Pad Construction - Day 8

It was cold and sunny this morning but yesterday's rain created more wet clay (mud). The forecast for this afternoon ... More rain.



The crew was on site today continuing to work on the access road from the cabin driveway to the stream crossing.



The layer of "new" mud in the access road, created by yesterday's rain, was scrapped off the road and hauled above the pad location by a dump truck.



With some of the mud removed from the access road it was still hard to move some equipment. A roller didn't get much traction in the mud and needed a push.



Truck loads of large rock were hauled to the access road and added to the road base.



The large rock was then leveled ...



and compacted into the soft clay soil.



Progress and no rain ... Yet.

Another sign of spring

A couple of warm days within the past week removed the ice from the wetlands near the well pad construction. The frogs and spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) have started their vocalization of the coming of spring.

Hundreds of frogs were in the wetland pond creating enough sound to drowned out the equipment noise of the well pad construction. One of the southern construction workers even asked about the source of the sound.

The bumps on the water surface are frogs. (Click on photo to enlarge the view)

Pad Construction - Day 7 (Rain/snow)

The overnight rain changed over to scattered snow as a cold front moved through today and the activity at the construction site came to a halt.



Runoff from the rain at the new stream crossing.

Pad Construction - Day 6

The overnight rain and damp/cloudy day didn't mix well with the clay soil for the road base.



A continuous stream of trucks hauled crushed stone to the site for use as new road base.



Rock added to the new section of access road between the cabin driveway and the well pad.



More equipment continued to arrive at the site.





Work continued at the well pad area to install the "silt sock".



The "silt sock" is constructed on-site by filling a large fabric mesh tube with mulch made from wood chips.

Pad Construction - Day 5

Another clear, dry day and construction on the access road continues. By the end of the day we were able to drive to the cabin for the first time since construction started.



Erosion control work along the access road from the Joyce Road entrance to the driveway "turn-off", half way to the cabin .



Matt walks along the access road from the "turn-off" to the pad site. This section of the road still needs work and has some drainage issues.



At the stream crossing, the pipe under the access road was dug up after a couple of days of use to address some issues.



The tree cutting and chipping completed today.

Pad Construction - Day 4

Drier weather today and work on the access road continued.






The mud and road conditions took its toll on a truck tire.



The road into the pad site is still muddy but the truck must get back to the pad area, even with a flat tire. A little help from a CAT D8 dozer and a flat tire won't stop the work.






The tree cutters were working today.




Stump removal...



Let the wood chips fly.

Pad Construction - Day 3 (Mud)

Day 3 was another cold and wet day with some light snow. The activity moved to the back field pad area where brush was being ground up into wood chips with the following red vehicle.



While the site was being cleared another crew was dealing with the mud as they tried to install "silt sock" and erosion control fence.



Vehicles needed the help of a dozer to move in the mud.



Moving a truck load of wood mulch, for the "silt sock", into the pad area required a tow from a dozer...



and another tow to get the truck back out.

Pad Construction - Day 2

Unlike yesterday, today started out cold and damp with some snow.

Additional big equipment arrived on site toady.



The access road construction continues to work toward pad site. A solid base of big rock is added to the current driveway to the cabin.






Pipe installed where the new section of the access road turns right off the driveway and crosses the current diversion ditch.



The new access road now crosses the small stream and enters the back field where the well pad will be constructed. Clearing of the brush at the well pad site has started.



Open wide and this won't hurt too much.

Well Pad Construction Begins

The equipment for the JOYCE ROAD well pad construction has started to arrive on site.



The first order of business is to upgrade the cabin driveway to handle the heavy equipment for the well pad construction. An access road will be constructed just uphill from the current diversion ditch that crosses the driveway to the cabin and head southeast to the well pad.



Tree stumps don't stand a chance with this piece of equipment.

What Happened to Spring?

It was only a couple of days ago that the ground was bare and I posted a picture of crocus in bloom... This year's weather continues to follow a pattern of, warm weather, bare ground and then a snow storm. The first full day of Spring arrived on Monday and this morning the ground was covered with fresh snow. With the temperature in the low 30's the snow started melting at daybreak and Mary shoveled the driveway ASAP.


This storm dumped 6 to 8 inches of wet snow over night and more is forecast for the next 24 hours.



The township road crew was out early today and plowed Joyce Road before daybreak so people could get to work.

Spring is just around the corner

The crocus are starting to bloom at Jason and Mary Abell's.

Seismic Survey Pickup

Geokinetics has finished the seismic survey in our area and was picking up their equipment with a helicopter. The following photo shows the helicopter lifting a bag of equipment past Brian and Tish's house.


Another bag of equipment was removed from Harley and Barb's lawn.




As the bags of equipment were collected from around the neighborhood the helicopter delivered them to a staging area at the end of the driveway to our cabin. (Note the overhead power lines)



Bags of equipment in the staging area waiting to be hauled away by trucks.