Once upon a time 250m above the Colorado River

“We had to respond to a client who had a now obsolete Videologger 2000 surface system causing some distress. It was being used for geotechnical ground investigation for the then upcoming Hoover Dam Bypass project.

The problem was that the entire system was mounted on a frame to be transported by helicopter to inaccessible locations, and as the Videologger system was not functioning properly his entire crew and the helicopter were effectively grounded. Within 48hrs from client contact and armed with some spares I suspected might be at fault, plus a spare Videologger system just in case, I arrived at Las Vegas.

We arrived early on site and I must admit I was becoming slightly concerned as to what the precise nature of the location of the equipment was. We followed a trail uphill for a short while and when we got to the top, the view of the Colorado River was breath-taking!

I could see the location of the logging system. It was uncomfortably close (it seemed to me) to the edge of a cliff which was apparently around 250m (800ft) above the Colorado River. With an increasingly dry throat, and a dizzy feeling I began work on the system with a rope around my waist more for comfort than anything else. It was quite a complicated piece of equipment to dismantle.” …more