2008
I was working on a water treatment works up in the far-flung Highlands of Scotland. I'd been surveying for a weir that was being built and was returning to the main site. Our excavator was digging in an existing ditch that ran alongside the access road. the foreman told me they were looking for the ends of a BT data cable which they had accidentally dug through the previous day and asked me if I'd mind guiding the dig.

To find two, thin black ends of a cable in the muddy water, the easiest way was to stand in the ditches the excavator widened it out. We found one end and exposed enough to reconnect then he went looking for the other.

He pulled at the loose rocks and there was resistance. I saw something red in the water and told him to stop. He suggested it was a root or something and said he could tear it out. I said we'd just wait and see what the draining water revealed.

It revealed an 11,000V cable that was caught in the teeth of the bucket. One break would have killed me and most probably him too.

Construction sites are ace!
( Larry Death Anger Pain Fear Aggression, Fri 5 Jul 2013, 8:20, Reply)