Blasting work clears way for waterline

Workers clearing the last 100 feet or so of underground area for a pipe that will serve as a waterline along Veterans Parkway faced the last obstacle standing in their way Monday — a stubborn deposit of granite.

“Once completed, the waterline will measure approximately 3,300 feet along Veterans Parkway that will tie two sections of the roadway piping system together,” said Jeff Pope, general superintendent of Strack Inc., a Fairburn, Ga.,- based utility company.

But before that could happen, the granite had to be removed.

Orica USA driver Jackie Greenway had an easy way of explaining just how they were going to do that.

“We got a little bit of rock right here and we’re going to shoot it out of the ground,” Greenway said.

“If folks want to know why their water bill went up, it’s because we’re out here blowing up rocks,” joked Orica blaster Faron Gosnell.

Greenway and his crew drilled a series of holes into the ground and pumped hundreds of pounds of petroleum-based emulsion (a product with a consistency like mayonnaise) into them, connected them with primers and detonating cords that ran to a cap and a booster. After the charges were set, the detonation site was covered with a 4,000-pound mat made of recycled tires that are woven together. The set-up before each blast took several hours.

“This form of explosive we’re using is more concentrated, consistent and is much safer than dynamite,” said Scott Maney of J.B. Jones Drilling and Blasting.

The charges are then detonated in a staggered fashion. The first blast sounded at about noon Monday. The second and final blast was at about 5:45 p.m.

“The idea is for every hole where the petroleum-based emulsion has been placed, to go off individually so the vibration created is reduced,” said Seismic Imaging Inc. geologist Jason B. Cox.

Traffic was briefly shut down along Veterans Parkway as the blasting took place Monday afternoon. Traffic resumed shortly after the final blast.