About a week ago I was asked to locate some underground electric cables. Despite our company electrical maps having a different street name than the one posted on the sign, I knew we had some cables in the ground somewhere. There is suppose to be an above ground junction box and a 5’x7’ underground vault. All of which contain cables carrying 14,400 volts. Our company maps can be wrong from time to time but these have to be around here somewhere…
When driving by all you see is a big pile of blackberry bushes. Yet, if you look closely, and get at the right angle, you can see the corner of the concrete vault. Directly behind it is the junction box, which has been overtaken by the blackberry bush. As I walked around the back side of the bush I found the junction box.
I need to be able to open both the junction box and vault. That isn’t happening with these damn blackberries in the way. Typically it’s homeowners that plant stuff in front of those ugly green boxes in front of their houses. Well if we can’t open them… their bush gets cut or yanked out. There is a clear sticker on the front that says so. I had a guy build a block wall in front of a transformer one time. I tore the wall down right in front of him, did what I had to do and left. Sorry pal, that’s not suppose to be there.
This time Mother Nature plants a thorny blackberry bush in the way. I wasn’t born yesterday, so there ain’t no way in hell I am gonna get in there and try to pull it by hand. I swear blackberry bushes come to life. Once one little thorn snags on your pant leg, I t’s almost like 10 other vines attack the same pant leg and you struggle like hell to get out.
I got some 18’ ropes off my truck and tied them together to make a loop big enough to go around the bush. I tried to keep it as low to the ground as possible. I tied the rope so it would choke down tight around the bush then attached it to my winch hook. Put my truck in reverse and backed up.
It slid up the blackberry bush and didn’t get a good grab on it. What it did do is give me access to the bottom of the bush. I untied my rope and retied it way down at the bottom.
Let’s try this again.
Hopefully this does the trick…
It sure did!! Popped that pokey thing right outta there!!
Untying my ropes from the bush was a bit of a pain but after a few minutes my ropes were free. In an expression of frustration from trying to free my ropes…
I’ll run your prickly ass over!!
After cleaning off the top of the vault I can get to locating the high voltage underground cables that feed a nearby house. They were adding some underground fiber optic to their house and I needs to locate the electrical so they don’t hit it with their excavator.
Onto the next one…
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