These are the two service pipes to be relocated during the project. We've jacked two sleeves under the tracks and now will connect these lines to the existing. The existing lines are very deep. Fourty or more years ago this area was filled and the pipes that they buried five or six feet down are now closer to twenty feet deep! This presents a myriad or problems for us. First, just digging that deep requires a big machine and a "trench box". Since this pipe is so large it's not possible to install the valves and connections inside the box. This means that whenever we come to a connection we have to slope the hole out to the OSHA width. A minimum slope of 1.5 to 1 makes our twenty foot deep hole about seventy feet wide. A BIG hole. -- ( 2 x (20 x 1.5) plus 8 to 10 bottom)

	This is the box. It's a very strong, very heavy steel box. Both ends and top and bottom are open to allow the work. The backhoe digs in front of the box and slides it along as the pipe goes in. Wayne (the machine operator) has to reach back inside the box after it's in place to set the pipes and make grade. Tight quaters !
Fred and Ed Pacheco do a lot of the water pipe work in this area for Cardi. They have done all kids of twists and turns, connected big and small and make it look easy. Here they're working on the twelve inch line. The big pipes (below) are more of a challenge.
	Here is Lou standing on the big thirty inch valve. As you can see these are very large pipes. They're awkward, and very very heavy.
We've found the pipe that we need to connect up with. It's very deep and with these big pipes there is very little room for error. This will connect up nice and straight, but the problem now is that the old pipe is directly beneath the new. We have a short window of time to connect, this big pipe can't be out of service very long.
Fred and Ed will make it work. All this will be buried and no one will see how it was done, but the water will flow and everything will be back to normal, hopefully before anyone knows it.

Just another days work for the Pacheco Bros.

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