There are rollers on slings that are attached to the side booms via cable. The rollers are facing the same direction as the pipe so that, as the side booms move forward, the pipe follows & is lowered into the ditch. I never would have thought that a pipe 80’ long, ¾” thick, & 42” in diameter could flex so much. You can see the flex in a few of the pics. I took a series of pics from the same spot & you can see the pipe getting lower in each shot.
They hadn’t removed the pump they used this weekend to remove the water from the trench. It’s pretty good sized. The drain line looked to be about 4”. They also had a piece of machinery that picked up all the timbers. The guy running it was really good with the claw being able to pick up 1-2 pieces with very little dirt. It also automatically stacked & banded the timbers. They followed right behind the side booms.
The worker holding the measuring stick told me that the top of the pipe was 6’ below the surface but, based on his “measuring stick”, it looks closer to 7’. Either way, it should be deep enough to not impact the farmers.
They have already started to fill in the trench with at least 5 back hoes & 2 dozers.
