The Circles Keep Spinning

Picking up from where I left off last (and this is gonna be rather quick cuz there just isn't enough time to go around these days) ...

As I'd promised last time, here's a shot of our first feeble attempts to melt through the frozen soil back in Mexico, Missouri.

That lasted about a day before we shifted to more strongarm (literally) tactics. We also got our shelters too which helped tremendously.

We made somewhat better progress once those had gone up and our propane heaters (also new) were turned on. Still wasn't the prettiest piece of work though.

Having given up on the idea of melting our way through we opted to take a pickaxe to the frozen surface. After a couple hours of chiseling our way around the perimeter of the unit we pryed off the frozen center as a single slab.

Once past the frozen layer, the rest went quite quickly. We actually managed to finish the job only 1 day behind schedule.

After that we went to ... no, not Nebraska ... a site outside Troy, Missouri to help out for a day. Another crew was working there under similar conditions so we gave them a hand. Didn't really spend enough time there to talk about it.

So, after our day there we moved on to ... no, still not Nebraska ... the Orchard Farm site in St. Charles County, Missouri; right across the Mississippi River from Alton, Illinois which is where we stayed for this project. This job was much the same as the previous two except that a) we were in the middle of an open field, and b) the frozen surface layer was several inches thicker.

After having refined our pickaxing skills at the previous sites we did better here. Still, it was slow going. In order to stay on schedule we used a backhoe to strip off the frozen soil over the final 2 units and, ultimately, made short order of them.

There was nothing of any real substance in any of the units. The best find, and it really wasn't much at that, was a small pottery cluster in one of our backhoe trenches. And for those who are wondering if I'm actually out here doing these things, and not just making it up, heres a shot of moi in action, cleaning up the area around the pottery we found.

All things considered, this project went rather smoothly. We finished it off right on schedule then headed back to Carbondale, Illinois where we spent the weekend working in the lab, processing what we had collected from these latest projects.

Early the next Monday morning we hit the road for (finally!) Nebraska.

We had a small, 1-day survey job outside of Columbus, NE to do on the way but there was just too much snow on the ground to accomplish it. We've put that on hold for the time being. It is supposed to warm up soon so we'll likely take a day to go back there once a bit of the snow has melted away.

In the meantime, I'm now working on a project in Cedar County which is at the northern border of Nebraska. I'm actually staying in Yankton, South Dakota for the duration. The working conditions are not nearly as dreadful as I expected them to be at this time of year. Its chilly and there is some snow on the ground but it is not unbearable. We have our shelters and our heaters so its really kind of pleasant working for the most part (until we have to go outside that is).

And that is pretty much where I'm at now. We're about a third of the way through this project. Should have it done by the middle of next week if all goes well.

So, whats gonna happen next? Hard to say for sure. I had to turn down the return to the Santa Clause project because I'd already committed myself to this one by the time the call came in. So that project is no longer on my calendar. (Which also means that I had to miss the Tell City Euchre tournament too! Dammit!) And other outstanding commitments I've got probably won't start up for another month yet so can't plan on those just yet. Thought I might have the chance to go to Louisiana for a couple of weeks but in the couple of days it took me to iron out my schedule here that crew was filled without me. Blah! So... unless I hear otherwise (which, as you might have figured out by now, could happen at any time) it looks I'll be heading back to Missouri again. There is at least one project there to help out on and possibly a second in the immediate future. If those work out well, that should take up to the point where these other projects start kicking in which will take me to more warmer parts of the country.

But for now, I'm hangin' out in Yankton, SD ...

Greetings From Missouri!

Have I mentioned lately how quickly my schedule can change?

I'd been expecting to get called back into the field soon but the call I received last Sunday evening from American Resources Group, Ltd. was not one that I anticipated.

The phone rings at about 6:00pm and by 8:00pm I'm on the road to Carbondale, Illinois. I arrive there about 3:30am Monday morning, catch a quick nap in the hotel room they had waiting for me, then met with the boss at 7:00am. Three hours later I'm on the road again for another 4 hour drive to where I am now.

Which is a little place called Mexico, Missouri.

We're here now because there will be an oil/gas pipeline coming through the area and we need to excavate and document this site before it gets destroyed. Its a rather small site and wouldn't take long at all to deal with under favorable conditions. Too bad we don't have them.

This particular project was intended to last for only 5-6 days but before the first day was over we were already behind schedule. The problem here isn't rain, which is what caused us the biggest headaches back in Tell City. No, now its too blasted cold to get anything done properly. The soil is freezing faster than we can work through it!

The site itself is a small circular area, roughly 30' across, pretty much at the center of the photo above. It wasn't until the end of the day Tuesday that we could actually see it. The tree-cutters who came through earlier to clear the pipeline path had felled a huge honkin' oak right on top of our site and left it there! We had to call them back to clear out the limbs (you can still see the tree trunk to the left in the photo) before we could begin our primary excavations. To bide our time we dug a series of shovel probes around the tree to confirm the size of the site. And thats when we first discovered the joys of working with frozen ground.

Here's a photo of our first unit after nearly 2 full days working on it.

That pile of chunks in the very foreground with the flag in it is the frozen layer of topsoil that we chipped out to get us that far. See those tubs off to the right? We placed them directly in the unit, lit fires in them, and used that to soften up the ground enough to get our shovels into it. [I have photos of that trapped on my cell phone camera. Because of the crappy phone service out here I can't get them out. I'll come back and post them later once I can retrieve them.]

Once past the frozen surface we were able to make some decent progress for a couple of hours. But then the temperature began dropping even further and screwed things up again. Dirt was freezing in our screens faster then we could screen through even a small shovel-full. By the end of the day Wednesday, the newly exposed soil surfaces were freezing at the rate of 1cm/15 minutes (yes, we actually timed this).

Today we didn't even attempt to excavate though we did have to make an obligatory drive out to the site to "confirm" that it was too cold to work. With a temperature of 2 and a wind chill of around -30, yep, its too cold! Today was paperwork day instead which suited me just fine.

Tomorrow we'll try again. Its supposed to be at least a little bit warmer. And we are getting tents to shelter us from the wind which will be a big help. We'll be working into (maybe through) the weekend, which is supposed to be even warmer still, so maybe we won't be too far behind schedule when we finally get done.

We have two 1x2-meter units to complete, like the one pictured above. Both of those are nearly done. Then we have another 2 units of the same size to dig at the base of backhoe trenches. The backhoe came out and did its part yesterday. It, of course, had a much easier time digging the frozen ground than we did.

Here is one of the trenches. We'll be excavating where the black plastic is layed out.

Once the trench units have been completed, we'll be done. Can't say how long it will take for sure but with decent conditions (and provided we don't find any time-consuming surprises) it shouldn't be more than a couple of days.

And after this project I'm off to ................... Nebraska?!

A New Year

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!!!

A quick recap here, then on to new things.

Since returning to Fort Wayne I've been working with the IPFW-AS crew. Did a few days survey work for the City of Fort Wayne but most of my time there has been in the lab helping them where I can to get caught up on work left over from the summer and fall excavations. It's been good to get back and caught up with everyone.

The holidays themselves get a mixed review. Christmas was just fine. Got to spend the day with the family down in Huntington. Had a great time. New Years was a bit of a let-down. Found out at the last minute that our hostess for the night's festivities had been called out of town to attend a funeral. Kinda brought the night down a bit. Stopped in there briefly anways to say hey to some others, then headed downtown with a friend for a couple of hours. Ended up back home and crashed for the night well before the turn of the year. And on top of that I had to try and fight off a nasty cold all week (which I still haven't shaken off completely).

Otherwise things seem to be going quite well.

Recall that cold snap we had a couple of weeks ago? The one that left everything here covered with a sheet of ice that downed trees and power lines across town? Thousands of people were without power for days. Stupid me, braved the arctic weather that weekend to take advantage of some choice photo ops on campus. Rather pleased with the results despite the fact that I had no feeling in my fingers during most of the time I was out playing. Here's a sampling ...

Pretty cool, huh?!

As for the current state of affairs, well, I've had a chance now to regroup a bit and relax with family and friends. Doesn't really seem like I've accomplished a whole lot in the last 3 weeks or so, but I like to think I have. Now its time to get serious about launching into the new year. I expect it to be a good one in many ways.

Although its still winter I anticipate being back out in the field before too long. Quite possibly by next week in fact. Word is that we will be recalled back to Tell City ASAP. When exactly will be determined primarily by the weather. Should have a better handle on that situation by the end of this week.

The way it is sounding now, that should be followed shortly (in mid- to late February) by work at a hydroelectric plant near Cincinnati and a 20 mile power line survey in Kentucky. Other projects are still waiting to be assigned a starting date but I expect they should fall in line immediately following these two. So, all in all, it looks like I'll be back on the road working again before too long.

And there shall be play time as well. I'm already quickly filling up my calendar for the coming months. Have a euchre tournament to participate in back in Tell City at the end of this month. Hopefully that will coincide with our work down there but if not we'll be making the trip down just for the fun of it. And, depending on work, weather, and such, that weekend may get extended into a week-long camping trip in KY (provided I can also scrape together the $$$ for the camping gear needed yet!). Other camping/hiking trips are in the works as well as a trip to Mammoth Cave, a weekend or 2, each, to explore both Knoxville, TN and Louisville, KY and especially (No I haven't forgotten, Todd!) an eagerly anticipated overnight stay at the Waverly Hills haunted sanatorium.

Yup, lots of things coming up to look forward too!