This is one of our more simple jobs. There are only circular seals with only two retaining bands each and the job site has easy access to the culvert. Because our regular field crew was out on another assignment Will Blais was the project manager and I was asked to assist. We needed one more person and that ended up being my brother, Jesse.

The project consisted of installing 45 seals. 15 seals were to be installed in one location with a single culvert that had a diameter of 54 inches. The other 30 seals were to be installed in another location which was a triple culvert comprised of 42-inch pipe. Will evaluated the locations and determined it would be the best use of our time to focus on the 42” triple culvert.

This triple culvert had many of its joints sealed a few years prior and now there were only 30 that did not have HydraTite seals installed over them. The pipe had very little debris and the interior surface of the pipe needed very little prep work before installation. One person positioned all the materials over the joints and the other two worked as a team to expand the retaining bands to the required pressure. In two days, we sealed all 30 joints. Now the entire culvert is protected against infiltration at all the joints.

Will did great as the project manager, Jesse never seemed to get tired from the hard work, and I was happy to work with them both. I enjoy my desk job, but there is a sense of accomplishment that I get from physical work that I appreciate.

One night after crawling through pipes, I cooked us all a meal inspired by Chipotle with my spin on the spices used on the chicken. It was good enough that there were no leftovers. We also played card games after work and I was happy to learn that Will is just as competitive as Jesse and I if you pick the right game. All in all, it was a fun time, and a lot of good work got done.