Mowing Interstate Highway Right-of-way

[Xfaxman]

Re: Mowing My Dam

This is what a 3 to 1 slope looks like, it is about 18 degrees. The brush hog is on the front.


And the other side of the dam is 2 to 1 or 26.57 degrees. It is hard to walk up or down this side.


Mowing the spillway.


Grade to angle chart.

 

[rtimgray]

Thanks for posting the above information. It would have been interesting to let some of guess what the angles of those slopes were. I would bet that most of us, myself included, would have greatly overestimated the steepness of the slopes, in terms of angle degree.

I worked (using the term loosely) with the Highway Department as a construction inspector for three summers during college, and one of my duties was to measure slopes and calculate how much cut/fill had been removed/placed. That was when I learned how deceiving looks can be on slopes. Even given that, I still often overestimate the "steepness"....or is it "steeptitude"....or is it "angletudeness"....whatever...

Good luck and take care.

 

[Heavyduty]

Yeah, the owner-contractors I've seen around here are never in harms way. They stay off the road in the truck with the ac running while his equipment and employee's are put in harms way. I think he pay's them $10 a hour, he make's $250k-$300k a year. He's already lost a couple people because someone hit them from the back doing 70 mph. Somebody's got to do it and $$ can be made.

 

[Bird]

The ONLY time I've actually seen a flail mower being used on a highway right-of-way was several years ago, along U.S. 460 in Princeton, WV.

We were back in West Virginia yesterday when I again saw a flail mower being used on the I-77 ROW north of Princeton.

 

[Bird]

I hope you stopped at the Mississippi Welcome Center at I20/Vicksburg.

I never get tired of watching the traffic on the I20/Mississippi River Bridge and the barges on the river.

Of course, we stopped there for awhile, then on to the Vicksburg Military Park for awhile.

 

[Gem99ultra]

True enough about those brave souls mowing those very steep banks along overpasses, etc. They simply aren't paid enough in my book.

When shopping for my last tractor though, I did discuss this topic with the NH dealer as I too have some steep banks to mow. The dealer said that the highway mowers usually have special order low center of gravity mowers. Those low CG mowers are the same as general use tractors except they have dropped spindles on front and short tires on the rear, allowing for a 3"- 4" lower stance.

That info was appreciated as was his info on tire protection from tires being cut up when mowing in ditches where people had thrown out bottles and sharp pieces of metal objects. That's another subject though for another thread.