>> ^Payback:

Crude oil + fine beach sand != asphalt.


not really but I get what you are saying.

Crude oil + fine beach sand != asphalt.

Car looked like it must've been going at least 60 MPH, but according to the news story, the cop slowed down to about 30 or 35 when he saw that the suspect was making a move towards the window.

Hitting the asphalt in handcuffs at that speed, it's a miracle he didn't die from the fall, get hit by another vehicle, or break a single bone. Apparently, he only sustained nasty road rash on his hands and shoulder.

Must've been some great drugs he was on.

Hell that thing is meant to hold up many more cars than that. It's probably lack of repairs for years around drains..and one just gave out. There's a school my dad's family asphalt business used to do repair work for and they had a massive underground pipe and drain system. In places you could climb down 20 feet to reach the bottom of one of these drains. Due to them being concrete the salt would eat away at the top supporting the grate and the rim outside the grate hole...so eventually the top would cave in. That thing could swallow either end of a car fairly easily. Saw one even try to eat a bus when the side wall of it caved in and all the surrounding stone and asphalt was eroded into the resulting hole.

They used to have us do repairs on these, until one year someone on the board (who had a business interest) complained and got them to give him the concrete work (it's a pretty horrible job to fix, but hey it's money). The guy repaired them, they failed a year later...since he just put new concrete on top settled on a base of weak and salt eaten concrete....when he should have replaced the whole thing with an entirely new pre-cast top so it wouldn't twist and break and crumble in.

If they don't build these structures to support much higher weights than your typical car...some pickup trucks can rival the weight of an unloaded dump truck and would result in the same failure in all structures.

@mgittle

Im 5'11" my dad is probably 6'1" or 6'2". Brother with the broken disk is 6'4"ish.

They told my brother that taller people tend to have a lot of disk problems especially in their lower back that shorter people don't have. Even so much so that their disks tend to be weaker as they get older. But they said seeing that kind of injury in someone under 30 was extremely rare and wondered if he had some kind of degenerative disease and found nothing to suggest it.

The union crews for physical labor will cover you better than working on your own. There's usually enough laborers that you don't have to go for extended periods of shoveling or anything like that. And anyone not in the unions are usually young or have substance abuse problems if they are still laborers and not doing something higher up the food chain by the age of 30-35.

Anymore we stick to the least amount of handwork possible, even if it takes us a little longer with a machine. But there are some things that machines can't do even a little bit of on every job so we try to spread it out between us and over a few days if possible.

If you want to see what a life of manual labor can do to you. Find an old guy who does tires, replacing, removing...anything like that. I haven't seen one that can stand up straight no matter what their height, they all have that hunched over like they are looking for something on the ground look to them.

But the simple fact is, a lot of the work is needed.....and if you want someone who won't screw it up you need the older guys who've seen the various problems that might come up. Lot of crews that have 1-2 40ish guys running a crew....they get young guys who get hurt bad or killed on the job because they skip stuff that seem like wasted time. Properly securing things (dropping equipment in the middle of the freeway, this stems from substance abuse as much as negligence, lots of people run around with unsecured loads against all laws and never get caught), not stacking stuff next to the edge of a deep ditch (caves in the ditch wall and can crush someone in the ditch below it or at least crack them in the head, was an inspector who got the top of his head sheered off when some bricks went down into a ditch he was trying to climb out of and caused to collapse), staying clear of machines or making sure the guy on the machine knows you're there (guy got backed over by a dump truck, broken legs from people twisting bobcats and catching people in the legs next to it, etc).

Im too afraid to work on highway crews, those guys work in a dangerous as hell place and usually only have a few barrels protecting them from someone running them over. Was a girl who was running a roller, a semi went by and hit her in the head with it's side mirror. She was in the hospital for months before she died. And then you got all the machines and people working in the little confined spaces in the middle of both sides of traffic, so you can't hear very well...

Probably the best place I've ever worked doing asphalt was on a military base. Don't have to worry about people vandalizing or stealing your stuff and they stay away from you while you work. And they can follow simple ideas like barriers are meant to keep you out and arrows mean follow them around the big hole in the ground. And you got prevailing rates, but it was just a lot less stressful to not have to worry about getting ran down because someone wanted to rubberneck.

@mgittle

Yeah you're not kidding about any physical job where you gotta get up and down all day with any kind of strain. Brother had a broken disc in his back from asphalt in his early 20s, at least one of my shoulders probably needs surgery let alone other joint problems. I don't see how my dad has done this kind of work for almost 30 years, and that was when the machines they used were more hassle than they were help except for really straight and even runs.

Kind of like garbage pick up guys, they can only do it in their 20s and early 30s, they won't hire guys past that age because they either break down from the lifting and twisting or quit. And while they make decent money it ain't worth being unable to stand up straight without pain on cold/rainy days when you're 30.

I'd say no to the asphalt because those guys are wearing jackets and if there was any kind of asphalt (a heated material) it'd be steaming. Plus there's no room for a hopper and conveyor system for it, and easiest way to get it into the machine would be dump truck..which again there is no space for it.

I think what is holding the bricks as they come out of the machine is the thickness and weight of the bricks, the angle they are being dropped at and the slow speed. There's one shot where the camera is under the machine, you can see some wires hanging down...the machine is mostly hollow....I think the height is just so they can have a buffer of bricks so they can keep moving and still have time to structure it.

Wonder how much of a bitch it is to pick up and move to another section.


>> ^MarineGunrock:

I would think there's a thin layer of asphalt under the bricks. What else would hold them together as they come out of the machine? I'd say that bricks pressed into asphalt would hold up quite well.

I would think there's a thin layer of asphalt under the bricks. What else would hold them together as they come out of the machine? I'd say that bricks pressed into asphalt would hold up quite well.

>> ^Porksandwich:

I've seen a few brick layers work while doing asphalt work off to the side. I was under the impression that a good brick design needs a layer of sand underneath and sand spread in between and over top of it to fill in voids. Where the sand in between is from the top and bottom layers of sand being shifted around as they place the bricks. Which doesn't appear to be happening here. So are there steps left out, or is this a "cheap" brick job versus someone who takes time to work the sand by hand to make them stable and last longer? And the machine loading and dropping like that is going to chip and break bricks more often as well...and cutting to fit patterns, etc is still manual.
Need more footage to see if this is an actual advancement or one of those machines that is trying to justify it's existence.

I know with asphalt the machine actually lays a better job than people can do by hand in the same time frame, but there's a lot of prep work to be ready for the machine and an hour or two of post work monitoring and rolling/compacting it when needed. Less time investment on the post work on highway jobs because they use low temperature material and it cools off much faster, and they tend to lay a lot of layers which cools off quicker because they aren't as thick.


I've laid a bit of brick in my time and I'm not sure one way or another if it's really an advancement. But I think the most important thing would be the surface you laid on. If it was sand/mortar/dirt that was also laid and leveled by machine then you'd get the job done in much less time. Having a level surface or adjusting the bricks one at time is probably the hardest part. You could then do the top layer of sand the old fashioned way. Pouring it on and sweeping off the excess doesn't take much time at all. As for the cuts. This is probably a pre-set pattern where the bricks are made to fit at the factory and sent out in the appropriate amounts.

It certainly is cool.

I've seen a few brick layers work while doing asphalt work off to the side. I was under the impression that a good brick design needs a layer of sand underneath and sand spread in between and over top of it to fill in voids. Where the sand in between is from the top and bottom layers of sand being shifted around as they place the bricks. Which doesn't appear to be happening here. So are there steps left out, or is this a "cheap" brick job versus someone who takes time to work the sand by hand to make them stable and last longer? And the machine loading and dropping like that is going to chip and break bricks more often as well...and cutting to fit patterns, etc is still manual.

Need more footage to see if this is an actual advancement or one of those machines that is trying to justify it's existence.


I know with asphalt the machine actually lays a better job than people can do by hand in the same time frame, but there's a lot of prep work to be ready for the machine and an hour or two of post work monitoring and rolling/compacting it when needed. Less time investment on the post work on highway jobs because they use low temperature material and it cools off much faster, and they tend to lay a lot of layers which cools off quicker because they aren't as thick.

The point is that this is quite arguably NOT 'unjustified' and also quite arguably NOT 'violence'. The other video I linked above has (of course) been ignored. Watch it. The Sift choice above is the aftermath. What brought it on is here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiLeud-sxrM&feature=player_embedded

Hmm - not quite the innocent little rose, is she?

1. "Unjustified". The video plainly and clearly shows Ms. Kooksalot jumping right up at Paul's car window. No one knows who she is. No one knows what the heck she's trying to do. No one knows what the object in her hands might be. A bomb? A gun? When unidenified persons with unidentified objects and unknown intentions jump at political figures they get tackled and held down by security. She's lucky she didn't get tazed or pepper-sprayed or something more serious. If Ms. MoveOn.Stupid runs at political figures like that then a gentle nudge with a foot should be the least of her concerns.

2. "Violence". I've seen several different shots and angles of this so far and I'll just come out and say it. I've gotten harder 'kicks' from infants. The guy puts his foot on her upper tricep area and kind of gave her a bit of a push. Considering what she did, she got off way easy. If it was me then she'd have been in a full nelson eating asphalt until she was identified.

Awesome, though it has trouble with asphalt (stuff that doesn't respond well after you blur it I would guess)

>> ^blankfist:

First, I don't know the optimal market cost for driving on roads. No one does except the government

Then why are you questioning it? My point is, how do you know it's "too much"? Yeah, there's only one end-user provider, but private companies do all the actual work of building and maintaining roads.

Why not go ask some of them how much it costs to maintain a road?

California publishes how much they spend on it, if the two costs are wildly different, you've got the makings of a huge story to go to the press with.

>> ^blankfist:
When the gasoline tax was proposed that's what it was said to be for. Of course government changed its mind and dumped all that money into a general fund, but that's what it was designed for: to pay for roads.

Actually, in googling I saw that California is still playing by your rules on this one. Sure, if they pass a law they can waive the earmarking of those funds, but like I said, it's not a Constitutional thing that keeps the firewall in place.

If it falls short of what the cost is to maintain the roads, would you support a tax increase to close the budget gap?

>> ^blankfist:
Imagine how many people drive on the roads every day. Do the numbers. That's a helluva lotta revenue. Surely that could cover costs of laying asphalt. That aside, the roads out here are crap by and large. Potholes everywhere. It must be that the billions the government receives isn't enough. Go figure.
Ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, some of that money is being siphoned off or spent inefficiently or spent on inflated costs or used to pay inflated salaries or any number of other things than efficiently on the maintenance of roads?

How many miles of roadways are there in California? How many square feet of surface that the DOT has responsibility for? Have you ever considered that maybe you're getting an awesome deal?

And of course, it's quite likely that someone, somewhere in the government is stealing from it. But the same is true of any organization.

If you have some universal fix for purging all corruption from humanity, please, enlighten us.

>> ^blankfist:
Lastly, I don't think I should have to start an advocacy group to lessen the tax or fines levied against me.

Of course you don't, it's the same story with you every time. You think everything government does should be perfect and free, and you shouldn't have to lift a finger -- even to complain -- to fix it when it fails to live up to your impossible expectations.

It's your government. If you don't want to participate in making it better, don't expect the rest of society to cry for you because your mail gets bent.

First, I don't know the optimal market cost for driving on roads. No one does except the government because they run the monopoly on roads. And what do monopolies do? They increase prices.

Second, who said anything about an "incontrovertible law of nature that binds gasoline taxes to roads"? When the gasoline tax was proposed that's what it was said to be for. Of course government changed its mind and dumped all that money into a general fund, but that's what it was designed for: to pay for roads.

Imagine how many people drive on the roads every day. Do the numbers. That's a helluva lotta revenue. Surely that could cover costs of laying asphalt. That aside, the roads out here are crap by and large. Potholes everywhere. It must be that the billions the government receives isn't enough. Go figure.

Ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, some of that money is being siphoned off or spent inefficiently or spent on inflated costs or used to pay inflated salaries or any number of other things than efficiently on the maintenance of roads?

Lastly, I don't think I should have to start an advocacy group to lessen the tax or fines levied against me. And these are hardly services. Services indicate something I voluntarily signed up for and can quit at any time. This is compulsory. It's like complaining to the mob that the protection money you're paying them isn't being put to good use.

Though I have complained. Plenty and often about loads of gov't services. Mail for instance. I keep getting torn and smashed mail. If an item is marked "do not bend" it comes bent and stuffed in my mailbox. They have a monopoly on first class mail so I have to use them. I've written my congressmen and local representatives about various things and always get back a cookie cutter response. Nothing is ever done. And my only recourse is voting? Bah.

The moral of the story is: Don't mess with Swedish women ( ) and adrenaline is one hell of a drug... Who here could get hit by a car and not get seriously injured, bash a police officer in the face and almost fight free from 6 people holding you (succeed when only 5), fight another guy in the street a day later and bash him too and then jump off of a 40 foot bridge onto asphalt and not die?

Also this was a very tastefully done documentary. Good sift.

*quality