Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Technology

Our borough is repaving our street and these are some of the tools they have at their disposal. The large machine makes the curb automatically. A cement truck feeds the machine with a conveyor and the cement is guided towards a form that shapes the curb as the machine moves forward. The workers adjust the controls according to the shape required. I was amazed to see this machine in action and had to take some pictures in front of my house. One worker told me that this technology is 50 years old. I showed the photos to the workers and they were so impressed that they asked me for a copy. One worker asked me to send the photos to his computer and the foreman wanted a copy to put in his office.

However, the sidewalk across the street was made the conventional way, by making a steel form. I would'nt be surprised if the is a special machine for that operation also.

I also took a photo of the technician using a special instrument and I had to ask him what was it's purpose. He told me it was to verify the density of the ground. He hammered a steel rod 1 feet into the ground and inserted the instrument. This is no doubt to make sure that the density meets the standards and  that the ground is compact enough.

We live in a high tech world.

Guy 

1 comment:

Les F said...

The curb machine is somewhat like the machines they have for chewing up old asphalt & laying new asphalt as it passes along.... They can literally repave an old highway with a constant parade of machines ,making the job incredibly shorter,with less mess & less manpower......Yes Guy Technology is neat........ as they say Necessity is the Mother of Invention: Cheers !! HF&RV