Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich, who has a degree in mathematics and likes to say numbers are his friend, would get along just fine with the city’s “barricade brigade,” the handful of Public Works laborers who help set up pedestrian and traffic controls for the city’s two Mardi Gras parades.
This week, the barricade crew has been all about numbers, too.
In the past week, the 15-man crew has:
— positioned 2,360 barricades, with each barricade measuring 8-feet long and weighing about 65 pounds each.
— erected 9,000 feet of orange fencing and planted 1,000 poles to support the fencing, which is affixed with 2,500 plastic zip ties.
— augmented the orange fencing with 10,000 feet of bright yellow caution tape.
— positioned 70 wooden barricades near U.S. 90 and the CSX railway, and placed 25 Krails (plastic barriers) to help control traffic.
— placed 700 traffic cones of varying sizes ready to be positioned at key locations along the parade route.
“It’s a good week-long project setting up for Mardi Gras,” said barricade crew foreman Cleo Waits. “When you think about it, most of the barricades will be touched two or three times by the crew when you consider that a good number of the barricades will be moved since Neptune and Gulf Coast Carnival have different routes.
“It’s one tired crew by the time Wednesday rolls around.”
See the barricade crew in action
News and notes
Diamond Rebs: This evening’s college baseball matchup at MGM Park is merely the beginning of things to come. Ole Miss, the nation’s eighth-ranked squad, will make its MGM Park debut when the Rebels face Nicholls State on Tuesday, March 14 at MGM Park. First pitch will be tossed out at 7:05 p.m. Ole Miss Alumni Association members are being advised that sections 103, 105, 107 and 109 have been designated for Rebels, and mentioning promo code OM2017 at online checkout means a discount. For online ordering info, click here.
Challenger League sign up: The Parks & Recreation Department is currently holding sign ups for its Special Needs Challenger League Baseball. The program, open to all children and adults with physical and mental challenges, begins Saturday, March 18 at 9 a.m. at the A.J. Holloway Sports Complex. For more information, call the Parks & Recreation office at 228-388-7170.
