Thursday 18 July 2019

Something different for a change

Thursday 18 July

The gang assembled at Winchcombe today, apart from those on holiday, for a rather less physically demanding day being trained for working in confined spaces. As we have a few hundreds of catchpits dotted along the line, largely in remote locations, this training is essential for ensuring that we can work safely in such environments.

The Bridge 11 works at Stanton are still moving forward, Alistair called in on Tuesday and again yesterday to catch up on the progress. The gabions on the down side are taking shape, albeit there was a hiccough with the stone supplied. A bit of frantic procurement work soon got a more suitable load of stone delivered. 

Tuesday, first 2 baskets being filled
(Photo: Alastair) 

The issue with the stone supplied from Perton Quarry being there was too much at the smaller end of the range, this is unsuitable for building up the front and sides of the baskets 

Tuesday, the Perton stone
(Photo: Alastair) 

A second supply from Tytherington Quarry produced a larger mix. 

Wednesday, Mix of stone facing on the basket
(Photo: Alastair)  

Although there are several quarries in the Cotswolds, the stone is too soft for gabion work. The small stock of Clee Hill stone left from a previous job was used as a stop gap until the Tytherington stone arrived. 

Gabion Stone samples 
Thursday, going round the corner 

The concrete laid on Monday has survived the works traffic. 

Up side with traffic 
Up side - no traffic 
Up side cess outfall 

Now back to today's adventure. Part of the confined space training covered the rescue element, we couldn't afford a dummy for the practical session so used the next best thing.  

Risk assessment phase 
Gas detector testing the atmosphere 
Setting up the rescue rig 
The dummy goes down the ladder
(Photo: Alastair) 
Ready for the rescue
(Photo: Alastair) 
Safely recovered to the surface
(Photo: Alastair) 


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