# Dead Men's Work



## denick (Feb 13, 2006)

A while back at the dinner table I was the topic of conversation as an easy guy to take anywhere (I have all girls) because I am always looking at the way things are built. They were referring to the last shopping trip where I found these old catch basins made out of brick that were layed up beautifully. 

Anyone else guilty of admiring the work of those who've gone before us?


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## jmic (Dec 10, 2005)

There's a couple of buildings that I pass frequently in Greenwich, the work involved in the brick veneer is just outstanding.:thumbsup:


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

i'm going to take pics of it and post here....but years back, there was a foundry here in town, made manhole frames/covers...i live on a lake with house facing n.w.....you know what the wind does. had a helluva time keeping patio furniture on the deck on the lake side. well......i found an old manhole frame and cover made at that foundry....used the frame as the base, a piece of 30" natural gas pipeline for the stem/stand...and i had a 4' diameter piece of 3/8" tempered glass cut and drilled and bolted it to the manhole cover. it goes NOWHERE! i had to beef up underneath the deck for the additional weight. kind of unique, had many people wanting me to build them one


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

^ Definitely take a pic


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## oldgoat (Aug 18, 2005)

I also look at the ironwork in the old factories and think of how all of the rivets were put in. Sometimes when you think of that and how long it seems to take to build a section of highway now you are kind of amazed that things ever got built and how long it has lasted. Look at all the CCC projects that were made during the depression and many are still in use.


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

Anytime we are around older homes, I marvel at the cutting that went into the rafters and the craftsmanship. It is neat to sometimes find notes or calculations penciled on rafters and joists, or behind baseboards or trim knowing the guy who wrote it was dead before I was born. I saw one in a house we were demolishing, that was long division..looking like he was calculating the number of flooring or deck boards.


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## denick (Feb 13, 2006)

Whenever I am in a city and have to travel through a run down section I always look up because you will see some of the best construction in this country on the faces of some of the most run down buildings. Even in some of the storm's and sewer's. Ever have to dig around a wooden water main? Everyone was cursing and I was just marveling at it.

Nick


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## TMatt142 (Apr 28, 2006)

It's amazing. Wish I had a laborer from back then!!! I come across from time to time tunnels made entirely from brick. How cool is that??? I've also run into storm sewer and sanitary sewer made of brick! A lot of the time I'm just wondering..."how the heck did they do that back then without excavators!!" We did a sewer connect that was 24 ft in depth. We were in the heart of the city so the hole we were in couldn't have been bigger than 15x15. Just enough to fit a couple of trench boxes down in. Can you imagine back in the day putting that sewer lateral in!!


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## jls (Feb 9, 2006)

My high school still uses a CCC built Gym Built in 1938 or something like that excellent gym the floor is built in suspension above the concrete floor. They Laid Cement then when the cement was wet the put metal braces with spikes in it and laid 2x2's on the metal braces pounded in the metal braces so the spikes dug into the wood then laid the robbins wood floor on top of the 2x2's oh i forgot to mention the packed mortar all around the 2x2's to make it solid really a work of art the entire gym was a work of art. The 2x2's are 1 foot apart. Also everytime i work on a house i always write a little note on the rafters for a contractor or demolition crew to find in so many years.


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

JLS, is that a hopto 180 or a 200? i live in watertown, sd....my dad had about 3-200's thru the years, then a 300.....switched to drott in late 60's


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## jls (Feb 9, 2006)

To be honest with you I don't remember it wasn't mine and the owner got rid of it i just took my senior picture with it. But if i had to take a guess i would belive its a 200 because it sounds pretty familiar.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

Many aquaducts are still in place dating back to the Mayans, Romans and other cultures. Many transverse miles of hilly or mountainous terrain and are still functional. The old guys knew their stuff.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

We encountered this a few months ago.
It appeared to be a well that had been hand dug. 
The site we were on had a house that dated back to the late 1700's or early 1800's.

This brick well was 20' to the water line and had 5' of water in it. the water was crystal clear.

Due to its location, in an historic portion of an historic city, the owners rep. requested that we fill this thing with stone as quickly as possible and to forget about it.

Most expensive load of stone I ever sold.


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## jmic (Dec 10, 2005)

Tom,

To bad that something like that thats withstood 200-300 yrs. had to be abandoned like that. That looked like someone put alot of effert into that and as time showed , he did a good job.:thumbsup:


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

You should have reported the owners. There is a lot of history in that well, especially at the bottom of it.


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## denick (Feb 13, 2006)

What Happened?

Prior to the 1960's work like in Tom's pictures was the common everyday level to obtain for trades in many places. The most skilled man in town didn't build wells. 

Picking up my daughter at college last week in Burlinton, Vermont my wife and I took a walk in the downtown area. In a more run down area we walked through I spent quite a while looking at the brick work probably around 100 years old. Way above what I see being done today.

In less than 60 years we have lost what we had as common for hundreds of years?


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

Reading this again, I was thinkig about all the WPA (Works Progress Administration) projects through the country. Some were kind of shoddy, since they were local hires, and many were not skilled in anything except farming, but some are absolute works of art. The craftsmanship is unreal. I noticed the other day a sidewalk that has no cracks..stamped WPA - 1938. Look around at the armory buildings and public buildings in your community and see if you spot any of these jobs.


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## jls (Feb 9, 2006)

Oops i screwed up in my above post our gym at school was WPA built and some of the men who built it still live in this town and do odd jobs like building birdhouses cabinets and other things and judging by the job these guys did and do now it was like they were born with the skill.


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

JLS, i see that i live 100 miles south of you


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## jls (Feb 9, 2006)

Really? I read somewhere that you were from SD but i didn't know where from but now that i think of it do you live in Day County Maybe in the Aberdeen Webster area or maybe even watertown. I spend alot of time in SD in The Sica Hollow area i also do alot of camping in Roy Lake/Fort Sisseton area We used to do alot of trenching in Aberdeen and Webster and Waubay for Midco.


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

i'm in watertown, we spent damn near all last summer up in sisseton on a wastewater treatment plant there, new sewer lagoons, lift station, force main, etc etc.


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## jls (Feb 9, 2006)

I heard they were doing that down there i think i have driven by there when you were doing that but i can't remember the date. I was takeing my girlfriend to the nicolette tower it was her first time. Spent alot of time in watertown also neat to see someone on here so close to home.


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