Tuesday, August 19, 2014

My Street Got Paved

    This week my street got paved and it was an interesting operation to watch.

     Most paving jobs around here consist of grinding off some old pavement and laying a new coat on top. For this job they took off all the old pavement. Then they began working with the gravel base and spent lots of time to rearrange the base. I'd never seen that before. Finally, they came with the paving crew and did the paving.

    Now they went to a lot of effort to redo this street. However, it was originally done in 1965 so costing the old road over 49 years was a good deal. I hope this one lasts 49 years.

    Paving crews are very hard workers. This one was no different. they worked very hard. I asked one of the flagmen how long they'd worked that day and she told me 13 hours. They're a tough bunch.
Back and forth a 100 times.

The monster

There always has to be one worker taking it easy. This was the foreman and I think he was texting.

Just to make the females happy there were quite a few females on this crew and they did the hard work like everybody else.

My camera was to slow to catch this guy

One of the guys riding on the back of the paver and adjusting things 

Paving crews have more rakes than gardeners.

34 comments:

  1. they get a lot of grief for leaning on rake handles and slowing down traffic, but you're right - they have a tough job working on hot pavement with hot tar and mix in the heat of the day while we complain about sitting in our air conditioned car for a few minutes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They also have to work quickly with the material or it doesn't spread and cools and dries so it doesn't stick together.

      Delete
  2. They have done a proper job here. I expect they have to with your winters or the frost would mean then resurfacing every year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes they have learned how to make roads to handle frost ...at least to some extent.

      Delete
  3. I love the smell of hot new tarmac. We call them roads here in the UK. The pavements are the paths next to the roads that people walk on. It's funny how terminology differs from country to country isn't it? Was there a race to see who gets to drive on the shiny new road first Red?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There doesn't seem to be any race as to who drives first, but the skate boarders show up when there's nice smooth pavement.

      Delete
  4. That is a long day working 13 hours. I have never seen a woman here at the roadworks, your country is very emancipated. Here they mostly do these works for highways at night because of the crowded country we have. It is always interesting to watch those works you don't see so often.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it's a large operation with lots of action.

      Delete
  5. Yes they are very hard workers indeed. It gets incredibly hot on that asphalt. I have a lot of respect for them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Incredibly hot is an understatement. They tell me they just get used to it.

      Delete
  6. Our parking lot in the apartment where I live was re-paved this spring, and it was interesting to watch the process. It sure is nice to have a smooth pavement to park on now. We didn't have any females in our crew here. You are more progressive in Canada, eh? :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's hard to tell how many women were working as each job had a separate crew. I saw women as flagmen, putting up signs, shoveling asphalt and driving equipment.

      Delete
  7. This is a tough job, especially when it's really hot out! And freshly paved streets looking great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess that's why most of the crew wee young.

      Delete
  8. I'm so sick of the sight of those machines! Every major thoroughfare in the small community where I have to go to shop is having roadwork done this summer. It has been a nightmare. On the other hand, if they would like to come out here and pave my road, I'd be most appreciative!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You will change your mind about the bother when you drive on smooth roads.

      Delete
  9. They are a hardy bunch, the smell and the heat coupled with the hard work must be awful...not a job I would like for sure. I bet you will enjoy your new street! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The pay is really good on these crews. Many are students.

      Delete
  10. It looks like a hot and dirty job. I'm always impressed by people who work physically.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ya gotta give them a lot of credit. It's not a job for sissies!

      Delete
  11. Looks like a great job. Saw lots of paving on my travels and I agree that these folks work very hard for their money!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here the summer is busy as this can't be done in the winter.

      Delete
  12. GREEN, I tell you, GREEN with envy!!
    We live on a private road (when we bought the house we were so stupid we just thought this meant it would be quiet) that, thanks to snow plowing and frost heaves, is like driving in the Baja. We just learned that the town is willing to come pave it, but it will cost at least $16,000! With only 3 houses on the street, this means a considerable cost to each of us.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I only see women holding the stop signs here at our big neighborhood project. It's good to see yours driving the equipment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They also shovel the stuff and rake. the crew seems to rotate jobs.

      Delete
  14. What a fun event. You covered it really well!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Looks good!
    The majority of the roads around here are gravel.
    They come grade our road a few times a year. We are the only house on our road.
    Cheri

    ReplyDelete
  16. When people drive on the new surface they will take it for granted and never give a thought to the work that went into it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. It sure looks like they did a beautiful job, Red. You should have smooth driving there.

    ReplyDelete