Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/131533
Huge privacy fence isolates neighborhood from substation continued from page 1 that can occur with pressure treated wood." It took a crew of five to six men approximately three days to set the huge upright posts, which weighed over 350 pounds each. Over 12 yards of concrete was used to set the uprights. Of course, bigger fence means bigger difficulties. Cianchette noted site and set by hand with no aid from any mechanical device." Cianchette said that perhaps the biggest challenge that they had to overcome was the weather. The project was started in the last week in December, obviously a very cold time of year in Maine, and this posed many problems. Foremost were safety concerns. The ground, trailers, equipment, and everything else becomes very slick and icy at this time of year, not to mention the added strain that working in cold Main Line Fence crew members were required to haul all materials to the jobsite by hand, including the 12' high pressure treated uprights, weighing in the neighborhood of 350 pounds each. Other complicating factors made the installation especially difficult, including the rugged terrain, rocky and frosty soil, and winter Maine weather. Above, crew members Justin Kinne, Zane Campbell and Scott Golding hard at work. that the first and most obvious challenge for this project is the massive scale. "Pressure treated material in general can be labor intensive to work with, now add to that the fact that all material is larger than average," he said. "The height of the fence alone posed challenges and increased safety concerns. Ladders and staging had to be used. The ground is uneven and inconsistent, making safe placement of ladders difficult. And of course there was lots of climbing up and down. "The next challenge we had to overcome was site access," Cianchette said. "Legally, we could not work from the substation/power company's land, even though they are technically the customer and were paying for the installation of the fence. We had to work from the homeowner's property, and they requested that no heavy machines or equipment be used on their property. This meant that everything had to be done by hand, including carrying in all materials and hauling away excess dirt from the footings. "With access limited, no power equipment was used to dig the holes, even in the rocky Maine soil," he said. "Everything was done using Nu Boston manual post hole diggers. With the post holes averaging 24" x 48" and over one-half yard of material per hole, this was no easy task. All posts were carried onto the weather can entail on workers, he said. The next issue was frost. "We were fortunate that we had a 'late frost,' resulting in only 6" – 10" of hard ground frost. In most years that can exceed 24", making digging next to impossible," he stated. "Also, two storms hit in one week, resulting in almost 24" of snow which only made things more difficult," Cianchette said. "The next challenge was extreme cold during the day and at night; this can have a big impact on the structural integrity of the concrete," he said. "All the concrete was mixed on site, using ½ yard trailer/portable cement mixers. Some days temperatures with the wind chill were barely above 10 degrees. The portable water jugs would begin to freeze on the surface and become far too cold to mix concrete with. Using a horse trough bucket heater and a generator, we were able to create a portable water heater that easily raised and maintained the water to 70 degrees. We also used admixtures to help with the cold weather application of the concrete." Principal crew members on the project were Zane Campbell, Ryan Oakes and Scott Golding, as well as Justin Kinne, a 13-year veteran of Main Line Fence and the firm's youngest foreman. He is the son of 31-year Main Line continued on page 60 Two products in one. No closer needed. Adjustable dampened closing protects your gates and latches Steel or Aluminium Fastened or Welded Flush Mount or Center Mount SureClose, the only hydraulic gate hinge and closer, all-in-one. Self-closes gates up to 260 lbs. ADA Compliant Visibly small footprint Hidden Hydraulics Tamper resistant Prevents gate slam & gate damage Pre-threaded brackets No additional equipment Reduces installation costs Hi-Performance Hardware D&D Technologies 7731 Woodwind Drive, Huntington Beach, CA 92647 Tel: 1-800-716-0888 or 1-714-677-1300. info@ddtechusa.com www.ddtechglobal.com