Shaking!

Last night, during our Bible study time at church, we got into a discussion of our fears. And someone revealed a fear of heights. Of course I could relate to that! And so I will continue with my stories…

Although the Broadway stores were our “bread and butter” projects, we would bid on and sometimes secure other, even larger, projects. One of those was the “Shake Test Facility” at the Space Technology Laboratories site in Redondo Beach. (STL – now TRW) This building was unique in that its interior space consisted of two rooms, with one wall – 140’ high and about 300’ long- to divide them. Our job was to build that wall. And since Alex knew of my fears of height; he asked me if I wanted to work on the wall. I decided to confront my fears and told him to include me.

Of course they don’t make studs that are 140’ long so there was a structural steel framework for us to build upon. We were building many pieces of a wall between those supports and once it was complete, it would appear to be seamless.

Because of jobsite conditions, using a scaffold was out of the question and so it was decided that we would use “Sky Climbers” as our working platform. A Sky Climber consists of a long and narrow (20’ x 2’) aluminum plank with an electric hoist motor at each end. These motors would grip a cable that was hung from the roof and then “climb” that cable.

To begin, we had to secure the cables to the roof structure and that meant a ride up to the roof trusses. A portable construction elevator took us up. There, between the bottom supports of huge roof trusses, was a complete sheet metal factory built on wooden planks. A temporary floor for the contractor that was installing the air conditioning ductwork. We had to snake the cables in between the planks and secure them to the structure. The scary part? Removing a plank and seeing the concrete floor, 140’ below you.

With the cables secured, we began to climb the wall, 10’ at a time. Build a 20’ length of wall; climb again. It took a little coordination to make sure that the climbing motors at each end operated at the same time and that the plank remained level as it rose. And we had to make certain that all of our power cords were free from entanglements as we climbed. This was often overlooked and we tore apart many cords through the weeks.

I didn’t have too much of a problem with the heights until about the 40’ level. That’s only the height of a 4-story building and we were going to build a wall that equaled the height of a 14-story building! That fact suddenly stuck in my consciousness and wouldn’t go away. And as the days passed I noticed that my legs now ached after a day at work. What was that all about? Then I saw why; I was trying (desperately!) to grasp that plank with my toes. Toes that were separated from the plank by heavy work boots. Yes, we had a safety belt that was attached to a safety rope by a safety brake…all safe, right? Since none of us had ever tested any of this equipment, it really didn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling!

The weeks passed slowly and the wall began to take shape; A silver grid framework of studs between red steel beams. And I found that the aches and pains in my legs eased as I saw the wall growing. Pride in what we were doing helped quite a bit. And I found that others were affected by heights as well. I remember that an older, more experienced, journeyman volunteered to work with me one day when my partner (Babe) was absent. Everything was going along fine until he spotted a bird flying by – beneath him. “Get me down!” he said. Strangely, the fact that he was bothered by the height strengthened me.