Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Water Lines and Fence Post Augers Don't Mix



On Tuesday our neighbor decided to start fencing the land he cleared last fall, including a small section of woods beyond the clearing.  He and a couple of hired helpers were setting the pairs of large black locust corner and gate posts.  Although he knows our water line runs right along the road, he didn't bother to call the water district and have them mark the exact location of the line.  When drilling the hole for the companion of the post shown above, he put his fence post auger through our water line.


Being out of water for a few hours while the line was repaired was no big deal.  As a matter of fact, neither Jo nor I even realized we had no water until the water district employee who repaired the line came down to our place to flush it out.  The muddy mess made of our road out is more troublesome.  The depression to the left of the fence post shown above is where the repairman used a backhoe to dig a large hole so he could access the damaged line.  The hole extended about a quarter of the way across our road.  Because we've received a lot of rain recently, the ground is saturated.  The hole was back filled with mud.  Until it dries in a month or so, the back fill is about as firm as quicksand.  Jello would do a better job of supporting a vehicle.





The last thing this section of saturated red clay needed was a lot of traffic which included heavy equipment. 




The water in the road has nothing to do with the water line break.  It is runoff from the hill above the road. 


Jo and I need to leave for an art fair on Friday.  I hope we can make it out.

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2 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

Oh dear. That's a mess you don't want to get stuck in. I'm sorry your neighbor didn't just make the call - they're so good about coming out within a day or so to flag the areas too.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Isn't this aggravating. I hope you get out safely.