Post by Far Rider on May 3, 2006 2:11:04 GMT -8
One of the first jobs I had after the military was working for the county sewer department. We used to keep the sanitary sewers in our district running free. One of the sayings we had was "your shit is our bread and butter".
The job I hated the most was using what was known as the "rod machine".
The rod machine was a huge trailer mounted sewer snake made of sections of rod that interlocked in a universal joint like fashion that gave the snake section some limited flexibility. We had a sewer jet, which used high pressure water to clear clogs in the lines, but the rod machine was used in remote areas where the sewer jet (truck mounted) couldn't go in the winter.
You could install tree root saws, corkscrews, and all manner of gynecological instrument looking things to the end of the rods, which would in turn rotate them to achieve the desired affect.
The biggest problem was tree roots. Trees used to get into the sewers for water and fertilizer, and the root sections would have to be removed. Sometimes they would collapse the sewers and you would have to dig the whole thing up.
I hated using it in the winter because the sewers are full of water, and in sub freezing temperatures your hands would get so cold it felt like your fingers would snap off. Because of the risk of getting caught, you couldn't use gloves (a guy on the crew lost a finger that way) so on top of cold hands you had to deal with the occasional turd.
My hands would get so chapped that one time I got a nasty infection that had a pus pocket the size of my whole palm. Not having enough money to go to the doctor at the time, I would squeeze the pus out of my hand through the cracks in my skin, and wash my hands, soaking in epsom salt.
The largest tree root I ever saw, by the way, was a section we got out that was seven feet long.
I don't know how we did it without illegals.
The job I hated the most was using what was known as the "rod machine".
The rod machine was a huge trailer mounted sewer snake made of sections of rod that interlocked in a universal joint like fashion that gave the snake section some limited flexibility. We had a sewer jet, which used high pressure water to clear clogs in the lines, but the rod machine was used in remote areas where the sewer jet (truck mounted) couldn't go in the winter.
You could install tree root saws, corkscrews, and all manner of gynecological instrument looking things to the end of the rods, which would in turn rotate them to achieve the desired affect.
The biggest problem was tree roots. Trees used to get into the sewers for water and fertilizer, and the root sections would have to be removed. Sometimes they would collapse the sewers and you would have to dig the whole thing up.
I hated using it in the winter because the sewers are full of water, and in sub freezing temperatures your hands would get so cold it felt like your fingers would snap off. Because of the risk of getting caught, you couldn't use gloves (a guy on the crew lost a finger that way) so on top of cold hands you had to deal with the occasional turd.
My hands would get so chapped that one time I got a nasty infection that had a pus pocket the size of my whole palm. Not having enough money to go to the doctor at the time, I would squeeze the pus out of my hand through the cracks in my skin, and wash my hands, soaking in epsom salt.
The largest tree root I ever saw, by the way, was a section we got out that was seven feet long.
I don't know how we did it without illegals.
