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How Technology is Revolutionizing the Piling Contractor Industry?
Introduction to the Piling Contractor Industry
As a piling contractor, I have witnessed firsthand the incredible advancements technology has brought to our industry. The piling contractor industry plays a vital role in the construction sector, providing the foundation upon which buildings and infrastructure projects are built. In this article, I will explore how technology is revolutionizing the piling contractor industry, maximizing efficiency, and delivering superior results.
The Importance of Efficient Piling Techniques
Efficient piling techniques are crucial for the success of any construction project. Piling involves driving steel, concrete, or timber piles into the ground to provide a stable foundation. Traditionally, this process was labor-intensive and time-consuming. However, with the advent of technology, piling contractors can now utilize innovative methods that significantly enhance efficiency.
By embracing technology, piling contractors can optimize the process, saving time and resources. For instance, screw piling has emerged as a game-changer in the industry. This technique involves screwing piles into the ground using specialized machinery. It offers numerous advantages over traditional piling methods, such as reduced noise and vibration, faster installation, and minimal environmental impact.
Evolution of Technology in the Piling Contractor Industry
Over the years, technology has evolved rapidly, transforming the way piling contractors operate. Gone are the days of manual labor and guesswork. Today, piling experts have access to cutting-edge tools and software that streamline every aspect of the piling process. This technological revolution has improved accuracy, increased productivity, and enhanced safety.
One of the key advancements in the piling contractor industry is the development of advanced monitoring systems. These systems allow piling experts to monitor pile installation in real time, ensuring that each pile is installed correctly and to the required depth. By leveraging these technologies, piling contractors can identify and address any issues promptly, minimizing the risk of costly errors or project delays.
Advantages of Technology in Screw Piling
Screw piling has become increasingly popular among piling contractors due to its numerous advantages. Technology has played a pivotal role in enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of this piling technique. With the help of specialized machinery, piling experts can now install screw piles more quickly and accurately than ever before.
One of the significant advantages of screw piling is its versatility. The technology allows piling contractors to install piles in a wide range of ground conditions, including soft soils, clay, and even bedrock. This flexibility makes screw piling an ideal solution for various construction projects, from residential buildings to large-scale infrastructure developments.
Furthermore, technology-driven screw piling offers environmental benefits. The machinery used in this process generates minimal noise and vibration, reducing disturbance to the surrounding environment and nearby structures. Additionally, the installation process produces less spoil, minimizing the need for costly and time-consuming cleanup.
Case Studies Showcasing Technology-Driven Piling Projects
To truly understand the impact of technology in the piling contractor industry, let's explore some real-life case studies showcasing successful technology-driven piling projects.
Case Study 1: High-Rise Building Foundation In this project, a piling contractor utilized advanced monitoring systems to install screw piles for the foundation of a high-rise building. The real-time monitoring allowed the team to ensure precise pile installation, resulting in a stable and secure foundation. The efficiency of screw piling technology also helped meet tight project deadlines.
Case Study 2: Bridge Construction Technology played a crucial role in the construction of a bridge, where piling contractors used advanced software to analyze the ground conditions and determine the optimal placement of screw piles. This approach not only ensured the structural integrity of the bridge but also minimized the environmental impact of the construction process.
Tools and Software Used by Piling Experts
Piling experts rely on a range of tools and software to maximize efficiency and accuracy in their work. These technological advancements have revolutionized the way piling contractors operate, enabling them to deliver superior results. Here are some of the key tools and software used by piling experts:
Pile Driving Analyzers Pile driving analyzers are essential tools that help piling contractors monitor and analyze the performance of piles during installation. These devices provide real-time data on pile integrity, driving stresses, and soil resistance, enabling piling experts to make informed decisions and adjustments as needed.
3D Modeling Software 3D modelling software has transformed the way piling contractors plan and execute projects. By creating virtual models of the site and incorporating geological data, piling experts can accurately assess ground conditions, identify potential challenges, and optimize pile placement. This technology-driven approach minimizes the risk of errors and ensures efficient project execution.
Future Trends in Technology for the Piling Contractor Industry
The piling contractor industry is poised for further technological advancements in the coming years. As construction projects become more complex and demanding, piling experts are constantly seeking innovative solutions to maximize efficiency and effectiveness. Here are some future trends to watch out for:
Automation and Robotics Automation and robotics are expected to play a significant role in the future of the piling contractor industry. These technologies have the potential to streamline the piling process further, reducing the need for manual labor and increasing productivity. Automated machinery and robotic systems can perform tasks with high precision and efficiency, ultimately saving time and resources.
Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence The integration of data analytics and artificial intelligence can revolutionize the way piling contractors operate. By analyzing vast amounts of data, AI-powered systems can provide valuable insights and predictions, helping piling experts make informed decisions and optimize the piling process. This technology-driven approach has the potential to minimize risks, improve project outcomes, and enhance safety.
Choosing the Right Piling Contractor for Your Project
When embarking on a construction project that requires piling services, it is crucial to choose the right piling contractor. In addition to technical expertise and experience, it is essential to consider their technological capabilities. Here are some key factors to consider when selecting a piling contractor:
Technological Expertise Look for a piling contractor who is up-to-date with the latest technological advancements in the industry. A technologically savvy contractor will have the tools, software, and expertise to deliver efficient and accurate piling solutions.
Track Record and References Research the piling contractor's track record and seek references from previous clients. A reputable contractor with a proven track record of successful projects demonstrates their ability to deliver high-quality work.
Benefits of Hiring Technology-Savvy Piling Experts
Hiring technology-savvy piling experts can offer numerous benefits for your construction project. Here are some key advantages:
Efficiency and Cost Savings Technology-driven piling experts can optimize the piling process, reducing the time and resources required for installation. This efficiency translates into cost savings for your project.
Enhanced Accuracy and Quality By leveraging advanced tools and software, technology-savvy piling experts can ensure precise pile installation and high-quality results. This minimizes the risk of structural issues and enhances the longevity of your building or infrastructure.
Conclusion
The piling contractor industry has undergone a remarkable transformation, thanks to the integration of technology. From efficient screw piling techniques to advanced monitoring systems, technology has revolutionized the way piling contractors operate. By embracing these technological advancements, piling contractors can maximize efficiency, improve project outcomes, and deliver superior results. When selecting a piling contractor, it is crucial to consider their technological expertise to ensure the success of your construction project. Embrace the power of technology and experience the benefits it brings to the piling contractor industry.
#piling companies#piling contractors#piling experts#screw pile suppliers#screw piling newcastle#screw piling#screw piling sydney#specialist piling contractors#screw piling wollongong#screw piling central coast
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7 Tips to Prepare Your Home for a Roofing Replacement Project
Fixing your roof with the help of roof restoration Central Coast is a significant undertaking for any homeowner. Whether it’s due to damage from a storm, age, or lack of maintenance, replacing a roof comes with a hefty price tag and several other factors that can impact the overall success of the project.
To make sure your home stays safe, and secure and looks great after the project is complete, here are some useful tips to prepare your home for a roofing replacement project.
Clear Your Roof of All Debris
Before you even get started, take some time to walk around your roof and remove any branches or debris that may have accumulated on top. You may be surprised by how much you can find! While you’re up there, look for damage such as cracked or missing shingles and consider whether these areas will need to be repaired during the project.
Prepare Your Yard
Make sure any decorations or items in your yard will not interfere with the progress of the roofers working on your roof. This includes taking down hanging garden lights or windchimes, moving potted plants away from the area underneath the house, and removing furniture from proximity to where they will need access or where ladders might be placed to reach higher points on your roof.
Secure Loose Gutters
Before starting a new roof installation, check your gutters to make sure they are securely fastened by attaching them firmly with screws directly into each eave of your house. Replace any sections of the gutter that have become loose due to wear and tear over time so that they cannot be knocked off during the installation process.
Repair Leaks Ahead Of Time
If at all possible, repair any leaks that you’ve noticed before beginning work on your new roofing project. This will help ensure that no additional water seeps through those spots once construction begins so you won’t have bigger problems post-installation!
Know What Kind Of Roof You Want
If you are replacing an existing roof with a new one then you must know exactly what kind of material you want to use in its place. For instance, if you live in an area prone to high winds then asphalt shingles may not be ideal since they won’t provide enough protection against extreme weather conditions; instead opting for something like metal standing seam panels would be better suited for this purpose.
Protect Plants And Landscaping
Cover up any shrubbery located near where the workers will be installing your new roof as this will protect them from nails and other materials falling during construction processes; also consider placing hard-plastic sheetings around raised bed gardens or flower beds to safeguard them too! Consider using landscaping fabric beneath mulch piles as well since this helps reduce weed growth while providing an extra layer of protection from wayward nails being thrown from above.
Put Up A Job Site Sign
Finally, put up signs around your property indicating it is an active job site so people passing by know what is happening at your home should they feel curious about what's going on there! This also serves as a reminder for neighbours who may think twice before parking their vehicles too close out front while workers are trying their best not to accidentally hit them with debris like ladders or tools falling off roofs during installation processes!
Following these seven tips before beginning work on replacing your do-it-yourselfer can avoid potential catastrophes while ensuring their home remains safe and secure through every step of the process. Of course, no two projects are exactly alike but taking extra precautions ahead of time always pays off in helping ensure successful results when tackling large-scale renovations like adding a new layer of shingles onto rooftops! Do yourself a favour by properly preparing ahead for this big endeavour today - so tomorrow everything goes smoothly when installers come knocking at your door ready to start making dreams a reality!
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Screw West
Written by: @hutchhitched
Prompt 137: Friends to lovers road trip au! Katniss wants to take a summer off to explore the country, Peeta volunteers to go with her. Bonus points if one of them is an absolutely oblivious idiot. [submitted by anonymous]
Ratings/Warnings: T
A/N: I’m continuing to post the nine @everlarkficexchange prompts I took and then sat on throughout the early months of the pandemic. Usually, I travel a lot during the summer, but not so much in 2020. Instead, I wrote this story for you. Enjoy!
___________
Peeta Mellark sifted through a stack of notes and sighed in frustration. “None of this makes sense anymore,” he grunted. “I thought the point of planning this was to have a, I don’t know, plan or something.”
Katniss Everdeen, his best friend since their freshman biology class a million years ago, looked at him in amusement and rolled her eyes.
“I thought you were supposed to be the spontaneous one in this friendship, Mellark” she laughed. “I promised you a road trip, but only if you’ll help me figure out some kind of time frame for when we’ll be back. I have lesson plans to write for the fall, you know. Some of us actually have a schedule. I know this was my idea, but you did agree to join me.”
Peeta grinned at her mischievous smile and shrugged. He’d been hopelessly in love with her since forever, and she had no idea how excited he was that she’d agreed to him accompanying her on her trip. The fact that she’d told him she wanted to take the summer to explore the US, and he’d called in every favor he could at his job to make this happen was something he’d never admit. He’d had to lobby his editor pretty hard to convince him that Peeta could write his column remotely and that doing so from different tourist destinations would actually strengthen his following rather than diminish it. Haymitch Abernathy only budged when the newspaper’s owner, Effie Trinket, pressured him to agree. Peeta wasn’t about to question Haymitch’s approval. With orders to keep the costs to a minimum and turn in his stuff on time, his boss had told him to report back after Labor Day.
So, he’d broached the subject with Katniss, hoping she hadn’t been joking when she said she wanted to head out and see all the things she’d never had a chance to in her childhood. He’d been absolutely ecstatic when she’d hugged him hard and thanked him for being her road trip buddy across America. The problem was they had no idea where they were going, no concrete plan, and absolutely no idea how to make a firm decision.
“Maybe we could start on the East Coast and work our way south first,” he suggested, but she shook her head.
“I think I’ve done that. I mean, we both grew up in the Appalachians. Didn’t you see about as much of the eastern seaboard as you’ve ever wanted to? I haven’t been to Florida, but it seems kinda similar to the outer banks in North Carolina and the Low Country in South Carolina and Georgia. I’ve definitely been there.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but it seems like a waste to head due west when we’ve got the time to ramble a bit.”
“Screw west? What?”
“Due, Katniss. Due west.”
“Ah. That makes more sense.” She nodded thoughtfully, but then made a note. “Maybe we can swing back through the South on the way home later in the summer?”
“Sounds good,” he agreed. “So, we’re going north first?”
“Maybe just west like you said? I don’t know. I want to see what’s on the other side of the mountains. I’ve never been further than Pittsburgh that direction, and that’s just kind of sad.”
“So, we’re going to drive through flyover country.”
“Exactly. Something’s gotta be there, huh?”
“I guess we’ll figure out why everybody calls it that, anyway.”
Katniss flipped through an outdated atlas for a few minutes and finally shoved it to the side. She turned her body toward him, and he looked at her, desperately trying to hide his affection. He felt like a heart eye emoji every time she was in the same room.
“I think we ought to just pack for every situation we can fathom, get in the car tomorrow morning, and start driving. We’ll figure it out then. And we’ll be together, so it can’t be that bad, right?”
“Right,” he breathed, his heart caught in his chest. “I guess I better go home and pack. Pick you up at 8:00 tomorrow?”
She leaned over and gave him a hug that made him want to bury his face in her neck and press kisses there until she moaned his name.
“See you then.”
He left shortly afterward, walking to his car with a pang in his stomach. He was headed out on an unplanned road trip with the love of his life, and she had no idea how he felt. He had only one thought as he started the car and headed home.
“I am so screwed.”
****
Bleary-eyed and anxious, Peeta pulled into the Katniss’ driveway at 7:58 am the next morning and honked lightly on the horn. He knew she was up since she’d texted him three times asking him if he was awake and on the way and, oh, would he stop by their favorite coffee shop and pick up pastries and espresso? If he wasn’t half in love with her (okay, completely in love with her), he would have turned off his phone and gone back to sleep.
Except he wouldn’t. He’d jump out of bed every single day just for a glimpse of her, and that was more truth than he ever wanted to admit when it appeared she had no interest in him outside of their very close friendship.
Heaving a sigh, he climbed from the car and bounded up the steps to her door to knock three times in rapid succession. It opened, and Peeta had to bite the inside of his right cheek not to embarrass her by telling her how gorgeous she looked. Because she did. She was sleep rumpled, but her face was lit up with excitement. So excited she was practically wiggling, she flung herself at him for a massive hug and then motioned him inside.
“Are you taking all that?” he asked when he spied the mound of luggage by the door. Or a pile of random stuff was maybe a better way to describe it. There were a couple of boxes, a cooler, a duffel bag, a backpack, and two grocery bags stuffed full of shoes and what looked like swimming paraphernalia.
She shrugged and walked down the hall to the bathroom. “I packed up some snacks and things I thought we might want, and I have my electronics and some books, and we agreed to pack for any occasion, so I’ve got swimming stuff and a couple of jackets if it gets cold in the mountains, and who knows how hot it’ll get? And hiking boots. I want to do everything, Peeta. Ev-er-y-thing!”
And could he help it if that shot straight to his dick? Because he wanted to try everything, too, except he wanted to try it all with her. Naked and in bed. Kissing and rubbing together and—
“I’m so screwed,” he whispered before grabbing her backpack and cooler and stalking out to the car.
****
Katniss hopped into the passenger’s seat with a wide smile and bounced a few times before fastening her seatbelt. She turned to him, glanced at the backseat to make sure she could access everything they might need in the new few hundred miles, and crowed, “Road trip!”
He couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. It was adorable—she was adorable—and he was suddenly flush with eagerness to spend the next few weeks with her. They hadn’t really decided on how long this would go, just that they would be together and make it up as they went along, but he hoped he had at least three weeks since he had the okay from work to be gone the entire summer. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could stretch it into a month or more. Like Katniss, he hadn’t seen much of the US past the Appalachians, and he was looking forward to discovering what the nation had to offer.
“So, where are we headed?” he asked, his foot on the brake and hand on the gear shift. She laughed and leaned into his shoulder. He gulped and swallowed hard at the feel of her soft skin against his arm.
“I thought maybe we’d head out of town first,” she teased.
He shot her a wry smile and rolled his eyes. “Yes, thank you. Very informative, as always. Which highway?”
She turned fully to face him and tucked her left leg up on the seat. Her eyes sparkled, and she leaned toward him as she wiggled in her seat.
“Where have you always wanted to go?”
“Anywhere with you,” he said softly and then snapped his mouth shut. He hadn’t meant to say it, but she was so adorable. She’d never understood the effect she had on him, but he was powerless to resist her pull. Whatever power she had over him had only grown over time, and he wanted to spend every day of the rest of his life with her. If not that, then he wanted to freeze this very moment in time and live in it forever.
“So kind,” she scoffed, “but I’m serious, Peeta. I’ve never been further west than Pittsburgh, unless Nashville counts. What’s out there, anyway?”
“I have no idea,” he murmured, but that didn’t matter to him. What he wanted was right in the car with him, even if she had no idea how he felt, or how he’d felt about her for the past ten years.
With a shrug, he put the car in reverse, backed out of her driveway, and headed for I-64. After all, it took them due west.
****
Peeta glanced over at the woman sitting in the passenger seat and asked for what felt like the hundredth time, “Okay?”
Katniss nodded, the ghost of a smile twitching on her lips. The windows were partially down, and a breeze blew through the locks of hair that had escaped from her braid. They were somewhere in central Kentucky, and he felt like he’d won the lottery.
Lush forests of deciduous trees graced the sides of steeply sloped mountains that fell to a valley in which the interstate bordered a swiftly flowing river. Wildflowers sprung from cracks in rock along the side of the road, and the air smelled fresh, a little like spring and also a bit similar to a summer barbeque right before a thunderstorm. It was humid and sticky, but the circulation kept them from sweating too much. Besides, they were saving a shit ton of gas by not running the air conditioner.
“Want me to drive?” she asked, and he glanced over at her. Her cheek rested against the headrest as she looked at him, and his stomach dropped to his knees. She was so beautiful.
“At the next stop, sure,” he managed and shifted in his seat. If he left himself, he’d start imagining scenarios that would only get him in trouble—some in which she leaned over and did more with her mouth than talking, and that seemed disrespectful to his friend.
“How much longer do you want to go today? I mean, the whole point of this is to see what’s out there, and we won’t be able to when it gets darker.”
“Is there some place you want to stop? Anything catching your eye?”
“Not really. This is pretty, but we don’t have to stay on the interstates if you don’t want to. They make the trip faster, but that’s not really the point, is it?”
He nodded and watched the signs for a few miles before signaling and exiting. He needed to use the restroom, and he wanted to take a look at the map and figure out where exactly they were in relations to a place he’d gone with his family when he was young. They were in the general vicinity of somewhere that held special memories for him, and he wanted to make some new ones with his best friend.
Once they were back in the car, Katniss in the driver’s seat this time, he handed her the keys and suggested they head south on the highway instead of getting on the entrance ramp. When her eyes sparkled, he knew he’d made the right suggestion. They’d been traveling for over five hours, and they’d done nothing more than watch the scenery pass outside the window. It was time to be part of it.
It took another 45 minutes or so until he saw the sign, and he directed her to the second exit into Daniel Boone National Forest. Back when he was younger and his parents still pretended to like each other, they’d taken a family vacation and stayed at the park for a few days. He and his two brothers had hiked and played happily for hours, and that time was still one of his favorite memories from when his family was together.
“It’s beautiful,” Katniss gasped as she pulled into a parking spot and turned off the car. “We’re going for a hike, right?”
“Yeah, sure. I mean, if you want to. I came here with my family when I was younger, and that trail has a little waterfall at the end, if I remember right.”
They changed quickly into their hiking boots and set off through the woods. It wasn’t a tough hike over slightly sloped and fairly wide space. They met other couples and families, many holding hands, and Peeta yearned to reach for Katniss and walk with her hand folded against his. They got to the waterfall by late afternoon and took the time to sit quietly and listen to the wind in the trees. Visitors popped in and out, but they didn’t mind the intrusions. Eventually, each left, and they had the place to themselves for a little while before another group stumbled into the clearing to see the falling water. Eventually, though, the sun dropped further in the sky, and Peeta suggested they head back to the car, find a place to stay for the night so they could shower, and then grab dinner. The snacks they’d had in the car during the drive just wouldn’t satisfy him after such a long day.
It took a little while, but they finally stumbled upon a small mom and pop hotel in a tiny out of the way town. Peeta offered to get their luggage while Katniss checked them in, so when he followed her to room 415, he wasn’t prepared for what faced him. Katniss worked the key (an actual key, not a keycard) into the lock and opened the door. Her surprised, “oh!” should have been enough for him to figure it out, but he still gaped when he stepped into the room and saw…
There was only one bed.
Flustered, he offered to ask for another room, but Katniss waved him off like it didn’t matter. She reminded him that they’d fallen asleep on the couch together dozens of times since they’d known each other.
“This won’t be any different,” she insisted and grabbed her toiletry bag and some fresh clothes. “I’m going to shower, and then you promised me dinner.”
Peeta watched her retreating back and sank onto the lone bed. Bouncing a little bit on the firm mattress, he looked to the ceiling and whispered, “I’m so screwed.”
****
Dinner was lovely, if Peeta said so himself, and he did. It wasn’t much, really just a local family diner with a menu focused on home cooking and large portions, but it left them both full and satisfied. Better than that, they’d talked a lot. It probably helped that they were facing instead of sitting next to each other in the car. He was grateful for the laughs and intimacy over the meal, but now he sat on the edge of the mattress, his leg shaking as he waited for Katniss to finish in the bathroom.
Because, did he mention? There was only one bed.
The bathroom door opened, and he shot up to standing. Katniss tossed him a distracted smile as she crossed the room. She wore ragged sweats and wrinkled t-shirt he’d seen her in a hundred times, so at least he didn’t have to worry about her wearing some sort of lingerie (not that he would have expected that since they’d always planned to share a hotel room, if not a bed).
“I’ll just…” He trailed off and waved toward the bathroom, and she nodded while scrolling through her phone.
He stared at himself in the mirror and berated the image there for being so awkward. This was Katniss. They’d been friends for forever, and he loved her deeply. This wasn’t that big of a deal. She’d camped out on his couch dozens of times, and they’d woken up together with no problem at all. There was no reason to think this would be any different.
The light was off in the room when he emerged from the bathroom and made his way to his side of the bed. Carefully, he pulled back the covers and climbed in, careful to keep himself on his half. When he was settled on his back, he glanced over at Katniss to see her back to him.
“G’night,” she murmured, and he returned the sentiment before nestling below the covers and falling asleep after several long minutes during which he cursed his overactive imagination.
He slept dreamless until just before waking, when he envisaged driving a car through a red-sanded desert. The car sped down a hill, and he pressed the brake a few times before admitting to himself that they weren’t working. Panicked, he looked to his right to see Katniss with a smile on her face as the wind blew through her hair. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back as they charged toward a rock wall.
Bolting upright in bed, he gasped and shook at the vividness of the dream. Katniss still slept next to him, her hair splayed around her head on the pillow and her legs tangled with his. She remained on her side of the bed otherwise. She hadn’t cuddled into him overnight, and he wondered if he should be relieved or disappointed. He decided to allow himself a little of both and quietly untangled himself from her and made his way to the bathroom. The last thing he needed was for Katniss to wake before he could get his anatomy under control.
Once the door was closed behind him, he breathed out for several seconds. His morning wood was uncomfortable, so he spent a few minutes attempting to quell it. Unfortunately, his mind continually flitted to the image of Katniss lying in the bed, her face angelic, and her hair fashioning a halo around her head. After a few minutes, he turned on the shower and stepped inside. Cold water should do the trick.
A few minutes later, he was clean and completely unsatisfied but in control ready for breakfast. Katniss sat on the edge of the bed, bleary-eyed and grumpy. When he greeted her, she grunted and stumbled to the bathroom without a word.
“So, further west today?” he asked when they had checked out and snagged a booth at the local Waffle House. He’d forgotten how good and cheap the breakfasts were there, and he inhaled a stack of pancakes and some ham while she picked at an omelet. He studied her over his coffee and then stole a sip of her orange juice. When she didn’t protest, he nudged her foot with his. “What’s wrong?”
She shook herself and managed a wan smile. “Nothing. Just tired. I didn’t sleep great last night.”
“We don’t have to go as far today. We can take it easy.”
“Sure. That sounds good. I’ll take the first shift.”
She drove silently, while he studied the map, both physical and on his phone. He guided her back to the interstate and then pulled out his laptop and typed a few notes. They helped him organize his thoughts and gave him an excuse to stay quiet.
“What’s there to see in Paducah?” she asked, startling him from his bubble.
He shrugged and typed the city into his phone. He glanced at the map for a few seconds and then offered, “There’s a local brewery. We could check it out. Stay there tonight. Not in the brewery. In Paducah, I mean.”
That turned out to be the perfect plan. They checked into a hotel (two beds this time) and walked several blocks to the brewery where they found a table and ordered. The beer helped them both relax, and it wasn’t long before they were chatting and laughing like normal.
“So, Paducah’s now the furthest west you’ve ever been. Feel any different?”
“Totally. My life is complete.” When he laughed, she continued, “I mean, no. It doesn’t feel much different. What does feel new is this trip at all. I’ve never really done this—strike out on a whim and let the road take me where it wants to. It feels good to let go of all that control. Thanks for giving me the chance to do that.”
“Of course. I’d do anything for you. You know that.”
“Uh, I hate to tell you this, but there’s a woman over there that looks like she really wants to do a few things to you,” Katniss said and pointed her half-empty glass over his shoulder. He glanced behind him and gulped.
“Wow. She’s undressing me with her eyes, isn’t she? That’s bold, since I’m here with you.”
“Yeah, but you’re not really here with me, are you? I can make myself scarce if you want to…” she trailed off suggestively, and he fought to keep his face blank. He didn’t need another reminder that she didn’t see him as anything more than a friend, but here it was. God, it hurt. Every single time she expressed her lack of interest, it broke his heart a little bit more.
“I really don’t.”
“You might not have much of a choice. She’s headed over.”
Panicked, he gulped his beer and beseeched her, “Feel free to be my girlfriend. Save me!”
She snorted just as the woman appeared at their side, and the stranger dismissed Katniss with a disdainful glance before speaking to him. “Hey, there, handsome,” she drawled. “I’m Glimmer. Can I buy you a round?”
“Uh, well, I—”
“Excuse me,” Katniss said and slid off her stool. He watched helplessly as she made her way to the restroom and left him alone with his unwanted guest.
“Now, that we’re alone,” Glimmer purred and ran her hand over his forearm. She settled into the vacated stool and smiled widely. “So, what’s your name, honey?”
If he wasn’t already head over heels in love with his best friend, he might find this woman and her southern accent charming, but that wasn’t the case. He didn’t want this washed out version of a companion. He wanted Katniss. He hemmed and hawed for several minutes, attempting to discourage her without being rude, but she was more insistent than he liked. He caught Katniss’ eye as she stood by the bar ordering a beer and shot her a pointed look. Thankfully, she seemed to get the point. She paid for her two beers and threaded her way back to him.
“I got you another, babe.”
He grabbed the glass and thanked her, but Glimmer still didn’t take the hint. He introduced the two half-heartedly and watched with humor as Katniss studied Glimmer and thanked her for keeping Peeta company while she was gone.
“I think he’d like me to stick around,” Glimmer said pointedly, and Katniss turned to him.
“Is that so?” And then she leaned in to kiss him.
Shocked, Peeta didn’t know what to do at first. The kiss remained chaste for a few seconds, but his mouth opened involuntarily. She didn’t hesitate to sweep in with her tongue. She pressed into him, and he let go of his beer to cup her face as he tangled his lips with hers.
Suddenly, Katniss broke away and grinned at him while he gaped at her. “You’re welcome.”
He blinked a few times and realized Glimmer was gone. Katniss resumed her seat and calmly took a sip of her drink and then suggested some options for the next day. Peeta ducked his head and pretended to listen. Now that he knew how she tasted, he had no idea how he was going to be content remaining friends. After a few minutes, he excused himself so he could regroup in the bathroom. There he faced himself in the mirror and whispered his road trip mantra.
“I am so screwed.”
****
The next day they crossed the Mississippi River and stopped briefly in St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch and eat, even though the barbeque was different than what they were used to. Both preferred the vinegar base and coleslaw of the Carolinas, but what they had wasn’t bad either. When the waiter asked for feedback, he suggested continuing on I-70 and comparing what they’d had for lunch with that in Kansas City.
“It’s sweeter. Almost caramelizes on the meat. You might like it, and it doesn’t hurt to try different styles if you don’t really have an agenda.”
That was how they ended up in an upscale hotel near downtown Kansas City and eating ribs and burnt ends for the second time that day.
“This is definitely better,” Peeta groaned through a mouthful of pork, and Katniss agreed.
“So, I’ve been thinking,” she mused. “We’re pretty deep into the Midwest, and nothing really looks much different, right? I think we should slow down. We’re halfway across the country, and we’ve been gone three days.”
“I’m okay with that,” he agreed.
“I vote for staying here for a few nights. Relaxing, sight-seeing, swimming, maybe putting together a little more of a plan. Eventually, I want to make it to the west coast. Drive up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, maybe see the redwoods, but there’s about a zillion national parks between here and there. Can we go? Please?”
“Of course, we can. We can visit whatever you want. I told you I’m all in before we started this thing.”
A smile split her face, and she threw her arms around him. “Thank you, Peeta.”
He gathered her to him and held her to his chest for several minutes before she pulled away. He didn’t even bother to say it out loud this time. He simply closed his eyes and internally chided, “I am so screwed.”
****
A week later, Peeta wanted to die. If he’d thought he loved Katniss before, he was irrevocably, head over heels, undyingly in love with her now. Waking up with her day after day, sometimes in the same bed, sometimes just in the same room, was excruciating. She was grumpy and irritable in the morning, but it was absolutely adorable. He loved watching her let loose and enjoy herself more than he’d ever experienced back home in Virginia. They shared more than they ever had and dug up memories he hadn’t even remembered until she punched something loose in the back of his brain. Before long, it seemed like she knew, not just his mind, but his entire soul.
It was so easy with her. He felt like his best self with her, and his writing was flourishing. She talked through lesson plans and ideas about how to arrange her classroom and shared her thoughts about moving into counseling as a better way to help her students. They talked about their families, their current lives and what they imagined for the future, and she told him about her past boyfriends and asked about his girlfriends.
Sometimes, Katniss looked at him while he drove. He often wondered what she was thinking, but he didn’t have the guts to ask. He relished the feel of her skin under his fingertips when she handed him snacks from the vastly depleted stash in the backseat, and he gave himself a bruise pinching himself when she wore one of his t-shirts the day they stopped to do laundry in a small town in eastern Colorado. He drove where she suggested and snapped pictures of her in front of breathtaking scenery and took selfies of them both when she asked. When she shivered in the mountains in Colorado, he shielded her from the wind by holding her against his chest, and he groaned gratefully when she rubbed his tight shoulders at the end of the day. By the time they made it to Wyoming, they’d stopped correcting the hotel clerks who automatically booked them to single rooms. It saved money, and neither of them minded that there was only one bed when they got to their room.
“This may be the most beautiful place I’ve ever been,” Katniss announced when they stopped in the Grand Tetons. They’d agreed to spend a week exploring Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park, and neither of them regretted it. The views were spectacular, and the weather was perfect.
“It’s gorgeous,” he agreed, but he wasn’t looking at the view. He tried to shift his gaze when she turned to look at him, but he was frozen, unable to tear his eyes from hers.
He could tell when she figured it out. Awareness dawned on her face, and he held his breath. Terrified, he shifted back and forth and tried to wave it away, but she stepped toward him and grabbed his wrist.
“Peeta?”
“I’m s-sorry,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean— I, uh— See, I wasn’t—”
She waited quietly when he ground to a halt, but his stomach and heart were both ripped open wide. She didn’t feel the same way. He’d always known that, but now she was going to say it, and he wasn’t prepared.
“Can I try something?” He was too dismayed to answer, so he nodded and held still. “I just want to see.”
A soft breeze ruffled his hair as she stepped toward him and tugged him down by his shirt. His face was an inch from hers, and she studied him carefully before closing the gap and kissing him softly. He breathed through his nose and allowed her to lead, but she pulled away before it deepened. Disappointed, he couldn’t help comparing it to the one back in Paducah in the overcrowded brewery with Glimmer as a witness.
“It’s really beautiful here, but I’d like to be back to the car before sunset. Can we go? Don’t want to get caught in the park by mistake,” she asked, her voice cool and detached.
“Sure,” he agreed. He followed her as she started down the mountain, trailing far enough behind that he could shield his regret. He’d always held out a little bit of a hope that she’d return his feelings someday, but that didn’t seem to be in the cards. She was as unaffected by their kiss as he was destroyed by it.
Making sure she didn’t hear, he hissed, “I’m so screwed,” at least five times through the ache in his chest.
By the time they got to his car, he was barely holding it together. He started the vehicle, backed out of the parking spot, and headed to their hotel. The thought of sleeping next to her that night was almost more than he could bear, but he didn’t have much of a choice. Sighing, he turned up the volume on the radio and concentrated on driving since the steep, winding roads necessitated more attention than usual.
A few miles from their hotel, the radio faded into static, and he reached to change the station before resting his hand on the gear shift between the seats. When they pulled into the hotel lot, and he shifted into park, he was shocked when she covered his hand with hers. Twisting his palm, she tangled her fingers with his and stared at them for long, tense moments.
“Katniss?” he croaked. She didn’t respond at first, but then she squeezed his hand and smiled at him.
“Let’s go in,” she said softly.
He swallowed hard and studied her face. “Are you sure?”
She nodded and unfolded herself from the car. She was already to the door of their room before he could move. Casting a glance over her shoulder, she slipped inside. A second later, the curtains closed and the door cracked open again. Peeta watched as her hand emerged and hooked the Do Not Disturb sign on the handle.
“Oh, God,” he breathed and scrambled from the car. “I am so screwed!”
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Shadows on the Rooftops
AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20196670/chapters/47862427
Chapter 2 - Whispers in the Dark
Gotham, couldn’t be that different from Central. And he was looking for exactly one hero. One that going off his name, dressed as a giant bat. It couldn’t be that hard for the fastest man alive right?
Barry was practically vibrating with excitement. Tugging at the sleeves of the leather jacket he’d decided would help him fit in, he tried to school his face into a scowl. Glaring into the mirror on the wall as Hal laughed behind him. Barry swung around with a huff, glare slipping before returning twofold.
“If you aren’t going to help, then why are you even hear.” Ok so maybe he was really just whining but hey, he’d been tasked with an important job! Intel gathering! He was never tasked with intel gathering. Diana always said he didn’t quite have the mannerism for it. Too chattery.
“Nah man, I’ll help, I’ll help.” Hal tugged his own jacket off as he stepped forward to lean against the wall. “Just uh, when exactly are you planning to go down there? Cause it’s getting kind of late man.”
“Well, as the newspapers said, the Bats only seen at night!” Swinging back towards the mirror he shuffled through the pile of newspaper clippings he’d printed the night before. “See! If you’re hunting something nocturnal, like our Bat here, you have to go out at night.”
Swinging around once more before Hal could even respond Barry was off. And back again a second later, a baseball cap clutched in one hand. “Do you think the hat’s too much?”
Hal shrugged, smirk pulling into wide grin as he leaned back. “Man, I’ve never been to Gotham. I’ve got no idea what they wear up there.”
“Up there? You’re on like, the opposite coast bro, I don’t think up there cuts it.” As Barry turned towards him, newspaper clippings quickly tucked away into a drawstring back that he slung across his shoulder. Hal laughed again.
“Better start heading down there man. Don’t want to miss anything cause you’re up here right?” And he was off.
Gotham watch out, Flash was on his way!
“Well? Have you finished your homework?” Bruce’s voice echoed through the cave as he slipped up behind them. A chorus of affirmative following it before the lot of them turned towards him.
“So, who’s going out tonight boss man? Spoiler getting to see the light of day? Uh night? Moon light? Whatever.” Stephanie was on her feet, cloak and uniform already on.
“Spoiler will be out tonight. You’ll be running with Red Robin, I need the two of you to look into any rumours about Scarecrow. He may still be locked up in Akham but word on the street agrees that he has something planned.” Turning away from Stephanie as she punched a fist into the air he instead looked towards Damian and Dick. Both already in uniform and clearly waiting for the go ahead to head out.
“Dev says Jason isn’t patrolling for the next 3 days. Remember that, Barbara won’t be out tonight either, so if you have need for backup Kate and Bette will be on standby.” Turning away Bruce slipped through the doors to the locker room as the chatter started up once more.
“Steph, you’re kidding. You spilled coffee on Superman? Superman.”
“What else was I supposed to do? Walk up and ask if he wanted an interview?”
Barry had barely arrived before the sun was well and truly down. The moon rising to take its place in the sky, and Gotham’s criminal underbelly slipping out of the woodwork. Not that they didn’t have a presence in the day time, he just hadn’t been there to witness it. And well that was moving beyond the scope of why he was in Gotham just after the sun had gone down to begin with.
His subtle questioning of people on the streets had slowly led him further and further into the city. And now, standing under the only working street light on the block Barry couldn’t help his own unease. The gang of what he was pretty sure were thugs that seemed to be wandering the other alley seemed just as nervous.
Eyes searching the sky every time someone so much as whispered, and hands clenched in their pockets. He was thinking guns. Maybe a knife or two, it was hard to tell in Gotham. Back in Central most thugs he dealt with stuck to knives or bats, guns were rare when they expected him to pop up.
Then again, maybe they didn’t expect a hero and were waiting for another gang to fight?
Oh well. That was unimportant, what was important was finding the Bat. Then again, maybe this was his ticket?
He’d been waiting nearly an hour before something changed. The truck that pulled up was empty, and well that was fairly disappointing up until the moment when they started filling it and then Barry was well and truly interested. The odd canisters looked like oxygen but, from the way they were handled he figured they were probably much more dangerous.
And well, he was here to find the Bat yes. But it wouldn’t be an issue if he stepped in? It would only take a moment for him to change and then he could-
The street light above him flickered once, twice, and went out.
The sudden terrified scream put a halt to any and all plans he may have been making. A thin twisted creature seeming to slip free of the shadows at the same time as an odd piercing howl filled the air and a creature dressed in a purple cloak seemed to appear out of thin air atop the truck.
Hooded and cloaked all he could see of it was a void where the face should’ve been. And then it was gone moving amongst the suddenly panicked thugs as the other creature rose, limbs bending and twisting in what might have been a poor imitation at humanity. Before it rose to full height, and he caught a glimpse of what may have once been a boy. Skin pale and pitch black eyes surrounded by blood and dirt that streaked across its face.
Maybe he had missed something.
As its mouth opened, revealing what looked like sharp teeth, an odd inhuman chirp echoed through the air. And the howl returned, the purple cloaked figure pinning a man to the ground in seconds and rising slowly a moment later.
The void where its face should have been twisting and changing as a face seemed to form across it. Male and pale with terror. Barry felt his breath catch in his throat as he froze staring in his own sudden burst of terror at the face of the thug the creature had pinned to the ground, and then the mouth began to open. Almost grotesque in the way it seemed to shift and show the void beneath.
Twisted english echoing through the alley as it turned towards the thugs still standing. “Who?” And cut off with another vicious howl as part of the face almost seemed to tear and twist and then the cloaked figure was gone. And the one in red and black was all that was left.
Moving towards the thugs it seemed almost to twist in and out of reality, and then it was on them. And in seconds the thugs were down. All of them save one on the ground unconscious and injured as it turned towards the last.
“I uh, I don’t know what that meant man?” Stumbling back the thug almost seemed to weigh his own loyalty, or his life, before meeting the creatures eyes. “Crane, boss said he thought the job mighta been for Crane but I don’t know! It was done through a middle man!” And as he spoke the creature froze, head cocked to the side like a bird.
And then its head jerked forward in what Barry thought might have been an imitation of a nod, and it was gone. Seemingly slipping into the shadows it had come from as the man screamed and was pulled upwards by his feet. Wire coiled around his ankles as he hung, suspended in mid air.
Barry had barely calmed his racing heart when a hand grasped the back of his jacket and he was spun around and slammed to the ground. A purple cloak swaying above him as his eyes locked onto a twisting void where a face should of been. And he blinked, screwing his eyes shut as an odd chirping sound came from his left and the figure above him shifted. Shaking him lightly as he forced himself to look once more at the creature above him and bit back a yelp as his own face stared down at him.
“Leave.” The voice was twisted and broken, his face seeming to break even as the words were uttered and the void once more filled the space where the face should have been.
“Unwelcome. Unwanted.” And that was the other one. A pair of inky black eyes in the darkness as it crept forward, drawing back before it had reached the light. Voice odd and twisted, almost too young for the face that watched him.
Clark had been right. There was no way these things were human, and no matter what Diana said they were beyond terrifying.
He blinked and they were gone, leaving him flat on his back just in time to hear the sound of sirens drawing closer and stumble to his feet. Glancing over as he stepped back and into the shadows behind him, he was almost surprised to see the first man the purple one had taken down beginning to shift only to slump back to the ground as the first cop cars arrived.
Stumbling back and further into the alley Barry forced himself to breath and turned. Taking off a second later without a destination in mind.
Well, there was technically a destination. He was getting the fuck out of Gotham, and then maybe he’d take a breath and pause and think through whatever had just happened.
There had been two of them, and if he was honest with himself he didn’t think either of them matched what they knew of the Bat. Which meant there were three in Gotham. Three, how the hell had they missed three new vigilantes popping up?
Sliding too a stop Barry let himself fall heavily against the side of a building as he surveyed his surroundings. Metropolis, made sense. Maybe he could snag Supes and they could talk about whatever twilight zone Gotham was.
And he’d thought Supes ghost girl had been wild. The purple one had stolen his face, what was even the purpose of that? Aside from the scare factor?
Sliding to a stop two rooftops away Steph let herself lean into TIm’s side. “You are terrifying and I will never get used to whatever contortionist crap Nightwing’s been teaching you.” As the other stilled beside her and turned, face mostly obscured by the mask of grime he’d applied.
“Like you’re one to talk, your mask copies faces well enough that they can be recognized now. Its fucking terrifying Spoiler.” Grinning back she leaned away for a moment to watch the streak disappear. And then almost laughed as she remembered he couldn’t see her face. “I’m laughing at you behind the mask you know.”
“Bat, the Flash is gone. Spoiler and I warned him away.” And Tim was back on track and completely focused on their task.
“We’ve tracked Crane’s supplier down, but the goons moving it didn’t even know for certain whether they were working for Crane or not they only guessed.”
“Yes. We’ll head back to the cave, we’ve run out of leads for the night. And I want to un-encrypt the chip I picked up at the first location.”
Leaning against the wall Stephanie was silent as she listened to the chatter over the comms and watched the cops swarm over the newest location they’d tipped them off too. As the comms fell silent once more Tim joined her in watching.
“Ready?” His voice was barely a hiss as he stepped up onto the small ledge.
Laughing Steph stepped passed him, and let herself fall. Already activating the grapple to swing herself back up as she heard him leap off behind her.
Barry didn’t have to wander long before he caught sight of Superman. Hanging high above him, almost as if waiting for a crime to occur.
“Supes! Down here!” And maybe shouting hadn’t been necessary but Barry was pretty sure he was still shaking from earlier. As the other swung around and then easily dropped down to join him, raising an eyebrow as he got closer.
“I thought you would be in Gotham for the night?” Barry was shaking his head before Clark had even made it halfway through the sentence.
“No, uh uh. You thought your bloody ghost girl was bad? Try a face stealing void creature!” For a moment Clark stared down at him, seemingly lost for words before dropping the last few feet to the ground.
“Did you say face stealing void creature? Is that what the Bat is?” And once more Barry was shaking his head.
“Oh no, no, no, that isn’t even the half of it.there was this, this, well, it was, I don;t even know! It was kinda like a bird I guess? Kept chirping like one, and well I don’t think english was really either of their suits.” Ringing his hands he couldn’t help but glance upwards as if expecting one of the two to appear once more. “It almost looked like it had blood all over its face, and its eyes were pitch black! All the way, no white’s at all. Everything else it wore was black and red, and you know now that I’m thinking about it. I think it had some kind of cloak er, maybe wings or something?”
He wasn’t surprised when Clark watched him silently for a moment before nodding slowly. “There were two? We haven’t heard anything about a second hero. We’d barely heard about a first.” Shaking his head with a frustrated sight Clark turned away for a moment.
“We’ve been looking into this Bat for barely a week, and it’s already thrown how many curveballs at us? Barry, I’ll call another meeting for tomorrow.” Lifting off the ground once more Clark paused before letting out a soft curse as he swept one hand up and through his air. “Who ever can make it, and then we can discuss what our next step should be.”
Nodding Barry took a few steps back and shrugged. “Sure, sure Supes. See ya then I guess.” And Superman was gone leaving Barry alone in the alley.
“Welp.” Turning around Barry shook himself out, and took off sliding to a stop just inside the small forensic lab of his precinct. He had time to take care of a few things, might as well get it done if he wasn’t spending the night in Gotham.
And besides after that? He sure as hell wasn’t sleeping.
Diana had only just returned to her apartment, nearly one in the morning when the alert was sent out. A meeting scheduled for the next day, though not a pressing one.
And that was enough to tell her just what it was about. Her phone was by her ear before she’d finished reading the message on her comm. And unsurprisingly, her call was answered after precisely 3 rings.
“Diana.”
“Bruce.”
“Is something-”
“What did your kids do to Flash and how traumatized is he going to be tomorrow?”
And well, that wasn’t quite how she’d meant to word it. But the startled laugh she recieved was worth it.
If only for the fact that she’d startled a laugh out of the original Bat himself.
#barry allen#clark kent#batman#batfamily#spoiler#red robin#timothy drake#stephanie brown#diana prince#Justice league#audreycritter#Diana really should've thought this through#and she's only just realized that
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The 28 Best White Wines for 2021
For years, the most popular white wine grape on the planet has been Chardonnay. Winemakers love this French grape because of its ability to grow anywhere, as well as its malleability in the winery. We have become used to a certain style of Chardonnay in the U.S: deep, golden-hued wine with dollops of vanilla and butter and often a smack of sweetness from its high alcohol content. But we have evolved. We still dig deep and big Chardonnay, but winemakers across the major wine regions in the U.S. and abroad are showing that there’s more to this grape than wood and butter.
All of this is to say that, in my fourth year as VinePair’s tastings director, I have seen how diverse wines from this grape can be. It’s a grape consumers and wine pros alike should be paying attention to in 2021, which is why I’ve included a lot of Chardonnays on this list.
That said, there is so much awesome white wine that I want to share with you — some made with grapes you know and love, and others you may never have heard of. The bottles on this list are wines that I sip and immediately want to share, teach about, and watch wine lovers get excited over. I’m hoping this list will do that work.
These are the wines I feel we should celebrate this year. White wines from Austria and Oregon made from the same grape with different expressions. Blends from the Rhône that shine, and aromatic Italian island varieties thriving in the Central Coast. For me, wine is all about exploration. I want to try it all, at any and every price point. As I stated in my red wines roundup, wine is for everyone. Whether the white wine is $14 or $84, there is always a new white wine to experience, or a new style of something you love.
Enjoy this list, and know that this is just the beginning. These wines will start you off, but if you like what you see and taste, explore more in the region and style of that wine to see how diverse white wine can be.
Under $15
Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap White 2019 ($10)
South African wine is so innovative. The region is full of exciting blends and unique styles of varietal wines. From the most affordable to the most age-worthy, there is so much to explore. This wine is a great start. The blend is wild, but it works. For the price, it’s a nice, earthy wine and smells like almond granola, pears, and honey, with calm acidity. Keep an eye out for more awesome things from this country.
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Saget La Petite Perrière Sauvignon Blanc 2019 ($11)
This is a great option if you like the steely angles of wines from Sancerre. You get wafts of white pepper and pears, with bracing acidity. The fruit is ripe, the mouthfeel is bone dry, and it’s affordable enough to buy a few bottles for a picnic. Make sure you bring some goat cheese.
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Loveblock Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019 ($13)
Wines from this region all have very similar aroma profiles: bell pepper and sweet cut grass aromas, with gassy acidity. The style is pretty consistent. This bottle has all of that, but in the right places. The bell pepper is muted a bit by a nice saline quality. Instead of being overly sweet, it’s fruit-forward, allowing the lively acidity to hold everything in place. It’s a kiwi Savvy B to seek out.
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Line 39 Chardonnay 2018 ($10)
Party time! This wine smells like mangoes and pineapples, and the acidity winds through the wine like a good time. It’s under screw cap and ready to get down. What I’m saying is that there are a lot of cheap bottles of Cali Chard out there. This one is a solid grab and go.
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Cavit Pinot Grigio delle Venezie IGT 2019 ($8)
This is the best deal on the shelf if you’re staring at a bunch of Pinot Grigio. You may know this wine already. It’s everywhere. But I feel I just need to reinforce the workhorse nature of this bottle. It’s crisp and refreshing. The fruit is balanced with the acidity. It’s a straight-up legit, solid, everyday white wine that will please all the palates.
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Famille Perrin Luberon ‘La Vieille Ferme’ Blanc 2018 ($8)
Citrusy and thirst quenching, round and juicy, this is a great wine for well under $10. This winemaker has a knack for making balanced wines at a very low price, and this is one of them. It’s solid, and a great grab and go. Feels like a case buy.
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Château Chatelier Bordeaux Blanc ($12)
There are some places in Bordeaux that make wine white fetching well-deserved high prices. But there are a lot of exciting options from this region that are well below $20 and are delicious for everyday drinking. Bordeaux is often blended with Semillon for a smack of sweetness and Sauvignon Blanc for a shot of acidity. The result is something like this great bottle. Salty and bright with grippy fruit, it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser.
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Decoy Chardonnay ($14)
This is another great cheap bottle of Chardonnay. It’s tart and smells like bananas and vanilla. It’s not very oaky, but it does have wooded vibes and good depth for the price.
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Herdade do Esporao Reserva Branco ($13)
Some of the most solid, affordable, and balanced white wines on our market are from Portugal. So when you see one, grab it. This wine is bright and balanced, with fun, fizzy acidity. The palate is round, refreshing, and will raise an eyebrow or two.
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Jadix Picpoul de Pinet 2019 ($13)
In the town of Pinet, locals nosh on piles of sea urchins and bivalves fresh out of the salty Mediterranean — washing it all down with their local, cleansing and refreshing Picpoul de Pinet. This bottle — crisp and vibrant with mildly tart fruit — will take you there.
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$15-$30
Anne Amie Vineyards Pinot Gris 2019 ($19)
Last year, VinePair had the chance to taste a lot of wines from Oregon and discovered that the state has so much more to offer than just Pinot Noir. White wine grapes like Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, and Pinot Gris are also thriving there. If the latter varietal interests you, this bottle is a great starting point. It has nice, broad depth with good acidity to hold up the slight weight.
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Treleaven Reserve Chardonnay 2019 ($20)
New York, stand up! The Finger Lakes has become a national focus for wines made from Riesling. And man, are they great. But Riesling’s lean balance shows in other white wines from this ancient glacial land, such as this Chardonnay. This style is soft and creamy, with moderate acidity balancing a slight grip on the palate.
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Gundlach-Bundschu Estate Vineyard Gewürztraminer 2019 ($21)
If you have never tried wine from this grape, then this is a great start. Gewürztraminer is a very expressive wine and can overwhelm the senses if even slightly out of balance. This bottle is harmonized in every layer. It smells like honey flecked with white pepper and has deep fruit balanced by frothy, vibrant acidity. You could sip this with some pad Thai or spicy wings, or you could just sit and enjoy it alone. It’s that balanced.
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Jefferson Vineyards Viognier 2019 ($30)
Virginia is one of America’s most exciting up-and-coming wine regions. Thomas Jefferson would be proud. Speaking of TJ, this wine comes from land he once owned. The Viongier grape is quickly finding its spiritual home here and showing some true balance. This one smells like orange blossoms and honey. It has good depth and moderate acidity and a nice medium weight on the palate.
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Selbach-Oster Riesling Kabinett 2018 ($23)
This is a great Riesling for people who are not sure they like Riesling. It’s lush and alive with bracing acidity and a subtly sweet vibe. It’s very balanced and easy-drinking. Instead of the normal spicy food pairing recommendation, I’m going to say the subtlety here is real, so a legit cheese selection or a berry tart is the way to go.
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Inama Vin Soave Classico DOC 2019 ($15)
The wines of the Soave are so satisfying. If you like Pinot Grigio but need just a little more weight, these wines — plus a Caprese salad — are a whole afternoon. This bottle is one of the best on the market and will show how this region rolls; a shy depth on the fruit with a welcoming broad palate.
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Mullineux ‘Kloof Street’ Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2019 ($17)
Here’s another reason to focus on South African wine. This is such a classic yet unique representation of Chenin Blanc. It’s deep, filling your brain with salted honey. Vibrant acidity comes in fast like a sun beam livening things up. It’s that brightness that makes this usually weighty white stand out. If you like Chardonnay, give this wine a try.
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Alpha Estate Single Vineyard ‘Turtles’ Malagouzia ($19)
It takes a minute to sound out Mah-la-goo-zee-ah, but you’ll fall in love with the wine before you learn how to pronounce it. There is a whole world to explore in Greek white wine, as they have unique aromas and structures not seen in other wine regions. This wine smells like honey with a whiff of aloe. It has a wispy refreshment kind of mouthfeel, and you’ll find yourself grabbing a bunch of bottles of this for a summer day.
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Tablas Creek Vineyard Vermentino 2019 ($28)
Beyond the many styles of Chardonnay, there and so many white wines to explore in California. Vines from all over the world are thriving in the Golden State’s soils, thanks to winemakers’ skilled hands. This very Italian grape is making itself home in Paso Robles. This wine is like walking past a honeysuckle bush while eating a juicy pear. It has a crack of crispness on the palate and will make you forget your love for Pinot Grigio — if only for a second.
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Ridgecrest Estate Grüner Veltliner 2019 ($24)
I’m telling you: Oregon is coming for you with great white wines. The state is almost becoming Grüner Veltliner’s new home. This wine is all creamy lemons and apples. It has a nice slight depth with a bit of a grip. What a great addition to the already impressive diversity of American wine.
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$50 Plus
Dutton-Goldfield Rued Vineyard Chardonnay 2018 ($55)
The Russian River alone produces a wide variety of Chardonnay styles, but what I find interesting about this one is that it has direct connections to the grape’s home in Burgundy while being uniquely American. This wine is laser-sharp, yet grippy and deep. There is a subtle hint of oak, and enough acidity to balance everything out. It represents the elegance that only California sun can give Chardonnay.
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Hyde de Villaine Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay ($76)
Carneros, one of the cooler subregions of Napa, has the right moderate macroclimate for stunning Chardonnay. Please be sitting down when you first sip this golden wonder. It’s so balanced, it’s maddening — with whiffs of fancy French butter and hints of caramel that are harmonized by wiry acidity winding through the wine like a whisper. Sharing this bottle will be an exercise in patience.
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Jermann ‘Were Dreams’ Venezia Giulia IGT 2017 ($63)
If you listen to VinePair’s “Wine 101” podcast, you know how much I love Friulian wine. While there are many absolutely wonderful white wines from grapes like Ribolla Gialla and Friulano, this region is also known for excellent wines made from French varieties (some of the best Merlot in the world, in my humble opinion). If a Chardonnay could be soulful, this is what it would feel like. It smells deep and nutty, like almonds and honey. There is a lean channel of acidity running through the wine and letting the depth sink into your palate. What a great wine.
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Domaine Matrot Meursault Les Chevalières 2018 ($71)
With all the Chardonnay being made around the world, we can never forget its true home, Burgundy. And specifically, the chaotic soils of the Côte de Beaune, where this grape emanates it’s inherent characteristics like nowhere else. This wine is bone dry, with a layered creamy depth on the palate. The acidity is nervy and keeps depth and brightness in their corners, holding everything in place. The mouthfeel of this wine will make you stop for a second and think.
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Raul Perez Ultreia ‘La Claudina’ Godello ($71)
Godello deserves your attention. It was once almost extinct. Then, it was brought back to life as a focused, low-yielding Spanish grape, making refreshing and concentrated white wines that sing with cured meats and fancy cheeses. This bottle has a slight grip that contrasts the rich, deep fruit. But that depth is lifted by just enough acidity that brings in aromas of caramelized pears and honey.
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Domaine Huet Vouvray ‘Clos du Bourg’ Première Trie Moelleux ($77)
South Africa is killing it with Chenin Blanc, but like Burgundy, we can’t forget this grape’s original home in the Loire Valley of France. I feel that sometimes, wines from Vouvray can be a bit confusing. This bottle is a good starting point. It has good depth and grip, with moderate acidity balancing the sweet weight and wafting up aromas of honeyed fruit. Pairing this wine with goat cheese is a dream.
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Weingut Hirsch Lamm Gruüer Veltliner ($58)
Gruner Veltliner is not only doing well in Oregon. It’s also pumping out liters and liters of delicious, everyday wine from its home, Austria. You may miss them, as they come in the form of Alsatian bottles — tall Riesling-like bottles with screw caps. But they are here, and they are awesome — sometimes aging up to 15 years and drinking well all the way through. Tart fruit balanced by fizzy acidity with a depth of fruit, this wine will lift in the palate like a spritz.
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Domaine Monier Perreol Saint-Joseph Blanc ($50)
The grapes Roussanne (Rue-san) and Marsanne (Mar-san) from the Rhône region of France are a match made in heaven. Roussanne’s deeply aromatic, sometimes oxidized nature is naturally complemented by Marsanne’s lean verve. These wines are so deep, wide, expressive, and satisfying that you’ve got to give them a chance if you haven’t already. This bottle shows all of this — smelling like flowers and honey, with moderate acidity allowing just enough weight to rest on the palate.
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The article The 28 Best White Wines for 2021 appeared first on VinePair.
source https://vinepair.com/buy-this-booze/best-white-wines-2021/
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The opioid epidemic is so bad that librarians are learning how to treat overdoses
By Darran Simon, CNN, June 24, 2017
Philadelphia (CNN) A crowd hovered over the man lying on the grass as his skin turned purple. Chera Kowalski crouched next to his limp body, a small syringe in her gloved hand.
Squeeze.
The antidote filled the man’s nostril.
The purple faded. Then it came back. Kowalski’s heart raced.
“We only gave him one, and he needs another!” she called to a security guard in McPherson Square Park, a tranquil patch of green in one of this city’s roughest neighborhoods.
“He’s dying,” said a bystander, piling on as tension mounted around lunchtime one recent weekday.
“Where is the ambulance?” a woman begged.
Squeeze.
Kowalski dropped the second syringe and put her palm on the man’s sternum.
Knead. Knead. Knead.
Nothing.
She switched to knuckles.
Knead. Knead. Knead.
Then a sound, like a breath. The heroin and methamphetamine overdose that had gripped the man’s body started to succumb to Kowalski’s double hit of Narcan.
With help, the man, named Jay, sat up. Paramedics arrived with oxygen and more meds.
Death, held at bay, again.
Kowalski headed back across the park, toward the century-old, cream-colored building where she works.
“She’s not a paramedic,” the guard, Sterling Davis, said later. “She’s just a teen-adult librarian--and saved six people since April. That’s a lot for a librarian.”
Long viewed as guardians of safe spaces for children, library staff members like Kowalski have begun taking on the role of first responder in drug overdoses. In at least three major cities--Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco--library employees now know, or are set to learn, how to use the drug naloxone, usually known by its brand name Narcan, to help reverse overdoses.
Their training tracks with the disastrous national rise in opioid use and an apparent uptick of overdoses in libraries, which often serve as daytime havens for homeless people and hubs of services in impoverished communities.
In the past two years, libraries in Denver, San Francisco, suburban Chicago and Reading, Pennsylvania have become the site of fatal overdoses.
“We have to figure out quickly the critical steps that people have to take so we can be partners in the solution of this problem,” Julie Todaro, president of the American Library Association, told CNN.
Though standards vary by community, the group is crafting a guide for “the role of the library in stepping in on this opiate addiction,” she said. It will include how to recognize opioid use--short of seeing someone with a needle--and how to address it.
McPherson Square Library, where Kowalski works, has a wide, welcoming staircase punctuated by tall columns. It sits in the Kensington community, where drugs and poverty lace daily life.
Residents drop into the McPherson branch with questions about doctor visits and legal matters. Children eat meals provided by library staff and play with water rockets in a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics program.
Kensington doesn’t host a civic institution, like a university, or a major company, said Casey O’Donnell, CEO of Impact Services, a Kensington community and economic development nonprofit.
“In the absence of those things, the anchors become things like the library,” he said.
In recent months, so-called “drug tourists”--people who travel from as far as Detroit and Wisconsin seeking heroin--started showing up in Kensington, which boasts perhaps the purest heroin on the East Coast, library staff and authorities said.
Heroin users camped out in McPherson Square Park and shot up in the library’s bathroom, where nearly a half-dozen people overdosed over the past 18 months, said branch manager and children’s librarian Judith Moore.
The problem got so bad that the library was forced to close for three days last summer because needles clogged its sewer system, said Marion Parkinson, who oversees McPherson and other libraries in North Philadelphia.
Since then, patrons have had to show ID to use the bathroom, she said. The library in October hired monitors to sit near the bathroom, record names on a log and enforce a five-minute time limit.
Before the crackdown, library staff last spring discovered one man in the bathroom with a needle in his arm, Moore recalled. He toppled over and started convulsing.
“I heard his head hit the floor,” she said.
A city employee had left a dose of Narcan at the library. But the staff didn’t know how to use it. After that, Parkinson set out to get them trained.
At 33 years old, Kowalski wears oversized sweaters and too-big glasses. She reads nonfiction about World War II and zones out on Netflix. She settles into work mode by listening to pop music on her train ride to work.
She chose to work at the McPherson branch because she thought her own experience could help students who flock there after school.
Kowalski’s parents used to use heroin. They’ve been clean for more than 20 years. Her mother earned a college degree in her 50s; and her father, a Vietnam veteran, worked steadily as a truck driver until retiring, she said.
But before all that, Kowalski lived in the turmoil of addiction. “I understand the things the kids are seeing. ... It’s not normal,” she said of her library charges. “It’s unfortunately their normal.”
Now, when a drug user overdoses at or near the McPherson library branch, Kowalski takes a minute to “switch the headset” from librarian to medic, she said.
When she got word that recent day that Jay had collapsed in the grass, Kowalski reached into a circulation desk drawer and pulled out a blue zipper pouch containing Narcan and the plastic components required to deliver it.
Dashing out of the library, she asked if anyone had called 911. Someone had.
The librarian got to Jay, crouched down, noticed his shallow breathing and discoloration.
She tried to focus. Seconds ticked. Prepping Narcan takes four steps: unscrew the vial, put it in the syringe, screw on the nasal mister, squeeze out the medicine.
“You’re under a time limit,” she recalled. “It’s how fast can I do this.”
Kowalski recognized Jay’s face from the neighborhood. As she walked away from him, she felt relief. He would live.
“I understand where they’re coming from and why they’re doing it,” she said of heroin users. “I just keep faith and hope that one day they get the chance and the opportunity to get clean. A lot of things have to line up perfectly for people to enter recovery long-term.”
Back at the library, Kowalski tried to refocus. The phone rang. Just minutes earlier, she’d pulled Jay back from the edge. Now, she was helping a patron find the number for the US Treasury Department.
When a man overdosed in late February in the bathroom at Denver Central Library, security manager Bob Knowles rushed to his aid.
Just hours earlier, the branch had received its very first delivery of Narcan, which library workers sought after a fatal overdose earlier that month at their branch.
Knowles, the inaugural hero of his team’s effort to stem the opioid scourge, lost a brother 40 years ago to an overdose.
“I wish somebody had had Narcan for him,” Knowles said.
Security staff, social workers and peer navigators--former drug users who help current ones--all learned to administer the overdose-reversal drug. The fact that it got used the day the first shipment arrived confirmed “we were on the right path,” said Chris Henning, director of community relations for the Denver Central Library.
The branch is near Civic Center Park, a haven for homeless people and a market for street drugs. One recent morning, a self-described drug addict who prefers methamphetamine and the synthetic drug “spice” camped out near the library.
Staff members at other Denver library branches are now also being trained to deliver the medicine, library officials said, adding that they’ve gotten calls about their regimen from libraries in Seattle, small Colorado mountain towns and parts of Canada.
Meantime, a fatal overdose in February at a San Francisco library branch pushed officials there to forge ahead with Narcan training for security officers, social workers and employees who help the homeless, said Michelle Jeffers, a library spokeswoman.
“We want our libraries to be safe for all visitors,” she said.
Drug overdoses nationwide more than tripled from 1999 to 2015. Opioid overdoses accounted for 63 percent of the 52,000 fatal cases in 2015--or about 33,000 people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Across the country, 91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.
Philadelphia last year saw about 900 fatal overdoses, up nearly 30% from 2015, municipal tallies show. Nearly half the deaths involved fentanyl, the powerful opioid that killed Prince. This year’s total could hit about 1,200 fatal overdoses, Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent Patrick Trainor said.
“It is among the worst public health problems we’ve ever seen, and it’s continuing to get worse,” Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley told CNN. “We have not seen the worst of it yet.”
Opioids attach themselves to the body’s natural opioid receptors, numbing pain and slowing breathing. They can relieve severe pain--but also can spur addiction. Almost 2 million Americans abused or were dependent on prescription opioids in 2014, according to the CDC.
Naloxone kicks opioids off the body’s receptors and can restart regular breathing. Hailed as a miracle remedy, the drug is squirted into the nose or injected into a muscle.
Harm-reduction groups and needle exchanges started distributing naloxone two decades ago, and since then, more than 26,000 overdoses have been reversed, the CDC reports.
The drug has become a staple for police, fire and medical professionals, who can buy it for $37.50 per dose. Retail pharmacies sell it over the counter. Coffee shop baristas have been trained to administer it.
Philadelphia Fire and EMS used Narcan last year about 4,200 times, mostly in the Kensington neighborhood, Capt. William Dixon said.
Armed with Narcan, McPherson’s library employees keep an eye out for overdoses. When he spots one, Davis, the security guard, tries not to alert the children.
Kowalski’s first save in the park, back in April, happened when a young woman overdosed on a library bench after school. One dose of Narcan revived her: She got up and walked away.
But when Kowalski turned around, several kids--all library regulars--were standing on the steps watching.
“I got really upset because I know what they were seeing,” she said.
Weeks later, she revived a man who overdosed on fentanyl and fell off a bench in front of the library. “I might need to take a mental day tomorrow,” she told Moore afterward.
But then her library regulars arrived after school. She played games with them and helped them on the computer.
By the end of the day, “I felt good again,” Kowalski said. The next day, she was back at work.
In the square, once dubbed Needle Park, library volunteer Teddy Hackett uses a grabber to pick up needles in the grass, near benches and in the rose bushes.
“That’s my rose bush there,” he said one recent day. “I protect that rose bush.”
Hackett, who beat drug addiction almost 20 years ago, said he once got mad when he saw a man shooting up on a bench in front of the library. Hackett chased him away, the needle still stuck in his arm.
“God’s got me doing this for a reason,” he said, laughing. “For the little kids and the animals.”
He reports his daily needle tallies to Kowalski. May set a record: 1,197 needles. The previous one, set last fall, was about 897.
The increase might reflect the spike in drug use. It also could mean a redevelopment surge in the city has pushed a long-lingering problem out of the shadows, said Elvis Rosado, the education and outreach coordinator at Prevention Point, a local nonprofit that trained Kowalski and more than 25 colleagues to use Narcan.
“They’ve been here for years,” Rosado said of drug users. “It’s just that they’ve been in abandoned buildings.”
The day after Kowalski’s naloxone doses revived Jay, more drug users trickled into McPherson Square Park, where sirens whine like white noise. Nearby, a slender woman shot up heroin, then got up and walked away.
Moments later, a former freight train operator who weeks earlier had overdosed twice in one day, sat down on his cardboard blanket and overdosed again. He’d gotten hooked on prescription pills after a leg injury. A heroin user gave him Narcan that she’d bought from another user for $2.
An hour later, paramedics carried away a woman who’d overdosed while sitting on a bench, said Davis, the security guard.
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to get one or two more people that’s going to OD out here today,” he said.
An hour later, it happened: A woman who’d earlier been hanging out with the train operator slumped over on the ground.
Davis didn’t flinch. Standing at the library door, he told the needle collector to find Kowalski.
“Ted,” he yelled, “call Chera!”
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Beginning Chapter of “The World About Nothing”
I
Joe the Newsman and Bobby the Detective
Good evening. After years of thinking that everyone was the same, scientists have discovered that people are different. Our experiences make us different and our jobs make our experiences. Charlie Chaplin made this discovery in his movie “Modern Times”. The main character is a bolt-screwer who as a consequence of screwing bolts, sees the world as bolts to be screwed. He confuses the breast-pocket buttons of an old lady for two bolts. Unfortunately, he goes to jail. Men will have twenty professions in a world without crime. Scientists urge the public to adopt this position; the public is blind, deaf, and mute - it cannot move, it cannot think, there is only one ray of light, the new show, Undercover Boss. Good CEOs work in disguise alongside their laborers. The bosses get to have two viewpoints instead of one. The rest of us walk in circles, as do addled horses. Who built the tracks on which our lives run? Now to our sponsors, “US Track Builders.” Folks, I’m just horsing around.
Our next guest is the retired detective. He never clocked off, he thought a newspaper could be “solved” and called the president a “mob boss”. Tonight I ask: Should we all be detectives? Tonight: Are illness and genius the same?
The detective surrounds himself with framed praise from mayors. In his countenance are rain-filled years. In fact, rough time gathers in the form of ripples around his eyes. His forehead shows the great storm of eras.
He uses a red thread crime board in an unorthodox manner. “Ladies and gentlemen, the master at work.” The detective begins to draw connections, using the thread as his thought. He identifies connections denied by main-street rabble. “Hurricane Strikes the Coast of Barbados.” He places this in the circle marked “Disaster”. “Big Oil makes a Big Fortune.” He places this in the circle marked “Profits”. “Zuckerberg Unrolls New Games.” He places this in the circle marked “Prophets.” The great and wary detective connects his three piles with a single red thread. At this point, the world seems to say, as if distracted from its business: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The pressroom blue cadre murmurs, shakes, and then yips for joy when Bobby the detective arrives. He says: “Ladies and gentleman police, honorable mayors, the clues were right under our noses.” Then the crowd goes wild.
“Exhibit A: Disasters. B: Profits. C: Prophets.”
He says “We got it all wrong” and the crowd goes wild.
“Big oil makes a mess, and hurricanes occur. Meanwhile shine turns us from ourselves and our abandon; crime everywhere, crime everywhere, but who wants to watch? We need a continent wide patty-wagon, boys, because everyone is indicted! And let’s get the damn president…” The crowd throws rotten tomatoes, ruining his good trench coat. The the weary detective scrubs tomatoes off of his coat, then using prison bars, rattles out the melody for a new song called “The Just Will Not Prevail.”
The anchor concludes: “And so we see - detectives of life go to prison. In my opinion, illness and genius are the same. Good luck everyone.”
Joe the newsman drives his brown car. At every stoplight, fans smooch his car window. He hands out smooched papers in return through a bullet-proof mail-slot. Then while at home, while reflecting on the character of his work, he says, “If you don’t watch, I don’t eat”. He says this to himself today, while eating a round steak, then to his viewers tomorrow, in the throne of the host.
He begins, seriously, to lean in, sternly, to intimidate his interlocutor, the wise President. “Mr. President....” he begins. “Mr. President...”
The tomato covered detective pawns his prized bowler and in return receives a metal spoon.
“Mr. President…”
“Yes, my dear?” says the president, with a wink. The crowd beats its bare breast, then buries the president in thrown roses. Newsroom staffers sweep him out after he extends, from the midst of “Rose Mountain”, the white flag of mercy.
“Mr. President, did you implant…?”
“Outrageous! Scandal!”
“the destructive, monstrous…”
“I call perjury!”
“dictator?”
“Soulless accusation!”
Sweat forms on the president’s brow, which he dabs with a red and blue tie.
“So what if I did…”
The audience gasps in a famous harmony called, “The Song of Ideas Dawning”. The president scans left and right as would a criminal, hounded in car-lights. Two trucks of rotten tomatoes arrive. The rose grower’s association disbands. Shrewd investors take note of the ailing rose business.
The president says, “And I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for...” at the moment when the detective arrives. He carries the sharpened spoon. To restore his dignity, in a way that further indignifies him, he wears a tin-foil bowler. The smallest amount of roses gather in tentative honor around him. One loyalist throws a cherry tomato. The rose company is back in business. The rotten tomato company has never worried about business!
The newsman turns the case over to the audience. The audience watches to see manifestations of the good. In the leader’s rusty smile is a latent guilt in bloom – meaning that his self-condemnation is like a budding rose. Roses gather by the hundred around the detective, while tomatoes gather on and around the president. These days justice takes the form of spontaneous outbursts of feeling, in the form of roses or tomatoes. Digital horn song welcomes police from around the world. The newsman is almost just like God in the way that he’s in the background, watching things, and he just seems to make it go alright, do ya know?
The detective returns to his office, smokes his cigar, reflects in solitude on his central role. He burns the newspapers of his court case. “Detective, what are you doing?” cries the newsman. “I solved the cases, so I don’t need the papers anymore, I can use them to light my cigar, like this.” The detective, hardened by time, then says: “everything goes up in smoke.”
Joe the detective sits by the riverbank with his box of cigars. The newsman rows his canoe. He blows smoke in the direction of a heron’s nests, then watches the tall bird recoil from the smell of tobacco. Soon the bird longs for more - that’s how it is, isn’t it? The newsman extends his box of havanas to the grace of nature. Joe the detective records this encounter. He also records the co-existence of green factory waste and an abundance of demented turtles. “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” say both men, with regard to related phenomena. The heron begins making its own cigars and the turtles fighting for pay.
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Understanding the Science Behind Curing in Pile Foundations
Introduction to Pile Foundations
Pile foundations are an essential component of many construction projects, providing stability and support to structures built on soft or unstable ground. These foundations consist of long, slender columns, called piles, which are driven into the ground to transfer the load of the structure to a deeper, more stable layer of soil or rock. Pile foundations can be made of various materials such as concrete, steel, or timber, and they come in different types, including screw piling and driven piles.
What is Curing in Pile Foundations?
Curing is a crucial process in the construction of pile foundations. It involves the hydration and hardening of the concrete used in the piles. When concrete is mixed with water, a chemical reaction called hydration occurs, which forms a strong and durable material. Curing allows the concrete to gain strength gradually over time, ensuring that it can withstand the loads imposed on the piles.
Importance of Curing in Pile Foundations
Proper curing is vital for the long-term performance and durability of pile foundations. It contributes to the development of the desired strength and durability characteristics of the concrete. Without adequate curing, the concrete may not reach its full potential strength, leading to reduced load-bearing capacity and an increased risk of structural failure. Curing also helps to minimize shrinkage and cracking of the concrete, which can compromise the integrity of the pile.
Curing is essential in pile foundations because these structures are subjected to high compressive and tensile forces. The curing process allows the concrete to gain sufficient strength to withstand these forces and provide the necessary support to the structure. Additionally, curing helps to improve the resistance of the concrete to environmental factors such as freeze-thaw cycles and chemical attacks, ensuring the longevity of the pile foundation.
The Science Behind Curing in Pile Foundations
The science behind curing lies in the chemical reaction of hydration, which transforms the cement in the concrete into a solid material. During hydration, water molecules react with the cement particles, forming calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) and calcium hydroxide. These compounds contribute to the hardening and strength development of the concrete.
The curing process involves maintaining a favourable environment for the hydration reaction to occur. This typically includes controlling the temperature and moisture content of the concrete. Temperature plays a crucial role in curing, as it influences the rate of hydration. Higher temperatures can accelerate the reaction, while lower temperatures can slow it down. Moisture is also essential for hydration, as it provides the water necessary for the chemical reaction to take place.
Different Methods of Curing in Pile Foundations
There are various methods of curing used in pile foundations, depending on the project requirements and environmental conditions. The most common methods include water curing, moist curing, and curing compounds.
Water curing involves continuously wetting the concrete surface, ensuring that it remains saturated with water for an extended period. This method is effective in preventing moisture loss and providing a favourable environment for hydration. On the other hand, Moisture curing involves covering the concrete with a layer of wet materials, such as burlap or plastic sheets, to retain moisture. This method helps to slow down the evaporation of water from the concrete.
Curing compounds are chemical mixtures that are applied to the concrete surface to form a protective layer. These compounds create a barrier that prevents moisture loss and promotes hydration. They are particularly useful in situations where water curing or moist curing is not feasible, such as in hot and dry climates.
Advantages of Curing in Pile Foundations
Proper curing in pile foundations offers several advantages. Firstly, it enhances the strength and durability of the concrete, ensuring that the piles can withstand the loads imposed on them. This helps to prevent structural failures and increases the overall safety of the foundation.
Curing also improves the resistance of the concrete to environmental factors, such as freeze-thaw cycles and chemical attacks. This extends the lifespan of the pile foundation and reduces the need for costly repairs or replacements in the future.
Furthermore, curing helps to minimize shrinkage and cracking of the concrete, which can compromise the integrity of the pile. By providing a controlled environment for hydration, curing allows the concrete to develop uniform properties and reduces the risk of structural deficiencies.
Conclusion
Understanding the science behind curing in pile foundations is essential for ensuring the long-term performance and durability of these structures. Proper curing allows the concrete in the piles to gain strength gradually over time, providing the necessary support to the structure. It also enhances the resistance of the concrete to environmental factors and reduces the risk of shrinkage and cracking.
As piling experts, it is crucial to prioritise the curing process in pile foundation construction. By implementing the appropriate curing methods and techniques, such as water curing, moist curing, or curing compounds, piling experts can ensure the optimal strength, durability, and longevity of pile foundations. Building a solid base through proper curing is a fundamental step in constructing safe and reliable structures.
#screw piling#screw piling newcastle#screw piling sydney#piling companies#piling experts#screw pile suppliers#screw piling central coast#specialist piling contractors#piling contractors#screw piling wollongong#Pile foundations
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Exploring the Benefits of Deep Foundations: Essential Insights for Structural Stability
Deep foundations are an essential part of any construction project. They provide a secure base for structures, allowing them to remain stable and strong despite changing weather and other conditions. In this blog article, we will explore the benefits of deep foundations, types of deep foundations, design considerations, installation techniques, and case studies. We will also look at common problems with deep foundations and discuss essential maintenance.
Introduction to Deep Foundations
Deep foundations are structures that are driven or drilled into the ground to provide support for a structure. They are typically made of steel, concrete, or a combination of both. Deep foundations are often used in areas where the soil is not suitable for shallow foundations, such as in areas with high water table or expansive soils. They can also be used in areas where the load-bearing capacity of the soil is not sufficient to support the structure. Deep foundations can be used for both residential and commercial structures, and are becoming increasingly popular due to their cost-effectiveness and durability.
Types of Deep Foundations
There are several different types of deep foundations, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. The Common types of deep foundations are:
Screw Piles: Screw Piling are long, slender columns that are driven into the ground and used to support the structure. They can be made of steel, concrete, or a combination of both. Piles are often used in areas where the soil is not suitable for shallow foundations.
Auger Cast Piles: Auger cast piles are created by drilling a hole into the ground and then filling it with concrete. They are often used in areas where the soil is not suitable for shallow foundations and can provide greater load-bearing capacity than piles.
Drilled Shafts: Drilled shafts are cylindrical shafts that are drilled into the ground and then filled with concrete. They are commonly used in areas with high water tables and can provide greater load-bearing capacity than piles.
Micropiles: Micropiles are small, slender columns that are drilled into the ground and used to support the structure. They are often used in areas with limited space and can provide greater load-bearing capacity than piles.
Advantages of Deep Foundations
Deep foundations offer several advantages over shallow foundations. The most notable advantages are:
Increased Load-Bearing Capacity: Deep foundations offer greater load-bearing capacity than shallow foundations. This is due to the fact that deep foundations are driven or drilled into the ground, allowing them to reach deeper soil layers which have greater load-bearing capacity.
Greater Stability: Deep foundations offer greater stability than shallow foundations, as they are driven or drilled into the ground to reach more stable soil layers. This increased stability can be beneficial for structures that are subject to high wind or seismic activity.
Cost-Effective: Deep foundations can be more cost-effective than shallow foundations, as they require less material and labor to install. Additionally, deep foundations can be used in areas where shallow foundations are not suitable, allowing for cost savings that would not be possible with a shallow foundation.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Deep Foundation
When choosing a deep foundation, there are several factors to consider. These factors include:
Soil Type: The type of soil present in the area where the deep foundation will be installed should be considered. Different types of soil have different load-bearing capacities, so it is important to choose a deep foundation that is suitable for the soil type.
Load-Bearing Capacity: The load-bearing capacity of the deep foundation should be considered. Different types of deep foundations offer different levels of load-bearing capacity, so it is important to choose a deep foundation that can provide the necessary support for the structure.
Cost: The cost of the deep foundation should also be considered. Different types of deep foundations have different costs, so it is important to choose a deep foundation that is within budget.
Design Considerations for Deep Foundations
Once a deep foundation has been chosen, there are several design considerations to keep in mind. These considerations include:
Load Distribution: The load distribution of the deep foundation should be considered. Different types of deep foundations have different load-distribution capabilities, so it is important to choose a deep foundation that can evenly distribute the load.
Subsidence: Subsidence, or the settlement of the soil around the deep foundation, should be considered. Different types of deep foundations have different levels of subsidence, so it is important to choose a deep foundation that can minimize subsidence.
Geotechnical Analysis: A geotechnical analysis should be conducted to determine the load-bearing capacity of the soil. A geotechnical analysis can provide valuable insight into the load-bearing capacity of the soil, allowing for better design decisions.
Case Studies of Deep Foundations
In order to gain a better understanding of the benefits of deep foundations, it is useful to look at case studies of deep foundations in action. Here are a few examples of successful deep foundation projects:
The Kansai Airport: The Kansai Airport in Osaka, Japan, was built on an artificial island in the bay of Osaka. The deep foundation of the airport was made up of approximately 300,000 driven piles, which were used to create a stable base for the structure.
The Petronas Towers: The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, are the tallest twin towers in the world. The deep foundation of the towers was made up of over 8,000 drilled shafts, which were used to create a stable base for the structure.
The Millau Viaduct: The Millau Viaduct in Millau, France, is the world’s tallest bridge. The deep foundation of the bridge was made up of over 1,200 drilled shafts, which were used to create a stable base for the structure.
Common Problems with Deep Foundations
Despite their many advantages, deep foundations can be subject to common problems. These problems include:
Settlement: Settlement, or the settling of the soil around the deep foundation, can occur. This can lead to instability and potentially dangerous conditions if not addressed in a timely manner.
Corrosion: Corrosion can occur in steel deep foundations, as steel is subject to rust and oxidation. This can lead to reduced load-bearing capacity and potentially dangerous conditions if not addressed in a timely manner.
Leakage: Leakage can occur in concrete deep foundations, as concrete is porous and can allow water to seep in. This can lead to instability and potentially dangerous conditions if not addressed in a timely manner.
Essential Maintenance for Deep Foundations
In order to ensure that deep foundations remain stable and secure, it is important to perform essential maintenance. This maintenance includes:
Inspections: Periodic inspections should be conducted to ensure that the deep foundation is in good condition. These inspections should include visual inspections as well as testing for settlement and corrosion.
Repairs: Repairs should be conducted as soon as any issues are identified. These repairs can include resurfacing, corrosion control, and structural reinforcements.
Monitoring: The performance of the deep foundation should be monitored in order to identify any potential issues. This monitoring can include testing for settlement and corrosion, as well as monitoring for any changes in the performance of the deep foundation.
Conclusion
Deep foundations are an essential part of any construction project, providing a secure base for structures and allowing them to remain stable and strong. In this blog article, we have explored the benefits of deep foundations, types of deep foundations, design considerations, installation techniques, and case studies. We have also looked at common problems with deep foundations and discussed essential maintenance. If you are considering a deep foundation for your project, contact us for more information.
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Why Bored Piles Are the Best Type of Foundation?
What Is A Bored Pile?
What is the Difference Between Micropile and Bored Pile?
A bored pile is a foundation created by drilling a hole into the ground and filling it with concrete. A micropile, on the other hand, is a type of foundation that is created by injecting grout into the ground.
The main difference between the two types of foundations lies in their method of construction. Bored piles are constructed by drilling a hole into the ground, while micropiles are constructed by injecting grout into the ground. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Bored piles are typically used in cases where there is too much water in the soil to allow for proper compaction of the soil around the pile. This can happen in areas with high water tables or in areas that are prone to flooding. The advantage of bored piles is that they can be constructed in a relatively short amount of time. The disadvantage of bored piles is that they are more expensive than micropiles.
Micropiles are typically used in cases where there is not enough space to drill a hole for a bored pile. Micropiles can also be used in cases where the soil is too soft to support the weight of a bored pile. The advantage of micropiles is that they are less expensive than bored piles. The disadvantage of micropiles is that they can take longer to construct.
So, what’s the difference between micropile and bored pile? Bored piles are constructed by drilling a hole into the ground, while micropiles are constructed by injecting grout into the ground. Micropiles are typically less expensive than bored piles, but they can take longer to construct.
Do you need help deciding which type of foundation is right for your project? Contact local piling contractors to discuss your options.
What are the Advantages of Using Bored Piles
Bored piles are one of the most popular methods for creating foundation piers. They offer many advantages over other methods, including:
Greater accuracy: bored piles can be created with much greater accuracy than other methods, making them ideal for supporting structures requiring high stability.
Greater load-bearing capacity: bored piles have a greater load-bearing capacity than other types of foundation piers, making them ideal for supporting heavier structures.
Increased resistance to seismic activity: bored piles are less likely to be damaged during earthquakes or other seismic activity due to their increased resistance.
Increased resistance to scour: bored piles are less likely to be damaged or dislodged by flooding or other water damage due to their increased resistance.
Greater flexibility: bored piles can be installed in a wide variety of soil conditions and locations, making them ideal for use in a variety of projects.
Reduced environmental impact: bored piles cause less disturbance to the surrounding environment than other methods, making them a more environmentally friendly option.
If you need a strong and stable foundation for your building or structure, you should consider using bored piles. Bored piles provide many benefits over other types of deep foundations, such as being less expensive and faster to install. Contact us on screw piling central coast today to learn more about how bored piles can benefit your project.
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Why Screw Piling Is the Best Type of Piling?
Screw piling is the best type of piling for a number of reasons. Piling experts always recommend screw piling over any other type of piling because it is more stable and less likely to move or settle over time. Screw piles also have a much higher load-bearing capacity than other types of piles, so they are ideal for supporting heavier structures. And because screw piles are driven into the ground instead of being placed on top of the ground, they are less likely to be damaged by water or soil erosion. Finally, screw piles are easier and less expensive to install than other types of piles.
Screw piling is less likely to damage the surrounding environment, is more efficient and faster to install, and provides a more secure foundation. Screw piling is also known as helical piling, and is a type of deep foundation that consists of a steel shaft with one or more helical plates welded to it. The screw pile is installed into the ground by rotating it, which allows it to screw its way down into the soil. This type of piling gets its name from the screw-like action that it uses to drive itself into the ground.
There are many benefits to screw piling over other types of piling, making it the ideal choice for a wide range of applications. Here are just a few of the advantages that screw piling offers:
Greater stability and load-bearing capacity
Screw piles have a greater surface area in contact with the ground, providing greater stability and load-bearing capacity than other types of piling. This makes them ideal for use in areas where high loads are expected, such as foundations for buildings or bridges.
Faster and easier installation
Screw piles can be installed quickly and easily, without the need for heavy machinery or complex equipment. This means that they can be used in a wide range of locations, including difficult-to-access sites.
Reduced environmental impact
The installation of screw piles causes minimal disturbance to the surrounding environment, making them a more environmentally friendly option than other types of piling.
If you’re looking for a reliable, effective and efficient solution for your piling needs, screw piling Sydney is the answer. To find out more, contact your local screw piling experts today.
Screw piling is also less disruptive than other types of piling, making it ideal for use in sensitive areas where minimizing damage to the surrounding environment is a priority. Screw piles can be installed quickly and easily with minimal site disturbance.
Screw piling is an excellent choice for a number of reasons. If you are looking for a piling solution that is less likely to damage the surrounding environment, is more efficient and faster to install, and provides a more secure foundation, screw piling is the best option.
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What is Screw Piling? How to Install Screw Pile?
What is Screw Piling?
Screw piling is a construction method that involves screwing piles into the ground to provide support for a structure. The screw piles are usually made of steel and can be screwed into the ground using a variety of methods, including hand-operated augers, hydraulic rigs, or cranes. Screw piling can be used to support a variety of structures, including buildings, bridges, and decks.
There are many benefits to using screw piles over traditional concrete or steel piling methods. Screw piles are less likely to damage the surrounding environment and they can be installed quickly and easily. Screw piles also have a high load-bearing capacity, which makes them ideal for supporting heavy structures.
Benefits of Screw Piling Installation
Are you planning on installing a screw pile? If so, then this blog post is for you! Here, we’ll show you how to properly install a screw pile. Screw piles are a great way to support your home or business, and they’re relatively easy to install. We will also provide some tips and tricks to make the job easier. So if you’re ready to get started, then let’s get to it!
Screw piles are vertical tubes that are screwed into the ground, with a head at the top that can be used to support a structure. They offer a number of benefits over traditional foundations, including:
Quick installation – screw piling can be completed in minutes, as opposed to hours or days for traditional foundations
Low disruption – screw piles can be installed without having to dig up your garden or driveway
Increased stability – because screw piles are inserted vertically, they provide greater stability than traditional foundations
There are a number of suppliers of screw piles around the country, so it’s important to do your research before purchasing. Specialist piling contractors can also install screw piles, so if you’re not confident in doing it yourself, they’re a good option.
Steps to Take Using Screw Piles
If you’re considering using screw piles for your next construction project, here are the steps you need to take:
1. Choosing a screw pile supplier
There are many screw pile suppliers in Sydney, so it’s important to choose one that is reputable and has a good track record. Ask your friends or colleagues for recommendations, or do some online research to find the best supplier for your needs.
2. Planning the installation
Before installing the screw piles, you need to plan out the project and determine exactly where the piles will be placed. This involves taking into account the weight of the structure, the type of soil, and the surrounding environment.
3. Installing the screw piles
The next step is to install the screw piles. This can be done using a hand-operated auger, a hydraulic rig, or a crane. The exact method will depend on the size and weight of the screw piles.
4. Testing the screw piles
Once the screw piles have been installed, it’s important to test them to ensure they are sturdy and can support the weight of the structure. This can be done by load testing or by using a vibrational analysis.
5. Building the structure
After the screw piles have been installed and tested, you can start building the structure. This includes putting up the framework, adding the finishing touches, and then adding the weight of the structure.
following these steps will help ensure that your screw piling project is a success. Be sure to work with a reputable supplier and carefully plan the installation to ensure a sturdy and reliable foundation.
So if you’re looking for an easy, hassle-free way to support your property, Australian Piling Experts may be the answer. For more information, contact your local supplier or specialist piling contractor.
0411 693 100
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Pile Foundations vs. Raft Foundations: Choosing the Right Foundation for Your Project
Foundations are a critical element of any construction project, providing stability and load-bearing capacity to a structure. Two commonly used types of foundations are pile foundations and raft foundations. Each has its unique characteristics and is suited for specific scenarios. In this article, we’ll compare pile foundations and raft foundations to help you make an informed choice for your construction project.
Pile Foundations:
· Design: Pile foundations consist of vertical columns (piles) driven or drilled deep into the ground to reach load-bearing soil or rock layers. They transfer the building’s load through friction or end-bearing to the deeper, more stable layers.
· Use Cases: Pile foundations are typically used in areas with weak or unstable soil conditions, such as soft clay or loose sand. They are excellent for supporting heavy structures or when the water table is high.
Advantages:
· Effective in unstable soil conditions.
· Can bear heavy loads.
· Minimize settlement issues.
· Suitable for construction near water bodies.
Disadvantages:
· Higher construction costs due to drilling or driving piles.
· Site-specific engineering required.
· Environmental impact during installation.
Raft Foundations:
· Design: Raft foundations, also known as mat foundations, are large, flat slabs that cover the entire area under a building. They distribute the building’s load over a wide area, including the weight of the structure and its contents.
· Use Cases: Raft foundations are commonly used in areas with stable soil conditions. They are ideal for lighter structures or where the soil can uniformly support the load.
Advantages:
· Cost-effective for smaller structures.
· Simplified design and construction process.
· Evenly distribute loads, reducing settlement.
· Suitable for areas with consistent soil quality.
Disadvantages:
· May not be suitable for heavy or tall buildings.
· Can lead to differential settlement in areas with uneven soil support.
· Limited to areas with stable soil conditions.
Choosing the Right Foundation:
The choice between pile and raft foundations depends on several factors:
1. Soil Conditions: Assess the soil at your construction site. Pile foundations are preferable in areas with poor or unstable soil, while raft foundations work well in areas with consistent, load-bearing soil.
2. Building Load: Consider the weight and size of your structure. Pile foundations are better suited for heavy or tall buildings, while raft foundations are more suitable for smaller structures.
3. Cost: Pile foundations generally incur higher construction costs due to the need for specialized equipment and engineering. Raft foundations are often more cost-effective for smaller projects.
4. Site-Specific Factors: Evaluate site-specific factors such as water table levels, proximity to water bodies, and environmental impact when making your decision.
In conclusion, choosing between pile and raft foundations requires a careful assessment of your specific project needs and site conditions. Consult with a structural engineer or geotechnical piling expert to determine the most suitable foundation type to ensure the long-term stability and success of your construction project.
#piling companies#piling contractors#piling experts#screw piling#screw pile suppliers#screw piling central coast#screw piling newcastle#screw piling sydney#pile
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Australian Piling experts are specialist piling contractors who focus on the Screw Piling and Bored Piling market. We are a growing company in Sydney that has over 30 Years of industry experience within the residential, commercial, industrial, and mining projects Australia-wide.
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Looking for the best and affordable screw piling and bored piling service? If yes, then rely on 'Piling Experts'. The company is located in Australia and having over 20 years of industry experience. We have been providing piling services to all tiers of construction, Granny Flats, Single dwelling homes among others. Sounds interesting can contact us today.
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