Wednesday, April 23, 2008
They Grow Deep on the Banks of the Allegheny
The North Shore Connector drilling machine was moving along at good clip until it hit what was described by varying newspaper accounts as “pieces of tree” and “tree pieces lodged in clay” or “wooden fill material” slowed the process down. The Authority views it as a temporary slowdown and things will be back to normal with the machine.
But it raises questions. How did a tree get down to that depth? Did it come down when the river was formed thousands of years ago? Was it debris left from a long ago flood? Is it a bridge piling from some old structure? Would fill material be that deep? Who knows. But it is clear that if there is one—whether a tree or a piling—it is likely that there will be more. The Authority hasn’t speculated on this possibility but it definitely could slow the digging machine down, and it can’t back out of the hole without disassembling the machine.
If the machine does hit another tree, rest assured that it will definitely make a sound.
But it raises questions. How did a tree get down to that depth? Did it come down when the river was formed thousands of years ago? Was it debris left from a long ago flood? Is it a bridge piling from some old structure? Would fill material be that deep? Who knows. But it is clear that if there is one—whether a tree or a piling—it is likely that there will be more. The Authority hasn’t speculated on this possibility but it definitely could slow the digging machine down, and it can’t back out of the hole without disassembling the machine.
If the machine does hit another tree, rest assured that it will definitely make a sound.
