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They had been posting for days that the road would be closed July 9 and 10. The villiage gave them a permit for those a Sunday and Monday because that is when Hair Studio One across the street is closed.
11:17:26 They had already cut the pavement and dug the ditch across the road when I arrived.
The manhole pipe that we saw them move to this area yesterday is already set and buried in stone.
This scene taught me that they use the crane with the American Flag on it. That is not just a "parking" weight.
11:20:50 They are setting more vertical brackets along the edge. Later I'll learn that the purpose is to thread safety ropes around the perimeter of the floor.
1:28:04 While walking back for the afternoon visit, a two engine commuter...
...stopped at the station. Two engines on a commuter during a Sunday is another reminder that this is the Taste of Chicago weekend.
Still mounting more posts for the safety ropes.
There is a lot of pipes on a special rack on top of the truck parked on the closed road. And the stockpile of stone inside the fence is getting smaller.
They are backfilling the trench across the road and digging another deep hole on the other side.
"While installing sewer pipe, the hole became deep enough that the operator of the excavator could not see the bucket. So he is watching hand signals. Some of these signals are different than the ones I have seen for a crane operator doing lifts."
(new window)
Another pole is being swung in place.
I walk from Gilbert to Forest to get a better view of the crane operation. I deliberately avoided catching their faces because they are not wearing hard hats inside the fenced area. These two contractor employees are working on a Sunday because someone needs to be on site while the sewer subcontractor is working.
1:41:24 I went back home along Forest instead of Main and a westbound freight came through. I didn't catch the number, but by the looks of all the ventilation grills on the side, it is a Tier 4 locomotive.
Obviously, it is an intermodal train. It is not obvious if it is carrying domestic or international containers.
3:54:50 I did a third walk to the Forest site since they were doing special sewer pipe work. I kept taking pictures of the freight train while I walked to determine...
...it was a mixed freight.
Since digital cameras make pictures so cheap, I kept taking a sample of the cars in the train.
As usual, it was mainly hoppers and tanks.
3:57:32 All done. So that one took almost three minutes to get through town.
As I have mentioned, they are working on Sundays so that they can close Gilbert.
Donegal Excavating is the subcontractor laying the sewer pipe. They have hung their own safety sign.
While I was at it, I included a picture of Carlson's safety sign. The last black line states: "HARD HATS, SAFETY VESTS & PROTECTIVE BOOTS ARE REQUIRED".
They have quit for the day, as I had expected. That means they have put the fence back over the construction entrance. But that lets me get a lot closer to take a picture of what they put in the hole we saw them excavating above. Note all of the utilities they have to work around to lay the pipe into the building.
They have a Deere 27D and...
...a Deere 85G working this job.
4:09:24 An inbound Amtrak comes through as I walk back home, locomotives 192 and 119.
4:03:34 All done. Inbound Amtrak trains generally blow through town at track speed --- 70mph.
(If you are new to this blog, please start at the beginning and follow the "next" link at the bottom of each post.)
11:06:24 I got caught on the north side of the tracks by this train.
11:06:26 And I learned that the crossing signals skunk the locomotive shots.
11:06:28 Fortunately, it was an autotrain, and I care mainly about mixed freights.
A photo of Main Street when we still had Grove Premium. It was a dry-goods store with a big arts-and-crafts section that my wife liked.
11:13:48 Workers are doing overtime on a Saturday for the drain pipe and ledge forming work.
I crossed the street on my way to the Forest site so that I could take a "now" picture of the Grove Premium building. It was extensively remodeled into an Irish Pub and Restaurant. It also has an Irish dance studio.
The workers are checking the tags on the big sewer junction pipes because they are going to be moving them today to where they will be buried.
The small excavator really struggles with these big manhole pipes. They will be closing the road the next two days, Sunday and Monday, to lay the building's sewer pipe across the road and tie in with the city's service.
Also trucks of stone are arriving to build up a stock to use Sunday and Monday to bury the new pipes.
They have already done some work along the side of the street. Tomorrow they will go across the street.
11:27:40 They were turning the crane with no load to unwind the cables from when it was turned by the wind changing directions. This crane can handle three turns of the boom.
11:27:58
"Note that most of the weight is on the front of the tracks and the rear actually comes off the ground when he booms out a little." The tower is being turned in a clockwise direction from the perspective of being on the ground and looking up.
"I took a video to catch the rotation speed of the tower crane and as a bonus I got an excavator working in the foreground. At first I had trouble getting both actions in the frame. I have to use the LCD screen for video, and I have trouble seeing it on bright days." The crane is now being turned in a counter-clockwise direction. (How do kids who were raised on digital clocks learn which way a clock turns? In fact, how many kisa have clocks since their smartphone displays the time and has an alarm function?)
They are done turning the tower.
We are getting a traffic jam of trucks delivering stone. In addition to the one behind the fence backing up to dump its load, we have another one coming down the road.
The construction fencing has already reduced the road to one lane, and now the white-cab truck is blocking that lane.
Before a car got trapped behind the truck, a worker put the orange barrels across the road indicating it is temporarily closed.
11:41:54 On my way back home I see a headlight on the middle track. Obviously there is also an inbound commuter parked at the station. A big crowd on the platform in the middle of the day and on a Saturday means something is happening this weekend in Chicago --- the Taste of Chicago.
11:42:14 The headlight is getting closer, but the Forest Avenue crossing gates have yet to activate because I move off the tracks as soon as I hear the bells. The platform is empty, so the crowd should be on board the commuter.
11:42:42 The headlight on the middle track was an express commuter. An express on Saturday is another indication that something big is happening in Chicago.
11:43:20 The inbound is finally leaving, the gates have gone up and the people who were waiting are crossing the tracks.
11:43:32 Metra engines are about 40 years old and they can blow some pretty black smoke when they are pulling out of a station.
I've seen some blow smoke that is blacker than this.
