Working at opposite ends of a short trench on Daly Avenue in Hedley, two massive, muscular excavators have begun replacing a section of water line. Watching their long arms lower the enormous buckets to claw boulders out of the trench, I was reminded of a scene in George Lucas’ The Empire Strikes Back. At times the buckets worked in close quarters and I waited for them to slam into each other.

Drawing closer to the trench, I realized that two nimble, very alert men were down there, guiding the buckets. To me it seemed akin to entering a cage with a supposedly tame gorilla. A slight distraction on the part of an operator (such as the appearance of a pretty woman in a short skirt) could instantly end the working life of these men. I quickly concluded this is a job that requires steady nerves in the trench and on the machines. It certainly isn’t for the faint hearted.

When one of the excavators ceased working and the operator stepped down from the still idling machine, I approached him. In answer to my question, Jim said, “I’ve been operating for about 30 years. At the outset I had a choice of operating cranes or excavators. I didn’t want to spend my days alone high up in one of those tower cranes.” He said this project will take about 2 weeks to complete. In addition to digging the trench along Daly and laying the pipe, they will also cut trenches across the street and lay pipe to each residence.

According to Lynn Wells, Chair of the Hedley Improvement District, the contractor will replace the line from Kingston Avenue to White Street, a distance of one block. “This kind of work is pretty expensive,” she said. “We’ve received $170,000 for this from the RDOS. The money originates from the provincial Gas Tax Fund. We applied for the funding when Elef Christensen was still an RDOS Director and he made the arrangements. The HID sets aside funds for emergencies, testing and maintenance. Saving up enough money for this type of project would take a decade. If there are leaks in the old, corroded steel line, this will eliminate them.”

It’s somewhat inconvenient for those living in the vicinity of the project. For anyone with too little to do though, watching the excavators can be an interesting diversion. It’s like having a two ring circus almost at our doorstep.