Really High

After a few weeks, we had developed a good pattern and could lift and weld in about 20 panels a day and we were quickly gaining on the concrete crews. The ‘Flyers’, the forms for pouring the floors, extended out past the edge of the building, so we had to stay at least a floor away from them if we were going to be able to hang the panels. When we came too close, we would take a break for a week and let the form work get ahead of us.

It was definitely exciting work as we had to remove the safety cables from the floor we were working on and then reach out to grab a swinging panel and pull it in close enough to get a hook on it. Naturally, the windy days were the worst. It didn’t take a lot of wind to make a panel spin like a top. The tag lines would keep the panel steady… until the panel reached a height beyond the limits of the ropes and the handlers had to let go of them.

I found this great photo of the project and it shows the tower crane, the manlift hoist and 5 of the 6 large arched panels at the roof line. You can see the brace connecting the tower crane to the building. I think that was on the 16^th floor and every day, Dennis would climb out the window and then walk across the narrow beam to the tower and then climb the rest of the way up via the internal stairs on the crane. I wonder where I was when this photo was taken? I was certainly there that day.

I remember standing on that floor and talking to Dennis when he asked if I wanted to come up and see how the crane worked. I really did, but when faced with stepping out onto that beam… I suddenly remembered something else I needed to do, somewhere on the ground!