A major BRAVO! Thank you VERY much! Bill Steele cwilliamste...@gmail.com
> On Mar 8, 2016, at 11:21 AM, A. Wertheim via Texascavers > <texascavers@texascavers.com> wrote: > > > > -------- Original message -------- > From: "A. Wertheim" <werthei...@hotmail.com> > Date: 03/07/2016 10:40 PM (GMT-06:00) > To: Victoria Sommers <sommer...@gmail.com> > Subject: It is done- a Honey Creek update. > > Well friends, the Honey Creek road repair project is finished. The road to > the shaft entrance has never been better and will probably never be as good > again. Team “Go Big Or Go Home” brought their best game in a road-working > tour-de-force and not only repaired Joyce’s damaged road but made it useable > for many years to come. All the stops were pulled out to make this project a > success. > > > > > > Here’s the rundown: > > > > Volunteers: > > Tim Ramon- Project Leader > > 8!, count-em, 8! of Tim’s employees volunteered to help on a Saturday. > > Kim Freund- Food and > drinks for a lot of hungry, dusty men > > Kurt Menking- Equipment > operator, planning, organization, landowner relations > > Arron Wertheim- That’s me. I got to > run some equipment and swing a chainsaw. > > Victoria Sommers- Photo documentation, > lunch > > Robert Bissett- Equipment > operator, fundraising, organization > > Gregg “Breaks Thumbs” Williams Fundraising > > > > Equipment: > > (Courtesy of Ramon & Sons Demolition, Inc.) > > Case Backhoe > > Case Compact Track Loader > > Takeuchi Compact Track Loader > > 68000lb Kenilworth roll-off truck with a 20 YARD dump box > > 500 gallon Water Buffalo > > Trucks, Trailers > > Replacement drain pipes > > Replacement gate posts donated for future installation > > > > (Courtesy of BCI & Bracken Bat Cave) > > 8000lb Tandem Dump Trailer > > > > Funding: > > Bexar Grotto > > TCMA > > TSA > > Mr. Jerry Atkinson > > Mr. Joe Ranzou > > Mr. Greg Passmore > > Greater Houston Grotto > > TCR > > > > Project Timeline: > > Saturday and Sunday, March 5 & 6 2016 with good weather. > > > > Project Plan and Action: > > > > The original plan was to rent a couple skidsteers and borrow the dump trailer > from Bracken to patch the road. When Tim volunteered to help out and review > the project, it quickly became apparent that almost a mile of damaged road > would take a lot more time and effort than a couple Bobcats would be able to > handle. The heavy fall rains had made the road damage more pronounced. > Beers would be spilled trying to drive it. Unacceptable. Several different > repair options were discussed and a final few were selected based on the > value of this work and on reasonable fundraising expectations. It’s a ranch > road, not paved access; and while it was damaged during a rainy caving trip, > it also had not been properly maintained since it was originally built. > Ultimately a backhoe, skidsteer, and bumper-pull dump trailer were decided on > with expected costs of up to $1400/1500. > > > > When Kurt and I showed up Saturday morning there was A LOT more equipment > than expected, men in orange vests, traffic cones, a low-boy trailer, and > tons of things going on. Tim had taken a second look at the project scope > and confirmed his initial thoughts that to get the work done in one weekend > we needed to go big or go home. He asked one of his crew to help out on a > Saturday and that quickly grew to 8 hard-working men in steel-toe workboots, > hardhats, and safety vests doing what they do best. > > > > Tim’s guys worked till 5:00 on Saturday and moved enough material to re-pack > the whole road. A 20-yard dump truck can load a ridiculous amount of > material. The box is 23ftx8ftx4.5ft. Caliche weighs 2430.57 lbs/cubic yard. > That is 48611 pounds of material per load (as an engineer I just had to > know.) A Bobcat has a ½ yard bucket. The dump trailer can load 4 yards. > Anyways, watching the driver gently back that loaded roll-on behemoth between > oak trees without so much as a nick to the bark or a snapped twig was > amazing. Joyce had been adamant about protecting her oak trees. Well, > without the 20-yard dump truck and experienced equipment operators this would > probably have been a 2 or 3 weekend project with additional rental and > transport costs. > > > > Kurt and Rob ran the Bracken dump trailer loaded to the max until its > hydraulics whined in tired complaint. When the dumper decided to take a dump > from being overloaded, we grabbed shovels and unloaded it by hand. Short > loads only after that! When it had to be lifted by the track loader to dump > we knew it was finished. > > > > Tim ran his track loader at redline all day long to keep up with the dump > truck and dump trailer. Some of you may not know this but a 9000lb skidsteer > loader can do wheelies! With the Case loader and Case Backhoe working the > caliche pit, it didn’t take long to get more loads of material up to the > road. The water buffalo ran big loops from the well, wetting the material so > it would pack in nice and tight and last a long time. > > > > Kim and Victoria brought lunch for the whole crew. The guys ate quickly and > went back to work, determined to get their job done in one day. > > > > On Sunday, Kurt, Tim, and I returned to do some touch-up work on the road, > set the better culvert pipe at the gate, and fix an extra section of rutted > road on the main property. Victoria saved the day with sandwiches, chips, > and cold beer. We finished working around 5:00 and finished the beer around > 6:00. > > > > Big equipment isn’t cheap. Hauling costs are high and diesel burns fast when > working fast. Without the big equipment there is no doubt this would have > been a long-term project. All settled-up, the cost was $2000. For 30% more > money there was easily 500% more work done in 1/3 the time. > > > > Special thanks to Tim and his guys for donating their time, equipment, and > expertise. Thank you to everyone who helped out and everyone that pitched in > to cover the costs. This project goes a long way to keeping a good > relationship with the landowner. Obviously such an endeavor cannot be > routine so let’s all remember to tread as lightly on the surface as we would > underground and to take care of the wonderful properties we have been given > access. > > > > Happy Caving! > > Arron > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
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