Wow, impressive and mesmerizing indeed. (Are we sure that only took one day?)
Video poster claimed 21 days with 3-4 workers per day.
Link??
Yeah, I don’t see that in the YouTube video description. Based on my limited time digging in dry rocky soil with a pick axe, one day seems impossible - even before considering the masonry. Still, very awesome regardless.
I paid closer attention to the video and their clothes change, so yes, it was more than a single day
They have my respect, that’s a lot of hard work. Interesting to see how they have a rhythm in lifting and carrying those buckets. And yeah, it had to take more than a day because you have to allow time for the mortar to cure after it gets up a few courses high.
paradox398 Apr 9, 2014
21 days between 3 and 4 workers each day
This is a direct link, otherwise you need to load more comments and scroll down a ways on the original YouTube page itself.
Beautiful, amazing, and humbling. I really like the one swing to lift technique they were using to get the buckets of cement on top of their shoulders; that’s a new one to me.
Apparently I don’t know well construction from a hole in the ground.
Can someone with a geology or engineering background speak to the long-term viability of a well dug so close to the ocean? I seem to recall other places (California perhaps?) having problems with salt water infiltration after the fresh water was diminished.
The can-do attitude and stamina alone is impressive but what really blew me away was the array of skills these people have. I want these guy with me if there is a zombocalypse, they will survive it and I’ll coast on their coattails.
They are fortunate to have such a shallow water table. My parents have a well that is in excess of 300 feet deep. It was machine dug and is only wide enough to fit a pipe down, but still…
The post might be a little misleading with respect to the time scale, but those guys worked really hard AND really smart. I like how they had two guys shifting dirt to a third guy who slung it out of the hole. Pretty darned efficient for a team of three dudes with shovels and no special equipment.
Regarding the water table, you can literally see the ocean about 200-300 yards away from them. So it’s not a huge surprise that they hit water pretty quickly. I hope it’s not salt water (I have no idea how much distance from the ocean it takes before you can dig a fresh water well)
You don’t need to wait for a zombie-apocalypse – it’s guys (and women) like these that keep the United States running as it is, for low wages and often in fear of deportation. The anti-immigrant types wouldn’t know what hit them if they got their wish…
These guys do seem to have the technique down, but as a guy who has dug ditches and built stone walls as jobs, I was really impressed by their array of tools, skills and cooperation. They had the right sorts of shovels (makes a huge difference), and them breaking up the rocks brought back fond memories of an old boss showing me the ropes.
BOSS: Take this 16 pound sledge.
ME: Okay.
BOSS: Now hit this big rock with it.
ME: Alright. hits rock
BOSS: Hit it again.
ME: hits rock again
BOSS: Now do that until your arms fall off, or this big rock is a bunch of little rocks.
By the end of that summer I had forearms like Popeye and a desire to learn more about computers.
As I watched it I was thinking “darn lazy Mexicans” - obviously digging a hole to China so that they can sneak into the U.S.
Well done well done.
How many Mexicans does it take to… oh, wait, they’re done already?
The fresh water sits on top of the salt water, so you can get fresh quite close to the ocean as long as you’re not too greedy and allow the freshwater aquifers to keep recharging from inland, rather than be displaced by seawater, or draw down to the top of the seawater. If they’re in the Yucatan, the freshwater recharges very quickly through the limestone.
