Dock Building Continues

Glowing in the sunset

The dock building continues, and I'm forever thankful that it is. When the process began my first thought was of the birds, both waterfowl and songbirds. The songbirds visit my feeder just as regularly as before, the coots swim around the construction and waterfowl land on the structure finding it an extraordinarily handy perch for finding fishes. Speaking of fishes, they collect underneath it and the fishermen can be found casting their lines nearby. All is well on the riverbank as this structure just seems to add to both the ambiance and the ecosystem. This progress is nothing but good.


As you can see, they've made great progress. The upper framing is in place and today they are putting in the stairs, seen to the left. Taking photos from the bank the foreman smiled and asked me if I was "that lady with the long lens?" Yep...that would be me! He seemed thrilled that they're being immortalized. These guys are very nice and are true professionals. We have all been impressed with the way they treat the river and land while building this remarkable structure.

Here's today's crew. The company is Bubba's Marina Construction. An unfortunate name, but it works in this part of the country I guess. Bubba Doss, the owner, is as professional as can be and he is THE authority on dock building on these rivers. He works closely with TVA following all their rules and regulations, so you know your dock is up to code, made well, and made right AND put in the right spot - which is critical. The foreman is to the left, two workers in the middle and the crane operator is in the red shirt. These guys clamber around the iron structure like gymnasts on a balance beam. They seem unfazed by the height or narrowness of the beam. Like a well-rehearsed dance, they communicate mostly by hand signals and arm movements, and each has their specific job which they do without much talking. They just do it, and do it well. When they weld and sparks fly, why that's my favorite part.

As of today, 953 photos. Seriously. This is cool stuff.