Chip decided to do more work on the
lower driveway before we pave it,
installing additional drainage and spare pipes, and using fill to
reduce the steep grade.
Israel delivered a load of gravel crusher
tailings.
We ordered NDS pipe from Miami, Florida, last
December, so the pipe was on hand.
We had to
locate the electrical line for the lower gate...that took awhile.
It
was all hands on deck to drag the pipe down and install in under the
existing pipes. We had to do a repair to
one electric gray pipe. Fortunately, it
was empty since it is designated for a future telephone
line so the repair was easy.
Gravel was installed underneath the pipe and around the sides before it
was covered with backfill.
This pipe will drain water from the side of the main driveway and keep
the road from eroding.
This was a major OOPS by the backhoe operator. He was digging the
line and caught it with his forks.
Unfortunately, the damaged line
was the main powerline from the meter wall to the house. We
didn't lose power,
but the rubber covering on the line was scraped so copper was
exposed.
It was a Saturday night, so we called NR
Electric and they did a temporary repair. We were extremely
fortunate
that we didn't get any rain until the line had
been permanently repaired Monday morning. We had to replace
the wire...that alone cost over $600. Very
painful excavation experience.
NR Electric pulled the
new line through new conduit. They did a good job of making it
like new.
Israel took over operating the backhoe. He scraped
the west side parking area first. Chip wanted to lower and slope
the grade.
Next
Israel scraped the northside of the parking area; Chip measured to make
sure enough fill was removed.
Some of the fill that was removed was
able to be used on the driveway to reduce the grade.
We extended our irrigation lines and
electric pipe so we could later install more irrigation later.
We also installed our cistern overflow drainage pipe which will
enable excess water to flow under the future driveway. This
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