Here we are with a bustling metropolis that is Kyiv, looking to
modernize but somehow it doesn’t get done quite RIGHT….
Over the past year, Kyiv has seen a lot of trenches dug – mostly in
sidewalks to install new fiber optic cable. That’s a good thing. The downside
to these technology upgrades present a larger safety issue that affects
residents and I don’t mean from the use of the fiber optic itself. Can we
really walk safely down the street?
There are clear signs that seven or eight months after the installations
that contractors don’t have a clue about how a dig a hole nor how to properly
backfill and compact the soil BEFORE you put the new blacktop overlay in place!
An acquaintance of mine who is affiliated with one of the major cable providers
just rolls his eyes. He tells me that
the City Administration controls which company actually does the trenching and
installation of the cable and that, as we know, can mean some “shady” things
might happen!
At a minimum there is no inspection oversight during the
back-filling/compacting/blacktopping phases At worst, there might be a kickback
going to someone at City Hall; someone who’s paid by the contractor to just
turn a blind eye to the whole process!
Some trenches in my neighborhood were dug open in mid-November 2011 and
left open for five months, stifling (and killing off in some instances) small
businesses in the path of the new cable installations. Worse, these winter
trenches forced people to have to walk in busy, icy streets unprotected!
In my neighborhood I watched in amazement when the contractors finally
did return to back-fill their trenches, using spoil dirt they had first dug up
weeks before. Afterward, they threw some course-crushed granite on top, left it
to settle for another 3 weeks and then came back to put the blacktop overlay.
This is simply NOT the right way to do the job!
The right way to backfill a construction trench is with clean sand mixed
with small smooth (round) river rock, tamped down tightly before the blacktop
goes on. Simple! This is trench and backfill 101!
There was a lot of cable installed in my neighborhood and today, several
months later, there is not one meter where you cannot see the outline of the
trenches collapsing due to the poor workmanship. The hazard here is falling in
a collapsing trench or at best to having walk around a collapsed part of the
sidewalk. Pedestrians are in peril!
Another sad part of this is the City of Kyiv is not getting its money’s
worth. This poor workmanship creates hazards for citizens and it means “re-dos” of the back-fill and blacktop job in less than a
year…This is a job that should last for 20 years…. Unless all this is by
design…?
What to do? Time to put your trenching companies through Trenching 101
Boot Camp on how to dig and back-fill correctly. Next, the City MUST INSPECT
EVERY JOB. Come on guys, this is all pretty straight forward. It just amazes me
how City officials continue to turn up with egg on their face where
job-after-job is botched like this. Kinda like the nice roads you built to
expedite Euro 2012 traffic between Kyiv city center and Boryspol – major bad
spots are already showing up! Shame on you!
Mike Lynn is an American living in Kyiv. He
can be reached at [email protected].
