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In the cold and wind, city crews spending a day working on South Main water line break

By Howard B. Owens

Through nearly 24 hours of sub-zero temperatures, crews from the city's Public Works Department have been dealing with a water main break on South Main Street near River Street.

The break itself is repaired, according to City Manager Jason Molino, but there is a valve causing a problem and crews are trying to isolate it so it can be repaired.

Residents in the area should have water flow, though the pressure might be down a bit.

"They're out there," Molino said. "They're working hard, but the weather isn't helping. You've got to give them a lot of credit. There's got to be nothing worse than working outside and getting wet in sub-zero temperatures."

There's no ETA for when repair work will be complete.

UPDATE 8:33 p.m.: Photos added. City workers were out trying to locate the troublesome valve. At the break site were contractors from Sergi Construction. Crew members confirmed they've been at this task since last night. Asked how it was going, one said, "not good." As you can see from the pictures, there's still a lot of work to be done. It's currently minus eight degrees outside.

Ed Hartgrove

I can't even imagine working in conditions like that.
That being said, I remembered seeing a program back in the late 80's.
If I remember correctly, there was a company in (Oklahoma?) that was using chicken-wire to form a rough version of a 1-story house. They formed the floors, walls, roof, and even shelves protuding from some walls, using nothing but chicken-wire. After the entire house was formed, they used (something like) a paint sprayer to spray urethane foam, encompassing the chicken-wire (sort of like "Great Stuff" on steroids).
The result was a fully-insulated house, that weighed only a fraction of a normal house. They cut out window openings, doorways, etc., using knives & saws-alls.
I was just thinking, when working on projects like this water line break, they could drop a bus-size urethane building over the site (after the hole was dug, of course), work in relative comfort, ahd when finished, just remove the foam structure. They are so light, 4 or five guys could probably pick 'em up. While working in windy conditions, they could hold them down using the back-hoe.
Just a thought.

edited at 7:50 A.M. Mon.
Foam Home Minnetrista, MinnesotaLocated just outside of Minneapolis, the Foam Home was built in 1969 by architect Winslow Wedin. The 4,000+ square foot home was extremely energy efficient, able to withstand Minnesota winters with only an air exchange heat pump since the home is made of insulation.Most Unique Feature: The home is comprised of Polyurethane spray foam, chicken wire and 2×2′s with exceptional acoustics since it was built like a stereo speaker.
From: http://www.houses.com/blog/craziest-homes-from-around-the-world/

Feb 16, 2015, 7:53am Permalink
Rich Richmond

When my father was still in business (Richmond Sunoco) on the corner of School and Center Streets now (Marathon Reality) I worked outside in the winter time during some bitterly cold weather while in Junior High and High School.

Many here remember the full service gas stations; we didn’t sell milk and bread, however we checked your oil and transmission fluid; checked your tires etc.

I made change out of my pocket and damn did my hands get cold.

It wasn’t my hands so much as my feet. The good insulated boots weren’t available in those days.

I used to buy my knee high rubber boots from Barrett's Batavia Marine. I would wear several pair thick cotton gray and black monkey socks that were sold at the Old Mill Outlet. We called them monkey socks because the toes and heel were black.

My Mother and Grandmother made stuffed toy monkeys out of them with button eyes. I believe it was a family custom from the great depression.

We had a long galvanized tub full of water for checking tires for leaks.

In the winter I would fill with hot water and stand in it between customers to get my feet warm.

The men on our City Public Works department more than earn their money in this type of weather.

Feb 16, 2015, 10:11am Permalink

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