Occupational Hazards
There is some stigma associated with those prone to accident. Once in a while we all have a moment when we do something that probably wasn’t the best choice. More often than not, however, we make the best choice we can, and bad things still come. The latter seems to be my plight in life. At least my professional life. I obey the law. I drive the speed limit. I keep my vehicles in good repair. I try not to run stoplights. I make sure all the utilities are located before I drill. I make sure I am drilling at least 2 feet away from the utility marks so as not to cause any damage. It really isn’t my fault that the lines on the pavement aren’t always directly above the utilities. A few days ago I was drilling in a rather affluent neighborhood when tragedy struck me. Well maybe it wasn’t tragedy that struck, and it wasn’t me getting struck. It was the drill auger which struck a waterline. It wasn’t the first waterline we hit that day either. The first one was a 1 inch line that spilled water slower than my bathroom faucet, it even had a wash right next to it to drain into. Very little damage was done. The other line was slightly larger. A 12 inch diameter line. There was quite a bit of pressure in that line. The driller felt the pipe under the auger and instantly there was water shooting out of the top of the auger. After pulling out and moving the rig the water pressure created a crack in the pavement from the hole to the edge of the pavement 6 feet away. Large rocks and football sized pieces of asphalt were being hurled over 8 feet in the air. Once the water had removed everything between the pipe and the surface the water was shooting about 35 feet above the ground. The water break isn’t the worst part. Did I mention that it was an affluent neighborhood (read, people pay cash for multi-million dollar homes, Ferraris, etc.). The house (mansion) in the path of the water was situated down hill from the break, and at the lowest point on their property. All the water, rocks and mud that came out of the ground ended up in their garage, landscaping, and tennis court. Ouch! It wouldn’t have been too bad, but it took Phoenix Water Services about 10 minutes to respond, and over an hour to get the water shut off. Unfortunately they can’t use 1/4 turn valves on these lines. The valves have to be turned hundreds of times, by hand, and usually stick due to not being used. This particular point had 3 valves that had to be shut off in order to stop the water.
Recap: 3 foot deep hole + 1 carbide tipped auger tooth + high pressure water main = big mess.
Here is a photo of the 35 foot geyser.
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Here is the geyser with one valve turned off.
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Here is the hole we made.
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I was 3 feet away from any utility marks, the nearest being a water line, go figure (the law requires 2 feet). The line was marked incorrectly.
For some reason I have a magnetism to water lines. I have never hit anything else, but I seem to hit them quite frequently. One of the guys that works with me told me a few months ago to use witching sticks. I made some out of coat hangers and put them in my truck. I was using them for the first time and in an area where there were quite a bit of utilities. They appeared to find the irrigation lines, but failed to indicate the presence of a 6 inch fire line. I hit it. Of course. So I don’t use them anymore. My opinion is that witching sticks are controlled by some mystic power that I don’t possess. Frankly I’m glad I don’t. Even if it means hitting a water line every now and then, as long as I did everything I could to avoid it, I’m ok.
Maybe I’ll try the witching sticks again when I go finish the job from the other day. It couldn’t hurt! 🙂
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