Pipeline Construction

Construction of the Wesauking Pipeline crossed Joyce Road today. With the pipeline trenches dug on both sides of Joyce Road, the next step was to connect the trenches by cutting across the road.



Steel plates were placed over the trench so local traffic could cross the trench while the finial preparations were completed.



Joyce Road was closed as a section of pipe is placed in the road crossing.



Lowering the pipe into the trench.



Positioning the pipe so it is aligned with another section.





The two sections of pipeline are aligned and welded.






With the pipeline in the trench, the locations of the pipeline and welded joints is recorded with GPS.


The pipeline is backfilled with flowable fill, a mixture of cement, fly ash, water and sand.




The road crossing trench full of flowable fill.



A section of the pipeline, west of Joyce Road, is placed in the trench.



A view from the barn silo of the pipeline being placed in the trench.
(Click on image to enlarge)

Well Pad Reclamation - Day 8

More dry weather and the dirt hauled to the pad area continues to fill in the base of the east slope.



The dry weather turns the clay from a wet sticky mess to a very fine dust which is easily blown by the slightest movement.



Excavator loading a truck with dirt from the south slope.



Dirt from the south slope is dumped on the east side of the pad to build up to the original grade of the hillside. The two domed objects mounted on each side of the blade are GPS receivers and can control the dozer to grade the dirt to the original hillside profile.



A view of the south end of the site where the hillside grade has been restored.



The cellars in the middle of the pad are starting to come out.

Well Pad Reclamation - Day 5

The removal of stone from the pad area continues with a steady flow of trucks entering and leaving the site.



Five or six bucket loads of stone from the stockpile and a truck is loaded in less than a minute.


A GPS base station is set up near the access road entrance. The GPS base station is used by GPS systems on the equipment to determine the location the original hillside contour.



View of the cellars looking east.


View from the cellar looking southwest.


View of the cellar looking northeast.

Mapping the well site

Greenway Engineering was at the cabin today setting up a GPS base station at a known reference location. Using this known location and a GPS base station they will record location data around the well pad to create a 3D map of the completed site.



Recording GPS locations.

Pad Construction - Day 42

Greenway Engineering was at the site today surveying locations on the well pad. They set up a GPS base station along Joyce Road at a know pin location used for prior surveys of the area.



On the well pad the drilling location were marked.



Trucks continued to haul more rock to the pad area and stockpile it.



An excavator worked on the dirt stockpile at the uphill side of the site.



Silt sock inspection by one of the local residents

Pipeline Survey

Mark McCullough of A-1 Surveying was at the cabin property today to set up a GPS base station for surveying along the route of the Zion pipeline. The survey work for the Zion pipeline is near Bliss Road (Abell Road) but the GPS base station is position at a known reference point at the cabin and used to calculate other location in the neighborhood.