Saved by the Robot

Saved by a Robot at the ParkIt was a noisy balmy day at the Hudson Riverside State Park. As renovations on an existing road was laid out by my partner and I. A crowded work site as everything in NYC is. However we managed to get in do the work as the ground under our feet shook as the excavation began. We took our Trimble S6 Robot and set it up to begin our layout. My Partner (Veteran Surveyor/Marine Sergeant)took his 16 plus years of experience and laid out the equipment. Only to realize that the area was to risky for the equipment. Vibration and traffic from the construction site would put the Robot at risk so he closed it down and used a level and rod to layout the small traffic circle. A great education for me his rookie partner. After boxing the Trimble S6 Total Station we quickly laid out the grade and layout for the crew to perfom the needed road work. We then proceeded to gather the equipment together to load up the truck. Taking in the beauty of the park in the middle of this city eased the pain of noise and ciaos. Like always my partner loaded the handy Trimble Total Station back pack on his back and cradled the TCU mounted on his Trimble pole with red and white support legs like it was his baby. We began our trek across the construction site. It was like a war zone heavy equipment moving everywhere. You could hardly hear a thing.My partner explained; always make sure that the operator makes visual connection with you before you cross his path. As we walked toward the truck both loaded down with our equipment. Some wide boards had been laid across the curb to cover the demolition area. My partner took a step onto a board as we had all day long. Yet this time the board had nothing under it. Springing like a trampalin it caught his foot projecting him forward onto the ground in to a freshly crushed concrete slab with sharp freshly cut rebar sticking out like rusty bent fingers. He fell about 2 feet straight down the Robot back pack rolled him away from the 9 inch rebar that would have pierced his body. His construction helmet jumped of his head like a rock as it took the impact. Flying some 4 feet away. I must say his athleticism coupled with the robot saved his life that day. His baby the S6 Total Station, never got a scratch on it. My partner tore his knee up real bad. I offered a hand up and we limped back to the truck where he managed his wounds. As he explained this is why you always watch for the unexpected. I thought to myself thank God the robot was on his back.The park we worked in that day includes Olympic-size pool (which is home to the Redtails swim team), a covered skating rink for roller skating in the summer and ice-skating in the winter, an 800-seat cultural theater, a 2,500-seat athletic complex with fitness room, and a 150-seat restaurant. A popular work is the Totally Kid Carousel created by Maria Reidelbach and Milo Mottola. Its beautiful! Lat. 40°49'35.45"N - Long. 73°57'20.13"WThe park is 69 feet above the Hudson. It is located on the West Side Highway from 137th Street to 145th Street in Upper Manhattan. The only state park within Manhattan, Here is the catch. It is built over the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant, which processes 125 million gallons of wastewater every day during dry weather, and it is designed to handle up to 340 million gallons a day when the weather is wet. The plant claims that its state of the art facility emits no odors, though frequent visitors to the park would disagree. The plant sits on 2,300 caissons pinned into bedrock up to 230 feet beneath the river. The plant was completed in two phases between between 1986 and 1991.

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