Comments on: Ironworkers Above The City

Ironworkers Above The City

jonson — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:21:39 -0800

Amazing photo sequence from the Philadelphia Inquirer on the ironworkers building the top floors (45 - 55) of the Comcast Center. Not safe for those with Vertigo. Via.

By: caddis

caddis — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:25:39 -0800

That was fun.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:27:14 -0800

Philadelphia's come a long way from the days where nothing could be taller than William Penn, huh? Great photos.

By: docgonzo

docgonzo — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:33:33 -0800

Wow. Great shots. Are some of ironworkers not wearing harnesses in those shots? Strangely, none appeared to be Mohawk. And I wonder if some of the foreground subjects are underexposed 'cause they didn't want the photographer to use flash.

By: cmfletcher

cmfletcher — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:33:47 -0800

William Penn is once again the highest point in the city.

By: dozo

dozo — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:35:40 -0800

Wow, number 10 is my favorite. Awesome, thanks.

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:46:23 -0800

I used to work in home construction and spent a lot of my days climbing 40' ladders and scaffolds. I never liked it but I could handle it. No way could I ever do what those guys do. Yow. The sad thing is that I probably make more sitting on my ass writing programs in my air-conditioned office now than these guys do risking death every day.

By: MapGuy

MapGuy — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:51:44 -0800

Shout out to Nick from A&N Crane in Philly.... Yo, Nickey thanks for the lift. '97 AT&T. And the boys at Conshohocken nobody does a 30' I beam hot galve like you guys... Good times.

By: notsnot

notsnot — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:00:09 -0800

Octothorpe, I doubt it. I would bet even the apprentices are pulling in seventy a year.

By: DU

DU — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:15:58 -0800

Oh no. No no. No no no no nonononoNONONONONOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

By: Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:19:11 -0800

Those are some very brave workmen, and one very brave photographer. And an excellent set of photos, too. Thanks for the link.

By: invitapriore

invitapriore — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:25:28 -0800

Those are crazy...shame about the telephoto use on photo 6, because that guy doesn't look like he's on the 43rd floor, and a bird's eye view shot like that with the street far, far below would be a harrowing one to be sure.

By: andywolf

andywolf — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:25:44 -0800

i just saw an uncle of mine that was a steel worker on skyscrapers the other day. he's got some damn good stories. working up there in minnesota no less, according to him they were all a bit on the crazy side. no harnesses or any safety. i can't do it justice, but his best story was of the time they got a new foreman that everyone totally hated. while the guy was using the porta-john one day, they hooked it up to the overhead crane and lowered him down to the street from close to 30 stories up. the foreman quit soon after. as far as the pay, i think they make some good money, though it depends on whether or not they're union. he's got a few million in assets at least.

By: andywolf

andywolf — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:43:41 -0800

actually, according to the dept of labor statistics the median wage for structural steel/iron workers is $40,600 while the top 10% or so are at $70,200. seems way down from what they made back in the 60's. but i guess that goes for most fields.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:47:51 -0800

Nifty (still looking for the stereotypical Cherokee)

By: beagle

beagle — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:53:12 -0800

The Empire State Building under construction, for comparison. Note the absence of helmets and safety lines of any kind.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:58:01 -0800

Oh wow! My stomach was doing flip-flops through the whole set. God bless those crazy guys for getting up there and doing something most of us wouldn't consider for a second.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:00:34 -0800

Good gracious. From beagle's great link. *shiver*

By: daninnj

daninnj — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:06:47 -0800

Now if they can just tear down the extremely ugly Bell Atlantic Tower...

By: Frank Grimes

Frank Grimes — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:24:28 -0800

So this little piece of glory is why my cable bill is so high?

By: exlotuseater

exlotuseater — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:11:17 -0800

Gorgeous. Thanks for this.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:34:25 -0800

Loved the post, jonson - but between this post and the photographer that Dave Faris linked, it's getting a little too thrilling for me here today I need to go look at some pictures of kitties and puppies!

By: thisisdrew

thisisdrew — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:40:26 -0800

It took awhile for all the photos to load on my Comcast connection.

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:54:23 -0800

So, climbers - what kind of safety gear are they using?

By: meech

meech — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:05:41 -0800

Empire State Building: Though rumors of hundreds of people dying on the work site circulated during the time of its construction, official records state that only five workers were killed: one worker was struck by a truck; a second fell down an elevator shaft; a third was hit by a hoist; a fourth was in a blast area; and a fifth fell off a scaffold. How?

By: jonson

jonson — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:36:46 -0800

Jesus, meech - do you think that if the guy on the left in your "How" link steps off the plank, the guy on the right dies? It looks that way. Man...

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:04:31 -0800

There is, quite literally, no amount of money that could make me do that. I'm serious. A million dollars? Not even close. Rest assured this is not hyperbole. You could walk up to me with a suitcase full of money and offer it to me in return for 1 day's work doing this and I would decline. The people who are able to do this are simply wired differently from me. To me, they border on being superhuman.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 23:16:38 -0800

As a geeky side note, the Comcast building will have the world's largest tuned liquid column damper. Ynoxas, I probably couldn't do it for a million either, but if offered I'd sure as hell try. My dad has a great story about one time when he and two other guys were monitoring smokestack emissions sometime in the late 60s/early 70s. They were on one of the few smokestacks that had a pair of catwalks one below the other, when a guy fell off the top catwalk. His supervisor was on the bottom catwalk, and barely managed to catch him and keep him from plummeting 200+' to his doom.

By: heydanno

heydanno — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 05:09:26 -0800

Palms officially soaked.

By: djrock3k

djrock3k — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:01:16 -0800

I love my (adopted) city!