i remember back when a sewer contractor bid and did a sewer contract in my hood!i was about 10 then!dad was an operator, so i sorta knew more than the average kid! dad had nothing to do with this prodject!they had to trench down many feet in order to put in mains and conect septic systems to the main!it was a huge ordeal!!!!!!!! closing off access to your own drivway even!the best part of this to share!the contractor had no knowledge that we were on a deep bed of shale rock! as you guys know , you cant dig that stuff!!!!shale dont dig!!!! and this contractor had a million feet to do! the only way to plunge through the shale ,was to do ,the old ,lift the bucket to the max! then free wheel the bucket down to bust up the shale!this job took way longer then expected to finish!! i know you guys know this happens! i love you all , counter , a nd
this is the advantage of the hydraulic hoe...down pressure ...other than that ..the difference other than air conditioning is minimal at best between now and then ....
It's real funny they didn't blast if they were not getting production. There was a whole lot of blasting going on back then. Back in Eastern Penna in 50's - 70's they would drill like every 10 or 15 ft. apart and set off the right amount of explosive and got production.
i dont think blast would have been cool at the time! but ill never forget that cable hoe tryin to chip away at that shale bed!