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Capping a Cistern with the Tucson BLM
 

I caught ScottK, JoeyK, and Francisco looking at the finished cistern lid.  You can see Joey's and my Jeeps in the background with the hoods opened up.  With the modified terminals use use on our batteries, everything on the Jeep (winch, starter, accessories, etc.) can be easily disconnected and the battery removed from the vehicle for projects like this.
 

Just like signing your name in fresh concrete, ScottK welded his initials, the date, and the Arizona Virtual Jeep Club letters on the corner of the new cistern cover.  For the VJCers in the area, make sure you check out our volunteer work when you next take a trip to the cabins. 

I called JoeyK and asked him for some pictures of today's work.  He always gets a few good ones and I knew he has his camera with him.  The remaining pictures are provided  courtesy of JoeyK. 
 

This was probably the more dangerous part of the project, placing those heavy plates within the edges of the cistern.  A great opportunity to pinch a finger or two....but all were careful and we each left with all 10 digits accounted for.  (note that everyone had leather work gloves on too)
 

JoeyK got in the grinding action too....and that was only fair since it was his die grinder that we were using! 

As the project progressed, ScottK and I got more and more confident that the i-beams were really going to hold and Francisco wasn't going to have to haul us out of the cistern.  I think Bob really likes air tools too!
 

There always has to be that one picture where everyone is standing around watching just one guy work.  Well, here it is!  I don't remember what ScottK was doing....but you can bet that what ever it was, someone was going to let him know if he started doing it wrong.

I want to thank my 4 wheelin' friends for stepping up to the plate when I asked for help.  The project went very nicely, no one got so much as a scratch, and I think Francisco was very pleased with the end result.  Tucson BLM, if you need more volunteer help for projects like this one, please drop us a line.  There are a whole bunch of great folks in the Arizona Virtual Jeep Club and I believe you will find many of them ready to help.  Building a partnership between the OHV community and the Tucson BLM office is a good thing and I am glad to see it happening through projects such as this one.

Good trails and remember to TREADLightly!

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