Commercial construction work pictures

[skyking1]

We were setting type 30 catch basins and an oil water separator in a detail shop remodel. i had to dig under a 9' ceiling, luckily I did not have to track it clear outside. There was a 12' center area with jut enough room to get into the truck.

 

[CM1995]

The older I get the less patience I have for jobs like that.

How do you like the 35G?

 

[skyking1]

It's pretty sweet, the cab is a little tight in and out, but good once I am in. After having it for a while i think the long stick/extra counterweight configuration would have had a nice balance, but I really can't tolerate a tail swing in my typical situation. They had to hunt this one down with the regular stick/cab. I requested the cab from the get-go with my boss.

 

[skyking1]

While we were away from the big job, all heck broke loose. I was hoping they did not dig the big footing at my only ramp in, but no. The plumber went by and took pictures and sent me this one.

That's my machine sitting with the back toes almost in the alley. Tomorrow we may crane the mini in with the tower crane. Pea gravel will be coming in with a concrete bucket and trimmie, via tower crane.

 

[skyking1]

I ran the 120 into the alley and snaked the mini in there, carrying my digging bucket and hoe pack. Lots of tossing the tools ahead, then moving @#%%% out of the way, and crawling in. Now I have that corner of the site so chopped up with trenches and piles that we are waiting on inspection to do anything else. spoils piles 2' from trenches? Ha! Maybe when somebody is actually piping it, then it is dirt almost to the edge of everything.

 

[CM1995]

My mean assed superintendent loved cutting the access off for all the lifts on the front of the addition. He warned the glass guys to make arrangements for their two lifts on the right side of the pick as he was coming through with 18" RCP. They ignored the "advice" and kept on working. Oh well..

Of course we had to wait for the city inspector to give his blessing..

.

 

[skyking1]

I saw that picture in your thread, look at all that room. Spoiled I say, spoiled with all that real estate.

 

[skyking1]

After I had backfilled the branch lines, I had to tunnel under them to bring the electrician along. I have been digging in his 3 2" for the whole length of the job. I'd rather it was me digging around our pipe.

The plumbing and the electrician had inspection cycles, and there was never enough room or logistics to have both sets of trenches open at the same time. There is very little undisturbed dirt left on the job.

 

[CM1995]

No doubt I would rather have our crews dig around our pipe. Nothing worse than repairing what a dumb ass tore out.

I wish the GC's would do similar here as far as one sub digging the underground trades. Instead the plumbers have their "operator" and the sparky's have their stick puller - I wouldn't call them operators in quotation marks. Their is always an argument over who's responsible for spoils haul off in which we usually get the CO to haul off. It's a mess.

 

[skyking1]

So far the dirt contractor has tagged two of the floor cleanouts with his rented CTL, putting down cap break. He's a good guy though and we work well together.

 

[skyking1]

I spent most of day inside a 2000 gallon grease interceptor, installing the baffles and mudding the sand collars and the divider. The young fellow that usually does this has Covid-19 and is home sick.
I set up the gear and tested the atmosphere for 2 hours to be sure it was clear. I had a young fellow there as an attendant, but I did not want to try and direct him. He payed attention and I think he could jump in there next time.
The last thing we did was mobe the mini into the new location, via tower crane.

 

[CM1995]

Good job. Gotta take confined spaces seriously. What kind of monitor do you have?

 

[skyking1]

MSA 4x , typical 4 gas unit.
I'll take a couple o pics tomorrow. I "dug" in some plumbing today. The foundation walls are not poured or backfilled inside, so there is little dirt to work with. Pipes will be 9" above a giant footing at the shallow end. The dirt contractor has allowed me to use his Hitachi 135 to toss in bedding. I will put 11 tons over the fence and forms and pile it on the footing to set our pipe on.
I will use a dirt averaging method to try and get 6" of cover over 80% of the pipe and no cover over that last bit. There's just no upside to barely covering it. He'll be in there with a skidsteer track machine right after me. If it is exposed pea gravel he'll be more careful, and I will offer to stay in there and build it up with the mini ahead of him.
I can't get out anyway till after he ramps in

 

[CM1995]

MSA 4x , typical 4 gas unit.

Same one we have. It's a good unit for the price.

 

[skyking1]

I picked up Mini Mee yesterday morning, then took a nap and worked a graveyard this AM.

These things have terrible tie down points, as in none! The little hole in the carbody barely took two cargo strap hooks. I will bring a big shackle for demob.

Hold my beer. No pedal steering means no graceful bucket assists either.

Looking from shallow to deep on one run, through a wall that stays.

 

[skyking1]

MSA 4x , typical 4 gas unit.
I'll take a couple o pics tomorrow. I "dug" in some plumbing today. The foundation walls are not poured or backfilled inside, so there is little dirt to work with. Pipes will be 9" above a giant footing at the shallow end. The dirt contractor has allowed me to use his Hitachi 135 to toss in bedding. I will put 11 tons over the fence and forms and pile it on the footing to set our pipe on.
I will use a dirt averaging method to try and get 6" of cover over 80% of the pipe and no cover over that last bit. There's just no upside to barely covering it. He'll be in there with a skidsteer track machine right after me. If it is exposed pea gravel he'll be more careful, and I will offer to stay in there and build it up with the mini ahead of him.
I can't get out anyway till after he ramps in

Forgot these pics.

They dropped me in on the big footing beyond yellow plumber, where the plumbing will be in the air. I dug in part of it, they got a partial inspection, then I backfilled my way up onto that. One way trip baby!
I had a big pile of dirt behind him that I put over the pipe that is now under me, and used those 2x4's to crawl up one track between the two pipes under those bits of plastic and the other on the dirt that was where the orange plumber is grading.

Same spot, one way cranked to spin. Did I mention the columns?
One is right behind me to the left too, that run goes the other side of it and the two runs go between them.

 

[skyking1]

We have a busy service department, and they started on a leak repair for a large cold storage facility last week. It was very elusive and the water went 50' along the pipe before surfacing, and then did some really weird stuff.
They got out an experienced leak locator and he pinned it down pretty good.
Today they had a vac truck there and found the pipe and leak. It was a bad fusion weld on 4" HDPE. I had not seen a bad joint like that before.

It has a double curl, but I think it was not cut to match and was contaminated.
it looks like a dry joint to me.
They fixed it with a romac. I dangled the shoring in there with the mini to facilitate setting that up, there was irrigation down one side and some big voids to work around. I started caving in the voids I can and they will do some saw cutting for me to get at the rest. The paving plus ATB is 8" thick, and there is 1' plus of recycle concrete beneath that which is as hard as it gets. the voids are in sandy material below all that.

 

[petepilot]

I picked up Mini Mee yesterday morning, then took a nap and worked a graveyard this AM.

These things have terrible tie down points, as in none! The little hole in the carbody barely took two cargo strap hooks. I will bring a big shackle for demob.

Hold my beer. No pedal steering means no graceful bucket assists either.

Looking from shallow to deep on one run, through a wall that stays.

put a couple stamps on that thing and send it to me when you`re done

 

[skyking1]

I went out on another repair job this afternoon, another leaking private main.
The leak was massive, maybe 200 GPM. There was a 2" line tapped off an 8" ductile iron main, with a valve box with water boiling up out of it. The water utility had cut back the flow to a bare minimum to retain water purity in the main.
We popped up the asphalt and had a vac truck do the excavation, as i would be working blind under all that water flow and do more harm than good.
The valve box had been wearing on the 2" nipple for years, and cut hole or two n it. The subsequent high pressure leak had eroded away the cast iron valve body. It was a pretty impressive show of how much damage water can do.

 

[skyking1]

The leak was blasting up inside the soil pipe, which redirected it across the top of that bonnet with that sand solution. It just ate on that bonnet and bolt!