Why Can't Work Be Done At Night?? (Howe, Wilson: contractors, pros and cons)

[the_dimwit]

I need to get a few of those for my flood lights outside. Who needs a bazillion Christmas lights to be seen from space when you have something like that??

--Dim

[skeet09]

Originally Posted by the_dimwit

I need to get a few of those for my flood lights outside. Who needs a bazillion Christmas lights to be seen from space when you have something like that??

--Dim

The road crews need to get in touch with the museum and see if they can borrow it for construction.

[the_dimwit]

Nahh...Using such devices at night for the purposes of road construction or maintenance is way too logical. It's far better to do it during the day when the "Big Bulb in the Sky" is turned on!

--Dim

[gwrober]

I have seen road crews working on 410 at night. Usually that's when one of them gets killed tho. I think doing some of these tasks at night would save a lot of driver frustration.

[civilguy]

Night work is more expensive (for several reasons) and less safe for the workers. It's usually only done when the disruption to traffic would be so great that the additional cost is warranted. Having certain work performed at night (asphalt paving) isn't possible sometimes due to lower temperatures at night. But safety is the biggest problem with night work. Drunks are on the roads in the late evenings/early mornings and despite precautions, it's just much more difficult for good drivers to slow down and look out for workers on these night jobs. I can say from experience that many workers like night jobs in the summer due to lower temperatures. But a project has to budget additional funds for all the lights and power needed to run them.

[the_dimwit]

I get that, civilguy. However, I've seen localities in much colder parts of the country do all sorts of work at night. It may be more expensive, but I'm curious as to what the data for the number of fender-benders (due to bumper-to-bumper traffic during daytime construction) would be. My initial assumption is that there are more accidents when this type of work is done during the day.

Another example of needless daytime construction is the long-running "sign work" being done on I-37 between 181 and 410 (or 1604, I can't remember). It occurs from 8am to 4/5pm...such work surely could be done at night...

I, too, have seen some work done at night around here. I'm not saying it's never done--just that daytime work seems to exceed the night operations as a rule. SA is growing by leaps and bounds. Along with that growth comes more traffic volume during the day. Maybe it's time to change the "status quo" of construction to match?

--Dim

[svg210]

Originally Posted by the_dimwit

I get that, civilguy. However, I've seen localities in much colder parts of the country do all sorts of work at night. It may be more expensive, but I'm curious as to what the data for the number of fender-benders (due to bumper-to-bumper traffic during daytime construction) would be. My initial assumption is that there are more accidents when this type of work is done during the day.

Another example of needless daytime construction is the long-running "sign work" being done on I-37 between 181 and 410 (or 1604, I can't remember). It occurs from 8am to 4/5pm...such work surely could be done at night...

I, too, have seen some work done at night around here. I'm not saying it's never done--just that daytime work seems to exceed the night operations as a rule. SA is growing by leaps and bounds. Along with that growth comes more traffic volume during the day. Maybe it's time to change the "status quo" of construction to match?

--Dim

The reason theres accidents on construction sites, is because most idiots ignore the construction ahead signs, and the lower speed limits. I dont want to contradict you, but I have seen lots of construction going on at night on 37,410,35, and Military Hwy. So I am wondering maybe you should ask: why is maintenance work done at night?

[the_dimwit]

Agreed. There are a lot of accidents around and in construction zones largely because people fail to slow down. I'm also in agreement that there is some construction done at night in this 'burg. However, if you're going to do daytime work, why would you schedule it during some of the heaviest traffic periods (e.g., rush hour or mid-day on a weekend)? Wouldn't it make more sense to minimize risk by scheduling work during times when traffic volume is less?

(Note: I'm trying to keep this thread from drifting towards "how people drive" in honor of Bowie's request...)

--Dim

[majormadmax]

You'd think there would be more desire to do the work at night during the warmer months.

Also, I agree with Dim in that since traffic flow is reduced during the evening (as compared to rush hour), one would think the number of potential accidents would be reduced. I understand the increased risk due to it being dark, and the bright lights tend to draw people who are tired or otherwise like moths to the flame; but it still would seem more logical to do the work then.

[BenjaminNicholas]

Drunk drivers are a nice public excuse, but cities like Chicago and LA have much more instance of drunk driving incidents and they routinely have overnight work crews on their streets. I'm guessing (and it's likely not a stretch) that SA's issue is with money, plain and simple.

It's the same reason why the airport expansion has taken 6 years instead of the initially proposed 3-4 years. Money and it's painfully slow release to the contract crews working on the job. It's ridiculous what the city has been doing (or not doing, as it were).

In a city of this size, especially one that people rely on driving their vehicles and not taking public transport, overnight road-work needs to be the norm. Plain and simple.



BN