what I have been thinking about this issue. From my high school biology class an amphibian is a creature that lives in water and on land, although the books may have been re-written since then. To me that does not look like a prime amphibian habitat but I am just a self-employed lever puller so what do I know.

It does seem excessive to require box culverts for salamanders to move around. But, they are working there so it didn't prevent the road from being built. So the contracting company gets to make money to stay in business and their guys get the work to earn a living.

I agree in real life philosophy with you on this issue - the money is going to be spent, so many people did get a benefit out of the construction of it. The other side of the coin is someone has to pay for it. If this project had any Federal matching funds then we all paid for it as Federal taxpayers. What I think about with spending extra money on projects for items like this, is what other, more beneficial items, could this money be spent on?

 

[Buckethead]

I meant at least it didn't stop the job.