Patching on I-70
Jun 20th, 2008 by Bobosan
My job at the state is going pretty well. We’re still very slow at the office, but I’m enjoying learning how to do paperwork and learning more about my coworkers. It’s rained the last few days so we haven’t had much construction going on, so we’ve been catching up on paperwork and reading spec books.
Yesterday I actually got to go out again. There’s a $25 million dollar job that is still continuing from 2001, and a Lead Inspector and I went out to oversee the contractor putting rock in a drainage ditch to slow down the current, and protect against erosion. Before I started this job, I never really knew how much of a problem erosion was, but after seeing how damaging and destructive flowing water can be, I understand all the paranoia about erosion and soil protection.
This particular job was in a protected wetland, so KDOT had to recreate a similar environment for ducks a few miles down the river. After we checked out the ditch, we headed down there so he could show me more about the project. Essentially, KDOT built a pond in the middle of nowhere, and equiped it with drainage controls so they could drain the damn thing if it got too full. The entire area was reclaimed by wildlife, and I saw deer tracks EVERYWHERE we went in there. It was pretty neat, and not really something I think about when road construction is on my mind.
Tomorrow I’m going in on my day off, from sun-up to sun-down to do a patching project on I-70. I’m heading out with a different Engineering Technician tomorrow, and I should pick up a lot from this job. I’ve done some gradation, and watched some grinding, but tomorrow will be my first true interaction with Portland Cement. I think it will be damn fun, if not damn tiring. Hell, I’ll probably even learn a lot too.