Drill Bits and Dynamite Part Eight.....more Cut 14 Tales
Cut 14 is the area that was featured in the "Helicopters and Dynamite" story. http://adventuresinmikeslife.blogspot.ca/2011/11/superbowl-sundayhelicopters-and.html This section of work was at the very north end of Segment One of the S2S Highway project. It featured very tall, steep rock bluffs that had to be sliced and diced to make room for a wider roadway. This requires that we as the blasting crew have to do "pioneering" work, to get up on top of the rock features, so that we can drill down vertically for the actual cuts. In some cases, horizontal blast holes ( lifters ) can be used to minimize trail building, but it is extremely hard to control lifter shots. Lifter shots create lots of unpredictable fly-rock, more vibration and more noise than properly planned vertical hole shots. ( we did use lifter shots on Cut 9 and 10, when there was no alternative....and nothing to hit with the fly rock ) 330 Cat excavator up on a pioneer trail that's onl...