My Little Pony: Worker Birds
Chapter 8: Working Progress
It's not just excavators, and dump trucks that onlookers watching from behind the chainlink fences of the work site. Lots of machines are needed in order for this new skyscraper to be completed. This enormous hole in the ground took months to build, and I'm guessing Steam Roller the fore-pony needed a few extra machines to help the big project along
Cranes do the heavy lifting around the site. The biggest is the tower crane. A big Liebherr 80HC Tower Crane is over 260 feet high, and it takes a day to be assembled by using smaller cranes. If you look up, you can see a crosspiece called a runway. The trolley and cables can carry 8 tons. It's used to get tools and heavy items to where they need to go
Lattice Boom brought his two 1986 American 7260 100 ton cranes with 180ft booms, along with a behemoth of a 1997 Kobelco 7150. An 150 ton crane with a 200ft boom are on the work site for helping to unload items like steel girders off the flatbed trucks, or moving concrete from cement trucks to other areas on site using the special concrete buckets
All of those cranes will also help in the building of the very skyscraper itself. From moving items to the hammering of the pile driver, I like to think of our tasks in this project as being a part of a mechanized ballet. Now our Northwest 100DH, and that mighty 115 ton Bucyrus-Erie 500-H are not the only excavators on this work site. We get a lot of help.
That 'help' comes in the form of bulldozers, and front end loaders. The term 'excavator' encompasses a much broader term as it includes both bulldozers and loaders. Machines like these can do the work of hundreds of ponies with shovels in a lot less time. At the base of this mountain of earth are two Liebherr PR-746 G8 Litronic dozers pushing the dirt
Dump trucks arrive on the site from two areas. Those that come for the excavators come through the side street entrance where Gilda is at the helm of our excavator. While at the base of big dirt pile, dump trucks come to get their dump boxes filled by the wheel loaders. Two veteran 1984 Caterpillar 988B Wheel Loaders do that job filling those trucks.
"Keep 'em coming!" radioed Gilda
"That's a big 10-4! I'm Sideswipe!" radioed a mare
"I'm Roadmaster," radioed another mare
"I'm Gilda, nice to meet cha'," she replied
"Keep up the great work, Gilda," I radioed in as I was getting my dump truck filled by the wheel loader. Gilda jokes that she works with excavators, and dump trucks for a living now, and that I'm the only dump truck she's seen that walks on talons and hooves. Now that is funny. Sure, I have 'thunder-flanks'. Like Gabby and Gilda, I am fast on my wings
"I always do, Ellie," Gilda replied
"Nice to see you making friends," I praised
"I'm trying," Gilda replied
"That's how you got me," said Gabby
"True," Gilda confessed happily
If it looks like the backhoes on the mound are passing dirt to each other, that's exactly what's happening and you deserve a cookie. The dirt from the lower part of the mound is brought to upper part by that 500-H. Then the Northwest on top swings the big arm around, and dumps the load into a waiting dump truck. It takes three 'swings' to fill a truck.
Since we got here in time for the afternoon shift, I will do the morning shift in the excavator tomorrow. Gilda's last truck of the day was a 1979 White-Western Star 4964 pulling a MAC End dump trailer. With a last swing and a light tap on the top of the load, our shift was done for the day. With a last load dumped at the landfill, Gabby and I headed back.
It was still light out, so Gabby got an idea, "Hey, since we're all here, let's be tourists and go see the Trade Center," Gabby suggested, the Equestrian Kingdom Trade Center is a beautiful building. From the base to the top, it's 1,776ft tall. With the spire on top, it's 1,792ft. With our hardhats put away and our dump trucks parked, we decided to have fun.
With Gabby in charge of the camera, we made memories in the smiling photos we took at the top and of the view of Manehattan. The company in charge of the project, 'Skyline Enterprises Inc.', was kind enough to pay for our lodging while we are here on business. It's the biggest architectural firm in the city. This project is going to be an office building
A few meat lovers Stromboli sandwiches, and some Arancini rice balls served as dinner that evening. A local hotel near the work site housed all the workers. The next morning, we were up and ready to go to work. The snack cart had fresh donuts and other breakfast items to fit all tastes as well as a line. We had a few coffees, and breakfast sandwiches
I didn't have to ask them. Once breakfast was concluded, we put our hardhats, safety vests, and utility belts on and we got set to work. I took my place in the cab, and controls of our excavator. Within a few minutes, the first of the shift's dump trucks arrived. It takes a bit more than a minute to fill a dump truck, and I can fill up to 35 trucks in one hour
The horn sounded, "Lunch time!" cheered Gabby
"Right on time, I'm starving!" cheered Gilda
"There's a Cajun spot two blocks down," I suggested
Gilda grinned and shrugged, "Sounds mighty good,"