We were building a concrete pad for cranes inside a unit in a facility that makes rubber. It was a small pad, but it had substantial reinforcement.
Most of the rebar was stock length, but there were a few pieces that needed to be cut. The only thing we had for this task was a rebar bender/cutter designed for rebar smaller than that required.
I scratched my head at first, wondering if I needed to go buy a hacksaw and cut the rebar. After considering my options, I decided to put a cheater pipe on the handle of the cutter and use it to cut the rebar.
The first few pieces were no problem, although it took a substantial amount of leverage on the pipe to accomplish the cut. Then, we found a problem.
One bar was either better steel, or we were getting tired. Our typical method wasn't working, so I decided to get rough.
I pulled on the cheater pipe, soon had all my weight on the pipe and was rocking on the pipe, with the hope it would soon cut. It did.
The rebar snapped, and the six foot long pipe fell; striking me in the chest.
After a few minutes of sitting on the sidelines, I went back to work. We soon had everything ready and poured the concrete.
On the way home, my chest started hurting. After arriving home, it reached the point where it was hard to breathe, without pain. I started worrying and my wife soon convinced me to go to the emergency room.
After some x-rays, too many minutes worrying about what I'd managed to destroy and the consultation with the doctor, it was determined the pipe flexed the rib joints, much like bending a finger back to far.
So, I was prescribed an anti-inflammatory medication, sent on my way and learned being a dumbass has its limitations.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
It's All in the Details
We have a project soon to start. There are plans, which show what they want, but lack some of the things required to lay the project out.
What's missing? Control points, with coordinates. I need a minimum of two, since my survey instrument (total station) only works with known points. Even if I had a GPS instrument, I'd still need coordinates to work from.
So, if they aren't available, I'll need to find all the property corners, create some baselines, establish points and use the plans to determine the layout points for offsets to center lines and boundaries. Any curves will be scaled. From that, I can determine a point of tangent, point of curve and the radius.
That's all a lot of work, considering a survey crew visited the site, has all the information and should have placed some temporary benchmarks for layout.
One of the biggest problems I face on too many projects is the lack of knowledge by those that order the survey. If you pay for such a thing, demand control points for reference. If enough are available, anyone can use a tape to find a point on the project.
What's missing? Control points, with coordinates. I need a minimum of two, since my survey instrument (total station) only works with known points. Even if I had a GPS instrument, I'd still need coordinates to work from.
So, if they aren't available, I'll need to find all the property corners, create some baselines, establish points and use the plans to determine the layout points for offsets to center lines and boundaries. Any curves will be scaled. From that, I can determine a point of tangent, point of curve and the radius.
That's all a lot of work, considering a survey crew visited the site, has all the information and should have placed some temporary benchmarks for layout.
One of the biggest problems I face on too many projects is the lack of knowledge by those that order the survey. If you pay for such a thing, demand control points for reference. If enough are available, anyone can use a tape to find a point on the project.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Three Guitar Lead
April Wine wasn't a constant chart topper, but it wasn't because the band wasn't graced with good musicians.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Get Out Of The Way!
I don't take the Galveston ferry very often. There are a few reasons:
- Early in the morning, when I travel to Galveston, there is usually only one ferry running. If I miss the ferry, all intentions of arriving at work early are dashed, since I have to wait an hour for it to return. Otherwise, if I'm not on the ferry by 5:00 am, more than likely, I won't make to work on Galveston before 6:30 start time. It might even be later, if the crew screws around, or waits for stragglers to load.
-At certain times, the wait for getting on the ferry can be over an hour. That's 40 minutes more than the time required to bypass the ferry and drive down SH 146, to IH 45, then into Galveston.
-You might be the correct number vehicle and end up in the check line. There, they'll make you open your doors, glove box, hood and tool box. They'll rummage around and I resent the intrusion.
So, I usually avoid the ferry.
Still, I get the urge to take that route, and today I did.
I was next to last on a ferry, that was waiting to leave. I drove right on, had no wait and soon was sitting in my pickup, listening to the radio and watching the tourist play with fate and seagull crap. (They like to try and feed them by hand; oblivious of their predicament, until they're spattered.)
The gate went down, the ramp raised....and we sat.
As my mind wondered what was causing the delay, it appeared off the bow. Here's the photo.
Eventually, it moved enough and we went on. I abandoned my pickup to take the photo.
It was kind of interesting. Travelers lined the rail on the liner and tourists lined the rail on the ferry; snapping photos and selfies.
Meanwhile, I had to escape to my truck, since the bird were too close for comfort. I glanced once at the tourists, with the loaf of bread, a gaggle of children and the dive bombers; intent on hitting their target. Soon I was safe from the turd bombs and listened to the radio for the twenty minute ride across Galveston Bay.
- Early in the morning, when I travel to Galveston, there is usually only one ferry running. If I miss the ferry, all intentions of arriving at work early are dashed, since I have to wait an hour for it to return. Otherwise, if I'm not on the ferry by 5:00 am, more than likely, I won't make to work on Galveston before 6:30 start time. It might even be later, if the crew screws around, or waits for stragglers to load.
-At certain times, the wait for getting on the ferry can be over an hour. That's 40 minutes more than the time required to bypass the ferry and drive down SH 146, to IH 45, then into Galveston.
-You might be the correct number vehicle and end up in the check line. There, they'll make you open your doors, glove box, hood and tool box. They'll rummage around and I resent the intrusion.
So, I usually avoid the ferry.
Still, I get the urge to take that route, and today I did.
I was next to last on a ferry, that was waiting to leave. I drove right on, had no wait and soon was sitting in my pickup, listening to the radio and watching the tourist play with fate and seagull crap. (They like to try and feed them by hand; oblivious of their predicament, until they're spattered.)
The gate went down, the ramp raised....and we sat.
As my mind wondered what was causing the delay, it appeared off the bow. Here's the photo.
Eventually, it moved enough and we went on. I abandoned my pickup to take the photo.
It was kind of interesting. Travelers lined the rail on the liner and tourists lined the rail on the ferry; snapping photos and selfies.
Meanwhile, I had to escape to my truck, since the bird were too close for comfort. I glanced once at the tourists, with the loaf of bread, a gaggle of children and the dive bombers; intent on hitting their target. Soon I was safe from the turd bombs and listened to the radio for the twenty minute ride across Galveston Bay.
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