Thursday, June 14, 2012

Paver


I got to go industrial with my break-time drawing on Wednesday. Workers were renovating the paved area behind my workplace, using a number of impressive machines. They crunched the existing pavement with an overhead jackhammer (which sounded like an earthquake), then removed the fragments with a nimble Bobcat equipped with a digging scoop. Then the asphalt was deposited in big heaps for the paver. This machine is a paver, sitting on a flatbed truck before it is deployed. It has a hopper (to the right) where the chunks of asphalt are melted before being laid out as new pavement. The paver moves on tank-like treads as it places a layer of fresh, fragrant asphalt. I love the smell of asphalt and in fact some pretentious wine-tasting notes claim that their Cabernet Sauvignon has a touch of "fresh asphalt" in its flavor mix. 

Paver portrait is Staedtler technical pen on sketchbook page, about 6" x 6".

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