ODAD Gridworks

Our hearts and prayers go out to everyone in the path of what was Hurricane Harvey. I went through monsoon season at U-Tapao, but to have that much rain come over the course of days is unimaginable.

It will take months to reopen most of the roads, maybe years. The railroads will probably be the first to recover. This is because their road beds are permeable by design. Even where they have been washed out, the railroads will be able to install new ballast and then replace damaged ties and rails to get the line back into operation.

The railroad roadbed design can work as well for vehicle traffic when combined with permeable grid like StabiliGrid H/D. The width would be wider for trucks and cars. Instead of ties and rails, the top and slopes are covered with grid. Like the ties, a layer of fill hold everything securely in place.

The high water marks from Harvey are probably a good indication of how high the ballast needs to be. Traditional bridges and covered culverts would still be appropriate.

Perhaps the appropriate parties will look into this as a way of restoring the transportation infrastructure in the effected counties? The sooner goods can be brought in, the sooner the people in these counties can start rebuilding.

So this morning I was driving through town and discovered Weston now has a farmer's market. It's right downtown on FM 543 (aka Main Street). John Stufflebeam is the force behind this effort, creating opportunity for local organic and other farmers. John owns Sunny Side Up Farms out on FM 455.

Odad will be there checking out the local produce, honey, and wines of Collin County Texas. Hope to see lots of you there as well!

It takes some serious machinery to unload a full truck of grid (or a tractor with pallet forks on the bucket and a counter weight in back).

Lots of fun playing with the SkyTrack. Yep, men are just boys with bigger toys.

Not sure how we managed to miss hitting the mail box, but we did.

I recommend Greil Conveyor for supplying rock on grid projects. The delivery system will speed up project completion and reduce the physical labor involved for DIY installations.

Greil Conveyor Applications, Inc. Home improvement