Election night update

The backup

The reality of any construction project is that things break, go wrong and otherwise make it take longer than originally planned. Today the main boring machine broke down, so they got the secondary in place. It's slow going, and pretty touchy work. They are 25' under the creek, and ~50' under the road level at some points. Here's the wikipedia explanation of directional boring:

Wikipedia :

The beginning of the process starts with receiving hole and entrance pits. These pits will allow the drilling fluid to be collected and reclaimed to keep the cost down and prevent excessive waste. The first stage drills a pilot hole on the designed path and the second stage enlarges the hole by passing a larger cutting tool known as the back reamer. The reamer's diameter depends on the size of the pipe. The driller increases the diameter according to the material being cut and creates for optimal production. The third stage places the product or casing pipe in the enlarged hole by way of the drill steel and is pulled behind the reamer to allow centering of the pipe in the newly reamed path.
Horizontal directional drilling is done with the help of a viscous fluid known as drilling fluid. It is a mixture of water and, usually, bentonite or polymer continuously pumped to the cutting head or drill bit to facilitate the removal of cuttings, stabilize the bore hole, cool the cutting head, and lubricate the passage of the product pipe. The drilling fluid is sent into a machine called a reclaimer which removes the drill cuttings and allows the crew members to keep the proper viscosity of the fluid.

This is pipe replacement, not exactly the same, but close

 On the east side of the creek, the Maxwell crew is still trying to identify the source of the leak in the water main. They thought it was under the creek bed, but were mistaken. It's an inexact science. Seems to be a good thing to have identified in early November than, say, in February. 

While it's disappointing that the project is stretching out beyond the original time line, it makes sense to keep the road closed until these two elements of the project are complete, no matter how long it takes. It would be a major slow-down to the process to have to work around traffic. Patience - a week or two more of a detour we've lived with for 7 months is no big deal. Let's, as they say on the other DOT projects - Give 'em a BRAKE. The guys out there working a 7-7 shift have enough to worry about, and they are people too, doing a job, making a living. Let's appreciate the hard work of building major infrastructure! Bridges and natural gas lines are so under-appreciated...