[Simple Man]

Originally Posted by limejudge69

Hey arby, How many storm drains, water mains, sewer mains, water services, sewer services, or pump stations have you repaired? The old analogy of "1 guy working and 5 standing around watching" is total BS. When you dig a hole, you only dig it big enough to be safe and allow enough room to make the repair. Otherwise the work zone is bigger than it has to be, and that means more cleanup/repair/asphalt/cement and more man hours doing the cleanup. Especially if it's in the middle of the road. In most cases it's one guy in the hole, or maybe 2 at the most. They do what they can until they get tired, or until a gung-ho type wants to jump in. You have equipment operators, truck drivers, flaggers, supervisors, all around a work area. Most utilities workers want to be involved so they know what the problem is that got them out of bed, or kept them working late. One of the reasons for night/evening work is not to milk overtime, but because of less traffic, or working in a commercial area with fewer customers affected by shutting off water. A lot of problems are caused by antique utilities that we continually patch. Towns and cities don't want to spend the money to repair it, because it's out of sight. They would rather spend the money elsewhere. And NO we are not union.

I've seen it takes 7 Indiana State DOT workers to cut grass along the highways. 2 running tractors, 5 riding in trucks. But when a private contractor does the same job on the same highway, they use 3 people. 2 running those same tractors, and one in a truck who uses the weedwacker.

why the difference?