Creekwork
I've described the creek work in another thread, but I will briefly explain it again here.
My employer scored a contract with the city to clean the creeks of debris from those oh-so-nasty hurricanes last year (central florida). The purpose of the project was to improve drainage for a significant portion of the orlando area, as these particular creeks were floodplains and drainage for a rather large territory.
We spent three months in the creeks, moving, cutting, roping, winching, rigging, jerry-rigging, and otherwise committing acts of tomfoolery.
We had to do underwater cuts, huge pressure-cuts on multiple trees (some of these scenerios included a dozen trees fallen into complicated knots, the bottom trees stuck in the muck) and so forth.
Our equipment was very limited, as it had to be packed in and out of the creeks on our backs, and it generally consisted of the following:
A portable winch, 5000 pounds pull.
Several hanks of different size rope, our largest being a big ole samson 3/4 inch bull rope.
A 044, a 020, and sometimes a 066, with extra chains and various parts. The chainsaws often decided that they didn't want to play anymore, due to the rather EXTREME amounts of abuse we were heaping upon them by sawing root-balls, watersoaked and rotten palms, and all that jive.
Various pitchforks.
Snakebite kits, first aid kits, toilet paper, plastic bags.
Machetes.
Hip waders, which we eventually traded out for some good ole vietnam jungle boots with the steel shank in the sole.
At one point, a bow and arrow for dispatching venomous snakes from the piles of crap we had to move.
Pulleys and more pulleys.
A throwline and throwball.
Copious amounts of chewing tobacco, sunflower seeds, and dirty jokes.
It was a heck of a job, and I got some pretty strange looks from people emerging from the woods covered in black funk carrying chainsaws with machetes strapped all over my body.
It was raw.
And before anyone goes off about PPE, bear in mind that it was like 3500 degrees in a stagnant swamp. Three guys quit because of the creek work, despite the extra pay and respect that we received, and making these poor guys wear big plastic hats would have resulted in my being fragged by a guatemalan with an MS200T.
Mac
