Orange Barrels

Back at the intersection, where I-465 and I-74 

are being reconfigured and constructed, 

drivers are daily confronted with a maze of barriers, 

cones, barrels and signs to help them navigate the area. 

Of course, the planners did not take into consideration 

the occasional pedestrian who may need to cross the road. 

As usual, the safest place to cross is not *at the light,*

but further down, near the McDonald's, 

where there is a long, flat area where one can 

easily see on-coming traffic.

Here are more of the building materials 

to be used on the road's drainage system -

stacks of concrete and PVC pipe. All of it stacked 

very near some of the machinery 

used to move and to place it.

Here's a bit of track made in the gravel by the backhoe.

And here is Todd Yohn's "Orange Barrels,"

a song that reflects the irritation and frustration

we all feel when we encounter a construction zone.

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