There was nice weather today to begin what I consider nothing short of a rodeo. After marking the path that the water transmissions line were to follow, it was time to lay out the tubing. We are using rolls of 2-inch in diameter polyethylene tubing rated to 80PSI. The tubing is used to take the water out of the stream and channel it down into the turbine where it is then returned back to the stream. Starting from a level spot about 700 feet uphill we began to unroll the transmission lines.

We had a hardy work crew of three ready to undertake the project of laying the lines from start to finish. The project is like a rodeo because the 300ft rolls each weigh about 170-200lbs and are made of polyethylene, which when cold and pre-coiled for a number of months does not want to easily relax into a flat path. The tubing is slippery when wet and can really be a trial to move. However, we had skill on our side, because Ben possesses an uncanny ability to judge how a roll will uncoil without creating significantly tensioned bends. I cannot explain how he can see this; however, we would orient the roll the way Ben suggested and work together to unroll it. The rolls can be handled by two people, but it works quite well with three. Although we only need to cover 700 ft, we are running two transmission lines. This means that we actually laid out 1400 feet of tubing!

When we are done placing the tubing we walk back and make sure it follows the contour of the land so that we can take advantage of two specific things. First we want to stay with the contour of the natural landscape to ensure that the pipe is moving as downhill as possible. The second thing to take advantage of are natural supports including live and fallen trees, stumps, and rocks to anchor the tubing and make certain that it does not fall into the drainage. We hope that the pieces of steel rebar that we drive into the ground also hold the pipe in place; however, I personally have my doubts. This is because most of the land that we are walking on is primarily rock that has had years of erosion deposit very unstable and shallow loam soil. We pound into the soil about 8-10 inches then hit solid rock. That is why utilizing trees and rocks as our anchors will be the best long term bet when determining the permanent path of the water transmission lines.

When the day was done we were able to lay out all of the water transmission lines, from intake site to the turbine site. When work resumes the goal will be to connect the lines together, install the screened intake box, and connect the hard 3-inch pipe that extends from the intake box into a Y-joint and to the 2-inch tubing.

Christoffer and Ben Rolling Out Tubing

Three of Us Having a Rodeo As We Fit The Tube Between Two Trees

Two Tubes Laid Out By Hand (Better Than a Machine Could Do)

In Places Like This We Could Move The Rolls On "Tube-Tracks"