Our range guys were back in Spring Creek Basin last week for some more work on the water-catchment project, this time, to start on the support structure for the roof that will eventually go over the tanks to catch rain and snow (no snow for a while … we have a few 100-plus-degree days on tap!).
I took at least one billion and one half pix (if you know me, you know that’s really not a ginormous exaggeration), so while I’ll try to keep the images to a minimum, I’m also so proud of our guys and this project that I want to highlight it. That said, I’m going to stretch the post into two days.
The day started with measuring. When you’re this far out from Ace Depot Lowe’s Improvement Store (aka *civilization*), you measure LOTS and then cut confidently (if you’re our dream team; if you’re me, you rely on your dream team!). First, they set rebar stakes and ran strings and measured up and down and side to side and in between so they could start with a square-angled rectangle frame to then be able to augur holes for the steel-pipe posts.
Garth and Mike – the young guys – watch Mike dig out the hole they just drilled with the augur. The dirt is soft and dry, and the (dreaded) post-hole digger wasn’t a whole heckuva lotta help.
The first pipe is in!
Daniel has a well-known aversion to working in gloves. … But those pipes were HOT. I helped carry a few of them, WITH gloves, and my gloves were only barely a protection against the heat from that steel.
The guys were all in love with THIS particular tool – a battery-powered band saw. It cut through that steel pipe … if not like butter, pretty darn well.
They brought a supply of water to mix with cement to make concrete to pour in the holes to hold the pipes (at least partly because the soil is so dry and soft and crumbly).
This little tool, a magnetic level, turned out to be one of the main tools of the day and was used to ensure all the pipes were straight.
Glop! They put two bags worth of concrete in each hole to hold the pipes.
Jim was in the basin, too, and he was out spraying weeds along the roads and some of the ponds, so I got to be in charge of pole leveling duty for a bit.
And of course, we had some fun. 🙂
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 
It’s really wonderful to see the pictures of the next stage after being out there and getting a look at the tanks.
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Moving right along!!
Great job!
And so, the work begins again! This has been so interesting, TJ, and certainly reveals how much effort those guys have to exert to make these catchments a reality. Many thanks to our BLM guys!
Bravo BLM ! So heartening to see such effort made for the sake of some wild ( gorgeous and magical ) mustangs ! Thanks TJ for documenting this project in such detail making us all feel as though we’re right there !
So good you were there to document the hard work and lend a hand when needed!