Sacrificial, On the hole ...

It is humbling to think that the tiny ant has shown us the way to deal with potholes.

All it takes is a spirit of sacrifice, a small but noble gesture for the common good.

"Army ants tired of potholes take one for the team, throwing their bodies into rough spots to make a smoother road for their sisters, British researchers have reported."

So when you see that truck load of pasta sauce heading for the supermarket, don't hesitate.

Hurl yourself into that hole.

It's for the good of society...

"I think every road user who has ever inwardly cursed as their vehicle bounced across a pothole – jarring every bone in their body – will identify with this story," said Franks."

"Just As I Thought .... Stones."

This beautifully dug hole is part of a forensic study.

We have boffins, who steal what is dug up. They take it way to do various secret tests.

It's bloody hard digging, they used good road metal, those old timers.

We have gone through the Pre Beatles, and well into the Marmite in glass jars era.

A mugshot is taken & a bit of prodding done.

Now I'll fill it in again, and do the same a bit further down the road.

It's all terribly scientific ...

Killer Potholes...

I wouldn't stand too close lady.

It might still be hungry ...

Craig's Personal Potholes

Piopio Ambulance Depot

We Scorpio's never forget...

"Can you find one with significance to Ambulance? It would just mean that much more to me..."

No problem Craig.

Two even!

But maybe you could give the other one to a colleague, even if he is a Pommie !

Anyway, big thumbs ups to the ambulance crews, you all do an amazing job.

Who Ya Gonna Call ...

Once again it was like a horror movie.

Soubriquet reports via WNBC on another attack
This time on a 71 year old man in Huntington, N.Y.

"He yelled for his wife, Louise, to help him, and she threw a rope and called their son, Dan, who lives with them.

"Oh, my God," the wife said. "A little more, he's sinking. He's a goner!"

The son said the scene "was like a horror picture."

A neighbor who heard the commotion ran over to help -- but the ground gave way again, swallowing him and the son. The neighbor crawled out while passers-by tried to hold onto the others until the Huntington Fire Department showed up."

Now at first I thought this and the prior attack posted below were the work of Moleman.
But this is getting more serious.

I think that the secret Pothole breeding experiments at Area 51 have been going well.

I believe that attempts to breed a giant hole to attack Tora Bora have borne fruit.
But one has escaped.

And it is hungry ...

Killer Pothole Gets Man In Home

"Man dies after plummeting into large hole that opened beneath his home"

"ALTA, California (AP) - It was like a scene from a horror film: A 27-year-old man plummeted into a gaping hole that suddenly opened beneath a house, trapping him beneath foundation rubble and killing him."
Link

You have to watch them when they go rogue...

Holy Ground

In the real world of a roadworker, constant rain and a waterlogged road tend to get you down. We are patching this part of the road daily at the moment. We are also dealing with lots of small slips and rocks falling onto the road. It is a life of clammy wet weather gear, being showered with mud and water by inconsiderate speeders, and long days.

Lots of potholes means lots of wheel trims, hub caps, and goodies that rattle off trailers. We have a goodly collection, and on rainy days hang them on the walls of the shed. It is a big shed and we have 3 walls covered, and a pile more to go up. These days they are mostly cheap and made of plastic, but we do have a few "collectors items". A big Kenworth truck hissed to a stop the other day and the driver asked us if we had seen one he was missing off a front wheel, we hadn't but found it a day or two later He was one happy truck driver. The things we find along the road are often unusual, strange mechanical gubbins off trucks & machinery, trailer parts etc. This weeks haul included 50 litres of calcium concentrate (for cows?), a car door, and a bunch of buckets. I have found wallets, (empty) cell phones, a dog kennel, (also empty) and a trailer with no drawbar.
Rest Area 300m

That's A Wrap...

Another problem area, another solution. Here water has been seeping under the road and opening up a series of potholes. ( about opposite the car ). A digger has come in and dug a deep drainage trench to catch the water coming off the steep bank. The cloth protects the open drainage metal that will be used to fill the trench, and stop dirt and clay clogging up the metal. When nearly full, the cloth will be folded over and another layer put on top to keep everything in position. We will then give it a chance to dry out a bit and then hopefully fix the area permanently.
Rest Area 300m

The "Out Tray"

These potholes have now been repaired. A heap of Pavelay has been wheelbarrowed into them. A small plate compactor has tamped them down, and a shovel full of sand spread over them to stop them sticking to tires. Finally they will be rolled with the wheels of the truck. The road metal kicked out of them has been swept off the road, quite a quantity as you can see.
A major cause of the problems in this area is the shade caused by the pine trees. In winter this section is always damp, and never gets any sun.
Rest Area 300m

My "In Tray"

This section of road had the potholes fixed 24 hours ago. Now it looks like Tora Bora after a B52 bombing run. In winter you have few options, put up signs and a speed restriction, and keep pouring Pavelay in, day after day. It can be soul destroying, and quite hard work. In fine weather all is well, but a good rain puts you back to where you started. This section was sealed late, never dried properly, and the road is absorbing water like a sponge. The hole closest to the camera is nearly a metre long and the water is up to your ankles.
Rest Area 300m

The Boys & The Black Stuff

We have had a good rain over the last couple of days. Rain means potholes.
Potholing, or Pavement Repairs, to be flash, can be hard work.
Shovelling a couple of tonnes of Pavelay, which has the consistency of sticky toffee, means you get home stuffed.
When the weather is good, and the road behaving itself, a pothole run can be a doddle. A gentle cruise to a small hole, a repair and a chat.
After heavy rain, we get craters. Some areas we put wheelbarrow loads of black gooey stuff in.
It is very heavy, 2.2 tonnes to the cubic metre to be precise. Most we shovel off the back of the truck, if it's quiet we can just use a trailer, or a couple of bins.
Drivers have an aversion to Pavelay. They will run you over rather than drive through a freshly repaired pothole, yet slow moving traffic makes a great roller.
The truckies know what we are up to and will line up a repair and roll it for us, some are brilliant at it. Yet the average car driver will risk death by driving on the wrong side of the road rather than risk getting Pavelay on their car. Something that is unlikely. It is not like tar.
So rain means a stuffed Oldfart. The weather forecast isn't that flash either....
Duval Eliot , The Road Worker, 1938 (charcoal)

Stealth Potholing.

In this age of ever complicated and over legislated bullshit, even fixing a pothole is a complicated operation. Should I see one developing on the road, I cannot just stop and fix it, though in wet weather it can become a major problem in hours. We have to have three vehicles, one that does the work, and a pilot in front and behind. The distances apart are designated, they must have signs and flashing lights, we have to be in radio contact with each other. It's a bit like the 3rd Armoured Division on the march.
   This means of course, that, a minor problem is ignored until it becomes major, or we have enough potholes to make it worthwhile to mount an operation. It has also made me a renegade.
I will sneak in somewhere close, carefully study the traffic flow, and then scamper across the road and fill the hole, then make my getaway, feeling smug.
   If you ride a motorbike on State Highway 3, it might be nice to know, that there is a phantom figure trying to make sure you are not unhorsed.