February 24, 2007: Drilling the last Grace pier
The end is near. Michael Hebb is hollowed the inner core of the last Grace
pier. Ken and Mickey have marked the drilling spots and today - our
quartet of Carlos and Robbie on the top man lift with Michael and Ben
(who looks just like his brother Stan) on
the lower man lift. Actually this is a quintet for 4 drillers and
the moon - which you will see from time to time below.
THe worksite - with Carlos and Robbie in the man lift and Manny's crane
to the right
But first - on Wednesday, Mickey will implode the T-2 substructure - here
already drilled and ready for loading: looking south
and looking north
Another view of the worksite
The barge setup with the man lift
Here an almost-X marks the spot - Carlos and Robbie above and Michael
and Ben below
and Michael and Ben below
Carlos - the flag planter on the Grace mainspan (last March 1) giving
Sparky the ok.
Robbie drilling with the pneumatic drill. How does Robbie know where to drill?
Ken and Mickey have diagrammed the drilling pattern
as seen here
Robbie letting the drill do the work while Carlos just chills a bit
While below, Ben is drilling while Michael does his thing
The gentle force of the man basket keeping the pressure on the drill as it
penetrates the concrete
With the moon looking on - sort of as a supervisor
Some Sparky art work - the Ravenel between two piling supports
Robbie doing some serious drilling
Then Carlos removes the bit and
and removes the extension
inserts it for starting a new hole
carefully
Inserting and locking the bit
and positioning the man basket
and starts drilling
with the moon to the right
Another good view of the worksite
Michael and Ben - going up
until they are in position
What a picture - Carlos and Ben above the moon while Michael and Ben
are below the moon
With a flag flying from Manny's crane
Ben drilling
Our quartet
With the moon
and Sparky on the way home
See ya'll Wednesday
