So a huge chunk of mountain fell onto the highway last week, and things were looking pretty grim. Nobody was hurt, thankfully, but it was about 40 or 50 tons, probably, and I was wondering how the heck they would get it off the road? (see picture in next post). I figured it would be about a month.
I was wrong. The road apparently reopened tonight. My hat's off in tribute to the guys in yellow jackets, the road crews. They apparently know exactly what they're doing.
It's actually a matter of being very methodical; of knowing what it takes and getting the equipment to the site; of communicating very clearly to the people who control traffic, and reroute it through Mescalero; of maximizing the work hours, so that some people actually work at night but basically one thing happens after another, and pretty soon, the rock is out of the way, then they fix the road, and finally they fix the guardrail and the shoulders. It's really quite amazing. But it's Monday night and it seems the road is open. People are driving from Alamo to Cloudcroft.
I have to say, though I am now retired and living in Illinois, that I really respect these guys in yellow jackets. What little I had to do with the volunteer fire departments, they were also quite good at this. You see the problem, you bring the necessary equipment, you apply the right force to the situation, you take care of it. It's impressive.
My hat's off to all of y'all.
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