Re: Informed consent AU M/L ADULT 03/20/2010
Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 1:08 am
"We've got her now," said Jim Valenti as he reached the bottom of the arroyo and saw the taillights of the jeep continuing to head west. "If she can find a way to climb up on the road, Posner and his partner will get her. At the speed she's going, she probably won't be able to find a way out of the arroyo, and even if she does we'll be right behind her. This pursuit is damn near over."
Isabel was thinking just about the same thing as she approached the old Clovis road. The patrol car had slowed up - obviously waiting to see if she could find some way up on to the road - ready to pounce if she could. The other vehicle was only a hundred feet or so behind her and catching up quickly -it's six big off-road lights practically blinding her if she looked in the rear view mirror. Even in front of her it made her own headlights pale in comparison. But as she looked ahead in that light - saw the Old Clovis Road crossing her path - she saw a chance.
In the desert arroyos occur every few miles and the roads that cross them must either go down into them or pass above them. Although usually dry, when they are filled there is a tremendous volume of water and trying to cross a flooded arroyo is a death trap. Still, you don't need a major bridge every few miles with concrete reinforcement on both sides either. It's too costly. The answer that is often used in flat areas is something called a box culvert.
Box culverts are prefabricated concrete boxes - sometimes while and sometimes in parts. You level off the arroyo and lower these in to the dry arroyo with a crane, then backfill with a tractor or bulldozer. It's a lot cheaper than a bridge and - in the wide open desert - works just as well. In the glare of the big off-road lights of the jeep pursuing her she saw the triple box culvert ahead supporting above it the Old Clovis Road. The culverts came in a variety of sizes - the most common being eight foot wide by five foot high. The roll bar above her head was about 4 ft 10 inches. If the buildup of sand and gravel was more than two inches, it would get real interesting. Of course, the jeep behind her had those humongous lights on its roll bar. Even if the concrete was bare, the following jeep was going to lose its lights.
'Of course, if it has six inches of sand or gravel on the floor of the culvert, you are going to come to a screeching - and likely very painful - halt,' she told herself.
But what little she could see of the entrance to the culvert looked like bare concrete. She tightened her seatbelt and scrunched down in the seat, ducking her head as the jeep entered the darkness of the culvert at thirty-five miles and hour.
Behind her, Jim Valenti watched in disbelief - then hit the brakes. With the higher suspension of the search and rescue vehicle there was no doubt in his mind that the roll bar was at least six inches above height of the roof ofthe box culvert. They wouldn't just smash the six expensive off road lights, they'd wreck the jeep and probably injure themselves if they continued. He was able to get the jeep to slide to a stop with only about a foot of the hood inside the culvert. He quickly jumped out of the vehicle and walked in to the culvert to see what had become of the Evans jeep. The floor of the culvert was bare concrete - and in the distance further up the arroyo he could see the taillights of the jeep heading west over the desert. The patrol car above couldn't follow it even if it could find a way off the road. The search and rescue jeep could - but only after backtracking four or five miles. The jeep would be way out of sight before they could get back on its trail. Isabel Evans had eluded them again....
Isabel was thinking just about the same thing as she approached the old Clovis road. The patrol car had slowed up - obviously waiting to see if she could find some way up on to the road - ready to pounce if she could. The other vehicle was only a hundred feet or so behind her and catching up quickly -it's six big off-road lights practically blinding her if she looked in the rear view mirror. Even in front of her it made her own headlights pale in comparison. But as she looked ahead in that light - saw the Old Clovis Road crossing her path - she saw a chance.
In the desert arroyos occur every few miles and the roads that cross them must either go down into them or pass above them. Although usually dry, when they are filled there is a tremendous volume of water and trying to cross a flooded arroyo is a death trap. Still, you don't need a major bridge every few miles with concrete reinforcement on both sides either. It's too costly. The answer that is often used in flat areas is something called a box culvert.
Box culverts are prefabricated concrete boxes - sometimes while and sometimes in parts. You level off the arroyo and lower these in to the dry arroyo with a crane, then backfill with a tractor or bulldozer. It's a lot cheaper than a bridge and - in the wide open desert - works just as well. In the glare of the big off-road lights of the jeep pursuing her she saw the triple box culvert ahead supporting above it the Old Clovis Road. The culverts came in a variety of sizes - the most common being eight foot wide by five foot high. The roll bar above her head was about 4 ft 10 inches. If the buildup of sand and gravel was more than two inches, it would get real interesting. Of course, the jeep behind her had those humongous lights on its roll bar. Even if the concrete was bare, the following jeep was going to lose its lights.
'Of course, if it has six inches of sand or gravel on the floor of the culvert, you are going to come to a screeching - and likely very painful - halt,' she told herself.
But what little she could see of the entrance to the culvert looked like bare concrete. She tightened her seatbelt and scrunched down in the seat, ducking her head as the jeep entered the darkness of the culvert at thirty-five miles and hour.
Behind her, Jim Valenti watched in disbelief - then hit the brakes. With the higher suspension of the search and rescue vehicle there was no doubt in his mind that the roll bar was at least six inches above height of the roof ofthe box culvert. They wouldn't just smash the six expensive off road lights, they'd wreck the jeep and probably injure themselves if they continued. He was able to get the jeep to slide to a stop with only about a foot of the hood inside the culvert. He quickly jumped out of the vehicle and walked in to the culvert to see what had become of the Evans jeep. The floor of the culvert was bare concrete - and in the distance further up the arroyo he could see the taillights of the jeep heading west over the desert. The patrol car above couldn't follow it even if it could find a way off the road. The search and rescue jeep could - but only after backtracking four or five miles. The jeep would be way out of sight before they could get back on its trail. Isabel Evans had eluded them again....