Monthly Archives: October 2013

All In a Day’s Work

by

0

Image

Every now and then, we get the chance to do something out of the ordinary in our business, something that doesn’t have anything to do with broken water lines or collapsed sewers.  This summer, we had a customer call us with a special request.  Antonia Chastain, a sculptor commissioned by the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, created a statue of a Cape buffalo for the new Encounter Africa exhibit.  She asked if we could help transport it to the zoo.  Joe headed to Penrose, Colorado, carefully wrapped straps around the 900 lb. buffalo, carefully loaded him onto a trailer and off they went.  Very slowly.  A crane off-loaded our guy at the zoo and into his new home.  I don’t think “transporting animal sculptures” is listed as a regular excavating service of ours, but it sure was fun.  Look for the Cape buffalo just outside the new lion exhibit the next time you visit the zoo.  Our gorgeous weather makes fall the perfect season to see what’s new.  As always, the zoo has done an incredible job of showcasing exotic animals in a natural setting.

For more on the exhibit from the sculptor’s point of view, visit this link:

http://wildexplorer.org/2013/07/30/buffalo-enrichment-for-lions-at-cheyenne-mountain-zoo/

Image

A Little Bit About Water Lines

by

1

hdpe-water-pressure-pipes

Is plastic pipe good to use?  What about copper, which used to be the standard?  I get asked this a lot from customers who want to know what’s going in the ground.

Due to the ever-increasing EPA water quality requirements at our sanitation plants, most municipalities have been requiring the use of plastic, or HDPE, water lines for several years now.  (Probably makes my grandfather roll over in his grave since he was one of the first plumbers to use soft copper!)  However, the plastic will last much longer.

In most of the rural, outlying areas we use an iron-pipe size HDPE with a 200 psi rating referred to as DR7 (black) pipe.  In the City of Colorado Springs, we can use either copper or upsize one size on CTS HDPE with a 200 psi rating known as DR9 (blue).  It is typically installed with no couplings or fittings, other than at the start and finish at the line.  We use one solid piece, with compression fittings at each end, and a tracer wire for future locating purposes.  Both of these plastic pipes are suitable for directional boring into houses, businesses, under roads, driveways.