Cottage rebuilds on Cousins Island
Old summer camps on Cousins Island are steadily being winterized or torn down for year-round houses. A Cousins Island build has to fit a delivery truck down a one-lane gravel drive with trees close on both sides. We measure the turn before the first drop, because backing out of a Cousins Island drive in reverse is the alternative. Shallow ledge and thin soil across Cousins Island mean the pad usually sits on broken rock or a plywood sheet. Cousins Island jobs often run from April through Thanksgiving, so one standard unit stays for the whole stretch.
Ferry wharf traffic on Cousins Island
The Chebeague boat runs from the Cousins Island wharf, and the parking and shuttle traffic there peaks hard from June to September. Wharf and float repairs on Cousins Island take a unit up in the paved lot rather than out on the pier. Because the Cousins Island wharf lot fills with commuter cars, the drop happens early before the first sailing. Freight staged for the outer islands crosses the Cousins Island lot all day and the set has to leave that lane open. Cousins Island wharf units get pumped weekly through the summer and pulled once the schedule thins in October.
Shore road and utility work on Cousins Island
Power, water and road crews work the Cousins Island loop in short stretches because there is nowhere to detour traffic. A Cousins Island utility set moves every few days as the trench advances toward the causeway. Storm damage on Cousins Island usually means downed limbs and washed shoulders rather than structural work. After a nor'easter the Cousins Island crews want a unit at the staging pull-off within a day. Winter service on Cousins Island depends on the causeway staying open and the loop road being plowed wide.