No way, no how I would ever do this kind of stuff. Just the descent would have turned me into a hysterical turnip.
By Miguel.GFZ
Semi-retired like Vito Corleone before the heart attack. Consiglieri to J.Kb and AWA. I lived in a Gun Control Paradise: It sucked and got people killed. I do believe that Freedom scares the political elites.
11 thoughts on “Fixing a water main from the inside… 48 feet underground and underwater.”
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That’s some hard-core shit right there. I’ve climbed in chemical process vessels and even inside a 42″ pipe before, but always empty with forced air circulation and safety harness with rescue team. No fricking way I’d do that underwater. Just being in an empty open pipe is claustrophobic. I can manage, but it takes some prep time to get in the right mental space. Underwater? Never.
There is a school for underwater welding here in Central Florida. Those guys make piles of cash, what with it being such a specialized set of skills.
IMHO they deserve every frigging penny
Wow. Talk about specialized skills and competence with those skills. I wonder what the $$ difference was between these guys doing the repair and having to cofferdam and river and dig that section up; multiple millions, I’d guess.
WHOA!!!! I was on the boats and that gives me the willies. I like to think I could do it, but I don’t know. LOL
I’ve heard of underwater welding, which is an amazing skill, but I always understood that to mean working on the outside of drill platform legs or the like.
This is a blend of underwater welding and cave diving. Amazing.
Similar comments could be made about people who work on tall towers. Not my thing either, although I’ve done very mild versions of it as teenager.
Tall towers need to have the obstruction lights replaced and/or maintained.
https://youtu.be/W4ERBsbvs_c
Personally, would much rather be climbing up high, than confined in a pipe underwater.
Me too, but safety hooks that are merely hooked loosely over step bolts don’t give me a warm & fuzzy feeling.
Witness Duh Padro-Archy!
It is WRONG! that xi makes so much more money than an assistant professor of intersectional studies!
WRONG!
(sarc, off)
Lots of Planning and Preparation went into that job.
I hope they are planning the water main replacement too. That probably will not be the first or last repair job needed on that main.
I worked a little with professional divers back in the 90’s that did inspections and repairs in our spent fuel pool. They got off to a rocky start when two of them showed up as scheduled at 8AM and promptly blew .10 on a breathalyzer. “But we stopped drinking at midnight.” That bounced them and blew the schedule all to hell.
I’m glad I never had to blow a breathalyzer at 8 am back when I was young. We thought stopping drinking at 2 am was doing good, cause you could get at least 2 or 3 hrs sleep before work. That and coffee. Lots of coffee.