Wide World of Work

I recently began my first job as a geotechnical engineer in June. I really like my job but sometimes the snakes and spiders are really freaky!

For instance, take the Orb Weaver or as some call it the banana spider. This bad boy is found throughout the Carolinas and can be over three inches in length! I can't claim this picture as my own, but these guys are pretty standard in the southeast. I see them while wandering blindly through the woods with a GPS unit strapped to my back. Luckily, I haven't had one on land on me...yet.

I have a great disdain for spiders they make my skin crawl everytime I hit the edge of a web...UGH! The orb weaver isn't even poisonous like the Brown Recluses or the Black Widow. Thankfully, I haven't encountered one of them yet. *HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF*

Now I get to use the GPS to do site reconnaisance for future job projects, which is really cool. We do this to figure out the best locations to do subsurface drilling. In this area the subsurface can change so fast you will hit rock at the surface on one side of the street, walk 30 feet to the other side and not hit rock for nearly 20 or 25 feet! Thats because our region straddles two very different geological regions, commonly referred to as the Coastal Plain and the Triassic Basin regions. This map kind of shows where these regions are. One region has layers of sands and silts and the other has partially weathered rock, silts, and clays. Obviously these different conditions mean different geotechnical problems, hence my job! We use drill rigs to figure out what soils exist and then analyze the samples to figure out what kind of recommendations we need to make.

So the basic steps are as follows:

1. Get a project proposal
2. Determine locations on the project's site plan
3. Find locations in the field using a GPS
4. Drill soil borings
5. Analyze soil samples
6. Determine geotechnical issues
   
7. Provide engineering recommendations
8. Submit final report to client

Yes that probably sounds pretty dry and boring, but when you locate in the field and see things like Copperheads and tromp through briars it adds a certain adventurous flair ;). Oh, and for those readers that aren't sure of what a Copperhead pit viper looks like heres a pic:

Doesn't he look nasty! While this isn't an image of the one I saw the other week, mine was roughly the same size and had the same coloring. These buggers are about 2-3 feet long on average as adults and give birth to their young during the months of August and September. I was paranoid that I would wander into a nest of these guys even though they're nocturnal critters. Copperheads are extremely poisonous and require antivenin if a bite occurs. Let's all hope I don't have that experience to tell you about!

Despite the obvious dangers of my job, I've gotten to see many interesting places in NC in the past three months. Everything from little-known towns and their vast cornfields--you guessed it I was in the cornfields--to small town recreational facilities. I get to see a lot of the region and their diverse cultures. Some of the jams I have sampled have been amazing! So my job has been quite the eye-opener for me and hopefully I'll develop an even better understanding of NC's diverse cultures in the future, or at least get some memorable pictures!