Monday, October 10, 2011

Clueless Amid Precast


I'd made an urban safari to visit the earth moving equipment and cement drainage pipe I'd seen lying in the street. I walked for two hours, making other stops along the way, but to find them, virtually unguarded and so close I could touch them, smell the dirt and oil was a special treat. The equipment had a coat of oxidation that virtually matched the earth it was meant to gouge, push and shift around.

Precast cement pipe laid at disused railroad right-of-way.
The Town of Speedway is installing new drainage pipe, a project expected to be completed next summer. The work crews have left sections of it lying around the neighborhood, as inviting as a playground, complete with gaskets to seal the sections, plugs and lubricant (soap!) to help the concrete pieces slide together.

Here are gaskets and plugs used to connect
 and seal the pipe sections.
Section placed for installation at the corner
of 11th Street and Winton Avenue.

I only have a very general idea of how most of the stuff is used, and even looking up specifications on the internet wasn't much help; apparently, manufacturers don't expect that a middle-aged woman's incessant curiosity would lead her to idling through their product info. (Pictures, guys! I want pictures complete with ID call-outs!) 

Metal pipe, grate piece and paraphernalia meant for bracing
Looking east on 10th Street at Winton Avenue.
Conical shape at back is top section of precast
manhole which will be stacked onto other
sections like the one at left,
as they are sunk into the ground

3 comments:

dive said...

Suddenly the part of my job that involves standing around, looking down big holes and yelling at digger drivers seems more exotic than usual.
I can't believe they left that hole unguarded (and that it's not already full of neighbourhood kids). If that were my project somebody would be getting a rocket up their ass this morning.

Speedway said...

Yep, there it was, Dive. I thought about just that scenario myself. It did, however, have that orange plastic fencing all around, but the only thing to keep me from climbing up and through was my own caution.

Speedway said...

And, yes, I try to find the wonder in things other people may take for granted. Making something every day common a little bit exotic, makes my small world a bit more interesting and keeps boredom at bay.