The Challenge
A sixty mile line from near Carbondale, CO to Hagerman Pass near Leadville. The majority of the line was accessed from forest service roads or utility company right of ways. It took two days to travel the sixty miles for each inspection and the reports were documented with over 100 photos each week. There was plenty of 4WD-Low type action, and several hours each day without phone signal, often seeing only a handful of other vehicles over a 10 hour day. This was remote!
The Solution
Our inspector loaded up on safety gear, food and water, and camping gear. There were a few times when it was easier to camp on the line rather than drive out several hours to a hotel between day one and day two of the weekly inspection. Keeping batteries charged, maintaining the inspection vehicle in safe condition, and carrying laptop, printer, camera and phone all became critically important. In some cases downed trees had to be cleared from the forest service road, and in one case it was necessary to hike out and call a co-worker for assistance. Our “lone worker” safety module was very helpful on that project. Less critical items that made the project more fun included the iPod loaded with tunes and audio books, and we are pretty sure that several pounds of sunflower seeds were consumed over the course of the project. Do you have a challenging project? We’re ready.
