AULIERS AT BERFAN
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THEN 2m. tons of slurry came tumbling down the hillside at Aberfan to engulf the lel and adjacent houses, rescuers on the of the tragedy were rapidly backed up by th Wales hauliers, who have since been Ling the wet black slurry by the thousands Ins.
spoke to some of those hauliers. Men like D. Harfoot, of S. Harfoot and Sons Ltd., Ty, who had about 25 vehicles on the job ore midday on Friday. As the day progressed e tippers arrived, some of them one-man its. Soon the larger professional haulier the own account man were working side by . Conditions of licence did not matter in e circumstances, customers were for the rent forgotten. The sole thought was: get site cleared.
'ips were hastily arranged and in many cases Is were transformed overnight. The roadside used where there was sufficient space, byways which were clear of the stricken area me tipping sites. Soon after operations an it became apparent that there were more enough machines to deal with the situa, and the narrow roads were becoming ked, so a temporary one-way system was ituted.
logging down occurred at many sites and ides were moved by unconventional means, ad being the essence.
le operation began to crystallize by Saturday vehicles not used on clearance were used run in hardcore to build roads. Every tractor I spoke to complained about the roadeks caused by private cars. One operator I me that damage to cars must have been ly high: "We just did not have time to be dui", he said.
What of the cost of the operation? Well, tilers are in business to make money but in erfan over the past week this has been very ondary. Without exception they told me t the cost was something to be looked at w. the immediate job was to move the best t of 2m. tons to temporary sites. Soon a manent site will have to be found and the rry will again be moved. IAIN SHERRIFF