All in a day's work

Second day of work I was able to accompany two different co-workers on site visits.  The first site visit was done to perform a soil investigation to classify soil for a toilet building foundation design.  Second site visit was to grab topsoil samples for lab testing to determine the characteristics of the topsoil to finalize the replanting spec section of a contract to construct a parking lot at a trailhead.  Third site visit was to do a final inspection of a pedistrian suspension bridge.  The first two sites could be accessed by car, through beautiful mountainous terrain with tropical vegetation.  The last site required a 3 mile walk along the coast on the way out and then a hike back on the terrace because the tide had come in and we couldn't walk back along the coast.

Lake at Campground getting new toilet building
somewhere south of Hokitika

Vault toilet to be replaced - new drainfield going in near here.  Just cut the bush (forest) down, test the soils for perc and put it in.  The roots are not very deep.  There are no open spaces to locate a drainfield here.

Extend the vent stack above tree height!

S

Cute excavator (the equipment :)) small and easy to transport on a trailer

Suspension Bridge across Okarito lagoon, the mouth of the lagoon was closed off to the river today becasue of sand deposition.  With some rougher water on the Tasman Sea the deposits will shift and the lagoon will flow freely into/out of the sea.  Looks a little stagnant in this photo.  It was decided to leave the old bridge piers in place for historic and safety reasons. They didn't want cut off piers just below water level incase people jump in.  It was load tested before I crossed!

In-house design by structural engineer.  It's interesting that the only discipline that is kept as in-house design is structural engineering due to laibility issues.  All other design diciplines are done by consulting firms.  The structural engineers working for DOC are highly regarded in the country as being experts in their field.

View of the Tasman Sea on the hike back along the terrace.