Year 2, Day 159: 5 April 2014

What a pleasant surprise! Although this was supposed to be the third weekend of round-the-clock work and disruptions to the L, peace reigns supreme. Last weekend, the work--scheduled to last into the wee hours of Monday--wrapped up on Saturday afternoon, so i guess it's safe to assume that this entire phase of the job was completed well ahead of schedule. Nice work, folks! 

Year 2, Day 158: 4 April 2014

It's official! The substation now has an address--1401 W. Farwell. 

Year 2, Day 157: 3 April 2014

In the past couple of days, the brick facade of the substation has been getting a final coat of what i hope is a graffiti-proof finish. 

Before and after.
This picture, taken yesterday, shows how much nicer the brick will look
when finished (the white blobby area to the right has been cleaned up as well,
as of Thursday morning).

Worker in a cherrypicker on his way to work on the upper section of the wall.
The angle of the picture makes it look as though he's about to get tangled
in the power lines, but he's actually at a safe distance. 

 Thursday morning:

Finishing up in the pouring rain.

A sure sign that this project is wrapping up: The two large portals
through which all the substation equipment was delivered have been walled off.
I'm still hoping that something will be done to cover the bare cinderblocks.
They really detract from the appearance of the building,
making it look a little bit like an abandoned factory. 

Year 2, Day 153: 30 March 2014

Great news! The work in the track area, which was scheduled to last until the wee hours of Monday, has been completed way ahead of schedule. By shortly after 9AM, most of the crew and heavy equipment had left for the day. This gave me a rare opportunity to catch a few minutes of stillness on the job site: 

The hook on the large crane--which had been busily transporting
equipment, rebar, and hoppers full of gravel all weekend--
now in repose, just waiting for the crane operator to drive it away.

A solitary worker pauses for a few minutes to smile for the camera
before beginning to return the site to a state of readiness
for the coming week.

Year 2, Day 152: 29 March 2014

It's been another long day of work along the trackbed.

An added challenge to the project has been the extreme winter weather,
and even though it's the end of March, a ground warmer was brought in
to make it easier to dig under the tracks.

The pictures don't show as much detail as i wish, but the workers are digging
a hole or trench under the tracks to accommodate the power lines.

This is southernmost of the work areas. The conduits for the electrical lines
are bunched in a series of groups.

The work continues through the night once again. I took a few more pictures late tonight, but these are the only ones that turned out well enough to post. 

Year 2, Day 151: 28 March 2014, Pt. 2: Friday Night Lights

This was the scene late Friday night, as the weekend work-a-thon began. Work will continue round the clock once again this weekend.

Year 2, Day 151: 28 March 2014

The cement truck returned this morning.