We hired a college kid that is doing odd jobs this summer to work with us until school starts back up as a fill-in hand; good kid and hard worker.
Doing blue tops I tried to make it clear that he didn't want to go too far pounding in the stake.
The first six he set right on with the first check.
I was starting to wonder if I had a Blue-top savant on my hands.
But, no, the seventh was .06' low and had to be picked out. And that was a chore!
After that he was checking every few hundreths.
I really think there is only one way to learn.
Sometimes it's re-inforced learning when you're running 2 or more hammers - the guy having to dig out and reset falls behind rather quickly..... we used to say john henry for every tenth lower you had to go and wayne newton for each hundredth. That probably doesn't pass the PC police anymore....
I feel your pain. I had a guy a couple weeks ago who just never did get it. No matter if I said up or down on the first dirt shot he would start digging a hole. He was trying to make the ground easier to put the hub in I guess. I also couldn't seem to get it through his head that the whisker had to be on there before I said good.
I worked with a party chief once who would not listen to either me when I said that the horizontal position of a blue top was not all that critical, he could not would work to get em 0.02 by 0.02.
So I would not worry too much about a guy taking a few tries before it all sinks in, maybe you should brake out the linker rod to check em if you really want to make his head hurt.
On this job I asked the head concrete guy if he needed the blue tops for horizontal control as well as vertical and he said no. I even wrote that in my book.
But, sometimes they need blue tops for layout.
This kid is smart; he only needed one dig out to learn. I didn't show him that he could have jerked of the rooster tail and driven another hub alongside the too deep one and that would have been easier. I'll show him that when I'm beating them in.
The last bluetopping I did was on a RR spur going into the rail car dumper at the IP CO paper mill at Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
One helper busted his knee with a sledge when the stake splintered.
His replacement struck his foot with a pole axe chopping out a hole.
The next man used a rail driver and was a true wizard at bluetopping.
After that, started land surveying only and have not seen a bluetop since.
B-)
I did a project a few years ago that called for several miles worth of blue tops for the curb machine, sewers and other grading. It was nearly impossible to get a stake to grade before it broke because of all the rock. I bought a small cordless circular saw and quickly realized how much faster it was to "cut them off" instead of "pounding them in"
I hear ya! I hadn't done any for a long time. But it doesn't take long to remember how. About the only reason I'm out there is so I don't have to deal with the Kevin (yeah I know it's Davis) Bacon rules-at least for myself. Just the reporting is such a pain.
Two more 1/2 days out there and this job it put to bed until next spring.
I even have the help gladly getting up and out there by 5:30 to miss the heat.
That makes it more tolerable.
Blue tops?? Not many contractors around here use those anymore...
Before 1983, I did untold miles of concrete roads in Texarkana, the Texarkana and Longview malls, a strip mall in Tyler by Paluxy Drive and two power generators at Cason and IP Papermills in Domino, Guridon and Pine Bluff.
We would alternate.
First grade we set bluetops
When we returned to set grade again we would set redheads
B-)
Yup!
First layer of sub-grade and they are actually pink tops.
Have to go out tuesday and do the final layer of sub-grade.
They'll be pink also.
Different colored whiskers.
I like to use different colored whiskers for changes in pavement/slab thickness.
I also use the whiskers with 60d nails for layout of pier locations, with different colors being different diameter/penetration of drilled piers.
With current construction technology, I don't see why anyone would need those anymore. Those things take way too much time and must be a big kick in the budget.
What's funny is taking someone from the office to blue top. They know it all from there field days. After pulling up the first dozen they typically want to run the level..Then you find out the forgot that too. Might be the reason for my grey hairs. I'm glad our company doesn't do much construction any more.
Different colored whiskers.
I've used the nails also. The contractors don't seem to mow those down as quick.
Our City inspectors wouldn't dream of not requiring them...
I have not set a blue top in my entire career.
We always set offset stakes then the grade setter sets boots up the lath.
You use your hand level to check subgrade from the boots on the lath.
