Cracking on - on Central Street.

After littering the block with Brobdingnagian equipment and supplies, they began to crack on with the new pipes under Central Street, digging a giant hole at the end of the block. The obvious choice for a camera was the Crackon, loaded with ancient Fuji NS160. Any color shift of the old film might reflect the surreal nature of the experience.

On Tuesday morning, we awoke to a giant dump truck in front of our house. I yielded to temptation and went out while the action was going on, since it was right there, it seemed to be empty, and I thought they usually don't leave these things overnight. (They left one across the street for the next weekend, though.)

The side view of the black truck down the block. It might have a license to kill and is marked with the sign of the beast. It wasn't empty. The driver and I had a nice conversation about photography and the terminology for some of the devices lying about, so I could look them up.

I didn't want to be a distraction, but thought an action shot would be OK when they were right in front of our house. Probably not too unusual for the old retired dudes on the block to be out watching them. It has to be mentioned that this was precisely the day Andy and Kristin arrived for a visit. They cleared our driveway just as they got to the corner.

When they leave for the night, they surround the hole with the machines and wrap them in orange mesh.

Someone left this tool lying on the track of one of the big excavators.

The loader was left halfway up a pile of gravel.

Stuff just left on the street by the contractor's trailer.

All these pipes are color coded. Green is supposed to be sewer and drain lines.

A trench box prepared for the pipe with a bed of gravel. Is that little pipe what they're replacing? Looks too small for a sewer even in 1929.

We were hoping this was the Tardis when it appeared under the magnolia.




The excavator operators' dexterity and lack of concern for bangs and crashes is impressive. All these giant trench boxes and pipes are moved in and out of the trenches with the bucket off, utilizing this great hook.

A hole protected for the night by a bucket resting on a trench box and the giant gravel bucket, which they just push and drag around to position it.

The Crackon has two hand-drilled .27mm pinholes, on the axis and 11mm above it, 45mm from a 6x6cm frame. Still pushing my luck with a four-and-a-half-month-old Cinestill Liter Powder C41 kit.

The Crackon is reloaded with the last roll of the old Fuji and is documenting increasingly rare, interesting details in what is becoming a long, noisy, repetitive saga. They still have to pave the street when they're done.