Water line replacement continues

So far new water pipes have been put up in the basement, replacing older pipes with 3/4 inch copper pipes. These lines supply the upstairs bathrooms and kitchen. That work got done fast. The guys are still trying to get the old cast iron pipe out of the front yard from the meter to the house. This is going slower than anyone figured because they decision was made to dig down to the end of the pipe and yank or pull it out rather than excavate the entire yard. 

Here's a look at how bad the pipe was and understand that it is the original water line from the 1920's.

This is the end which came into the basement and held the whole house water shut off valve. I couldn't even stick my finger into it, so full of rust and deposits it was.

This is the pipe end which was attached to the meter by the street.

And a couple pieces they hack sawed off. Since then they have hooked up some kind of machine to a generator on the back of a truck. The machine has a hose of some sort and they are using the force to try and move the rest of the pipe which is buried, forward from basement to the street.

I'm not sure how much success they're having but the generator has shut off.

There's a lot of watching going on.

Ferdie from the front door.

One of our neighbors

The stuffed raccoon on the porch is enjoying the hub bub too.

 In the end of several hours of trying, they weren't able to move most of the buried line so they bored to the side of it, laid the new pipe, and are now hooking things up, filling in the holes and just about ready to test the water.