RANT: Those orange barrels/cones/barricades are there for a reason!

Tauren

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2001
3,880
1
0
I have been in the Civil engineering field for 13 years now and seen the stupidest behavior imaginable. What makes it worse is that this behavior has the potential to take the life of the men and women working on these sites.

Here are just two examples:


1. We are repairing a 4 lane road in Detroit, we have shut down the southbound lanes and have traffic re-routed this traffic to one of the north bound lanes. Suddenly we hear a loud 'CRUNCH' and turn around to see some *sshole who has gone between the barrels with his front end buried in 9 inches of wet concrete. He gestures with his arms to help him, the contractor looks at me and I say: "F*ck him. Let it set and we'll pay you to saw cut it later.' Well, his Astro was rear-wheel drive and he eventually rocked his way free. When he passed us he stopped and called US *ssholes. I politely informed him it was best for him to go and park his van immediately and let it drip off. :D

If he had not hit that wet patch, would he have hit one of us?

2. We are repairing a road in Livonia and a worker is walking around a backhoe. Suddenly a woman, who is distracted, starts taking out barrels as she plows along. She missed him by inches because HE dove in front of the backhoe. If the operator had been as distracted as the woman driver, the man could have been killed. The operator stopped short of setting the 'bucket' down on his prone body.

If the man hadn't moved so fast and the operator not reacted so quickly, would his children and wife be mourning him right now?

I see this kind of crap all the time, but only give two examples for brevity?s sake. Give these people and their families some courtesy and respect: slow down when going through construction zones and pay attention! These people are working for your benefit as well as their own.



 

iamwiz82

Lifer
Jan 10, 2001
30,772
13
81
Hey, you're talking about I 75 from 13-11 mile, arent ya??


I have a question for you. WHY THE HELL WOULD THE RIGHT LANE ON 75 SOUTH at ADAMS RD. GET SHUT DOWN ONE MILE AFTER THE LEFT LANE IS SHUT DOWN AT M-59!!! THIS CAUSES A 10-15 MILE BACKUP ARGH!!!!!!!!!!
 

Tauren

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2001
3,880
1
0
iamawiz82 I don't work for the state and I agree they make some VERY questionable choices on when to do some sh*t, but sometimes the reasons aren't always evident to the general public.
 

iamwiz82

Lifer
Jan 10, 2001
30,772
13
81


<< iamawiz82 I don't work for the state and I agree they make some VERY questionable choices on when to do some sh*t, but sometimes the reasons aren't always evident to the general public. >>



its gotta be something big, because they are working at night to fix it. I have never seen road crews work at night before.

And if you really wanna see mayhem with construction, go to rochester hills. They decided to shut down 3 east-west mile roads in a row. Hamlin, Auburn, and South Blvd. ARGH!!

I honestly coundlt believe the backup yesterday though. It took an hour to move 10 miles, and normally this stretch only take about 10 min to get by.
 

Tauren

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2001
3,880
1
0
lol! Thanks, Amish!


iamawiz82 - Actually, they work at night on state freeways all the time. Ever just see barrels sitting on the side of the road for no apparent reason? Sometimes they will work two crews around the clock because the state gives them bonuses for finishing the jobs early.
 

Thegonagle

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2000
9,773
0
71
Yikes! I always slow down and pay close attention, especially since I sometimes work transporting new cars on a trailer that's as wide as a semi. I wish that Astro driver wouldn't have been able to free his van. Then he could have gotten a big ticket and a bill for the damage/reconstruction cost. 9 inches of 'crete + labor ain't cheap. In Minnesota, they often have a state trooper stationed at major worksites. I wish there were enough cops to go around for every construction site to nab these idiots, give them tickets, and try to talk some f*cking sense in to them.
 

Tauren

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2001
3,880
1
0
<<and try to talk some f*cking sense in to them>>

I was thinking 'beat' some sense into them!:|:D
 

iamwiz82

Lifer
Jan 10, 2001
30,772
13
81
so you have no idea what work is being done on 75 @ exit 74? Could ya ask, plz, its driving me nuts :)
 

SpongeBob

Platinum Member
Jan 16, 2001
2,825
0
76
In #1 are you referring to the work being done on I-94? That's been a mess recently, but I have to hand it to whoever was behind all that because even with all the construction there, traffic hasn't been that bad.
 

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
29,033
6
81
...

She makes calls on my cell phone
All she does is piss and moan
Should have left her big fat ass at home.
or have her service me...


LOL
 

natto fire

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2000
7,117
10
76
maybe you should set up those cute signs like they have in PA with the little kid writing that says: "slow down my daddy wurks here" of course the entire time i was driving through PA to Jersey i never saw a single construction worker but the signs were definitely cool!
 

NikPreviousAcct

No Lifer
Aug 15, 2000
52,763
1
0
you one of them flagger guys?? I'm always disappointed: none of the flagger women are hot when I drive through.


:: innocent face ::
 

EagleKeeper

Discussion Club Moderator<br>Elite Member
Staff member
Oct 30, 2000
42,589
5
0
The DOT may issue contracts to different contractors for projects that could be back to back (time or distance).

Neither contractor will care what the other is doing unless they feel that it is costing them $$$.

If it is the same contractor, they aer working off of a timeline and may not have control over ther different sections of road work.
 

LaBang

Golden Member
Jan 31, 2001
1,571
0
0
What I hate is those *ssholes that block off our roads for days on end and cause major traffic jams just to do a little work. j/k:D
 

frizzlefry

Golden Member
May 14, 2001
1,711
0
0


<< maybe you should set up those cute signs like they have in PA with the little kid writing that says: "slow down my daddy wurks here" of course the entire time i was driving through PA to Jersey i never saw a single construction worker but the signs were definitely cool! >>


speaking of signs, my favorites are:

Picture of family running (southern california)
Undulations Ahead (Folsom Intel)

And the most recent one:

Picture of old people crossing street (UCI)

I was laughing my a$$ off on that old people one! Almost ran a red. :D
 

Viper0329

Platinum Member
Oct 12, 2000
2,769
1
0
Yeah. I have seen some really stupid people drive through construction. If they would just slow down, it would all be cool