Standing water (left ditch) is bad news for everything except birds that swim or eat skeeters. My ducks and two geese took far too big a liking to this ditch. Both geese and some ducks were killed by careless or @#$%*& drivers. You can get that background here: http://www.grangerlandrfd.com/improving-the-gene-pool.html. I put in a work order to precinct four at New Caney and didn't know if I should expect anything back or not.
About a month later we heard air brakes before nine am. The buses had run so we went out to see what it was. If you can't make it out it's understandable. They were having a little conference between an engineer, a scoop operator, and two drivers.
I meandered on down to talk to them. I guess they had been warned to watch out for a certain malcontent. They knew who I was but were friendly anyway.
I talked to the engineer and told him everything I knew. After an exhaustive 15 seconds they got right to work.
I talked to the engineer and told him everything I knew. After an exhaustive 15 seconds they got right to work.
You never know for sure but the guy operating this Gradall scoop seemed to be the primary player. He and the two dump truck drivers proved to be a very good team.
Certainly being careful of the level is not easy to do but is important. Water after all, runs downhill. The clump that you see down the ditch a little way is essentially an earthen dam that they kept in place. It was the last thing to be dug and it unleashed a tsunami when they did. The idea was that they wanted to see the water drain and not just hope that it could.
Certainly being careful of the level is not easy to do but is important. Water after all, runs downhill. The clump that you see down the ditch a little way is essentially an earthen dam that they kept in place. It was the last thing to be dug and it unleashed a tsunami when they did. The idea was that they wanted to see the water drain and not just hope that it could.
When we had our pond dug I was impressed with the dirt that was produced. Same thing here. I guess it's always more than you think it will be.
It was only a week or two prior that our daughter had mentioned that she wanted to get dirt for her front yard. It's expensive.
It was only a week or two prior that our daughter had mentioned that she wanted to get dirt for her front yard. It's expensive.
With two trucks it appeared that part of the job was hauling dirt to a dump site and returning for more. I asked the guy if he would like to save a little fuel by dumping the dirt right here. He said they would be delighted. The first truckload was delivered to our daughter and son in law.
And so it goes!
Getting free dirt isn't all it's cracked up to be. It requires a lot of work if you don't have a tractor with a box blade. We don't. This is what the dirt pile looks like now at my Son in Law Kelly's house. For comparison, mine appears a little way below. I told him I was willing to share but don't think he really wants any more.
Theirs is the highest ground on the property. I told the drivers I would take all the dirt were willing to leave in my swamp..
This is a good picture of the dump rig. It's a beast. If you order sand, rock, or dirt, it will normally arrive in a smaller truck than this. I was impressed.
Public service with a byproduct. Wound up with three and a half piles.
I've actually used about half a pile but it keeps raining. That makes it very hard to work and makes the dirt do what I want it to anyway. Be done in about 100 years I guess.
I know there is still water in the ditch but you can see the ground. When the drought was at it's worst I could see the ground. Not since then until now. Should look natural when the grass starts growing.
Looking back you can see the work that was done. I don't think perfection was attainable. You would have to build up the problem area with dirt or possibly concrete. I'm pretty happy with what we got.
They actually removed, lowered, and reinstalled two driveway culverts just behind where I stood for this picture. Very professional job. Home owners may not even know.
This area dried as soon as the other side and that is a first. Now the only swimming hole for the ducks is not across an obstacle course full of speeding idiots.
They actually removed, lowered, and reinstalled two driveway culverts just behind where I stood for this picture. Very professional job. Home owners may not even know.
This area dried as soon as the other side and that is a first. Now the only swimming hole for the ducks is not across an obstacle course full of speeding idiots.
This is the only pond we have now and I am the only crazy driver that is nearby. The only problems we have had were the twice recently when it rained so much the pond went out of it's banks. Ducks got confused.
Precinct four rocks.
Precinct four rocks.
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