1 What'd you expect, a spiral staircase?

2 Yeah, attaching and re-attaching that safety line every few feet sure is tedious. 

Does the list of safety equipment include a fucking parachute? 

3 i'm dizzy and sweaty after watching that.

4 seriously i hope that guys gets paid a $1000 an hour wtf.

5 I couldn't see, but I imagine these guys are tied to the tower in some way, right?

6 I loves me some Laurahump, but not enough to climb that tower for it.

7 I'm telling you all...there's not enough money in the fucking world.

8 5 I couldn't see, but I imagine these guys are tied to the tower in some way, right? Nope.

9 ThaT hurt my head!

10

Posted by: KG at September 17, 2010 09:10 PM (S8TF5)

 

NO! That's why they call it free climbing. No friggen safety rope! I won't let a man on top of a bridge beam without a tie-off and that's only 20-5- feet up usually. This is nuts.

11 how do you balance on the top of a tower like that with 100lb balls?

12 I do that shit all the time. The tallest tower I ever climbed was 1000 feet. I only climbed 750 feet of it though. I've constructed plenty of 180 foot towers (Rohn 25) myself. It's actually kind of an enjoyable job.

That's not what I do for a living of course, but it makes pretty good money on the side. I get $300.00 to change light bulbs on a tower. Not bad for an hours work.

13 Nope.

Posted by: XBradTC at September 17, 2010 09:11 PM (X0Ona)

Oy. I honestly don't get some of that tower's design, like the transition at the big red pipe where the guy is forced to do a tricky move that's scary to do at 30 feet let alone a thousand....

14 11 how do you balance on the top of a tower like that with 100lb balls?

Posted by: evil libertarian at September 17, 2010 09:13 PM (JxrBB)

Damn, it's going to be hard for anyone to beat that, man! 

15 That made me woozy.  Egads.

16 I'll be Helen Thomas's cabana boy before I climb that tower. No f'n way. The smell of feces would be rather strong and lingering.

17 A friend of mine showed me that a couple days ago, and I swear, I could not watch it to the end. And I was sitting down.

18 As for tying off, that's the reason i'm getting out of this sort of work. Everybody is such an ass about tying off, and honest to God it makes the job MORE dangerous.

I wear a safety belt when I climb (not the regulation full harness) and I tie off when I get to the level at which I am doing the work. (Usually the top.)

19 11 how do you balance on the top of a tower like that with 100lb balls?

Posted by: evil libertarian at September 17, 2010 09:13 PM (JxrBB)

I'm pretty sure they detach them before climbing. The balls are probably in an ice box waaaay down below...

20 Not enough money in the world and not enough bunks either... holy crap...

21 Used to work with one of these guys. He used to climb to the very top of a insanely tall tower and sit crosslegged on a triangular platform 14 inches on a side to eat his lunch. Then would stand up on it. Seeing him up there would make me almost lose my lunch.
 (I am much better at heights myself rather than watching someone else, and would rather be high up myself rather than thinking about it.)

22 Here is a video that is somewhat related:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PecO6O8qsSU

23 tying off? you'd have to pry my hands out of the steel. i climbed a 300 foot radio tower to take pics off of but that was a ladder inside a mesh tube so you could lean against it. going up wasn't bad, down was sketchy as hell.

24 Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck that.

Chris Christie should make this video mandatory for all whining union hacks.

25 John's climbing partner below dodging sprinkles had asked John not to drink that 48oz. Big Gulp before he went up.

26 They take an elevator the first 1600 feet? Pussies. Seriously, watching that made my tool bag retreat.

27 A lot of towers i've worked on use Candalabras, which is a framework of angle iron or pipes that stick out away from the tower at the top, and are used to mount antenna arrays. You have to climb out onto that framework and crawl out to the edge to attach the antennas. 500 feet in the air, and nothing underneath you!

28 Once he started free-climbing from the junction box, I couldn't watch anymore. I guess you've got to somehow disconnect the part of your brain that fears the fall to your death once you're up more that 30-40 ft.

29 I bet his life insurance policy payment is three times his mortgage.

30 I was mostly surprised he climbed wearing gloves. I would have expected a chalk bag like a rock climber.

31 Okay, so I had to fix blown out shingles after Earl - and BTW, what kind of Red Neck Trailer Park Trash Hurricane name is EARL??? - at 35' and I hated that.  Now granted, it's roofing so falling off of that will screw you over but not kill you and there's a lot to be said for just knowing it's over if you fall but still....

32 Due to the insane leverage provided by almost 1/3 mile of tower, weight and especially wind drag have to be cut to an absolute minimum at the top of the tower. They guy wires stabilize the top, but they are not infinitely strong. I believe that tower is in northern Louisiana, right in the middle of thunderstorm and tornado country. Even a little additional wind profile can add an enormous load to the guys during a storm and bring down the tower.

33 I'm not going to do that. 

34 Thats the tallest deer blind I've ever seen.

35 Once he started free-climbing from the junction box, I couldn't watch anymore.

But you missed the part where he switches to tiny footpegs!
Watch the part with the footpegs. It'll give you good dreams tonight.

36 >>500 feet in the air, and nothing underneath you! Oh there's something underneath you alright. We call it Earth.

37 I wonder how many men it would take to come up and drag me down that tower, assuming I made i up that high when I froze?

38 So this is what Meat Loaf was singing about.

39 "...Sarah do we have to talk about this right now? Im just climbed sixteen hundred feet and the last thing I need right now is to know your mom is moving in with us permanantly..."

40

Heh.  OSHA allows you to free climb.  No problem. 

But put in non-OSHA complient chairs and keyboards and they are ALL OVER your ass.

 

41 I've done work for AM and FM broadcast stations, but most of the work I do is for Commercial 2 way. I remember one time I was installing a VHF antenna and line on a commercial AM station (it was for the FBI, believe it or not.) that was live. (Radiating power) I had not trouble installing the antenna itself (DB 224, 19 feet long, weight about 50 lbs) but when it came to installing the transmission line, I got a nasty surprise. It was intended to be grounded at both ends and the middle, and the grounding cables were already attached when we hoisted the line into position.

About the time I had the line almost in place, that grounding cable touched my left wrist, and burned the fuck out of me. Apparently the transmission cable was picking up energy directly from the AM broadcast tower, and the metal parts were "hot" with RF energy.

After that, I grabbed the insulated part with my glove, and forced the ground lug onto a bare metal spot on the tower, and that killed the RF, and allowed me to connect it up to the antenna and tie down the transmission line.

After I got back down, I told everyone what had happened, and showed them the nasty burn mark on my wrist. To prove I wasn't making it up, I took the bottom end of the transmission cable, and pushed the connector near to a piece of metal coming out of the concrete. It created a plasma spark and you could hear music coming out of the spark!

Pretty cool.

42 That made my butt pucker.

43 Am I odd in that I wasn't particularly scared or put off by that video, or the thought of doing what he did?  The funny thing is, I wouldn't say I'm particularly fearless about heights or anything (I'm well f**king aware of what falling from even a short distance can do to a human body), but I just figure that hey, if I'm going up that high, I probably know what I'm doing and have prepared, so no worries!

Seriously, I've been up that high in similar situations, and what gets me past the "ZOMG IT'S SO HIGH I'M GONNA DIE" feeling is straight-up Clinton-style 'compartmentalization'/displacement.  I just don't even think about it.  "La-de-dah, nothing to see here, I'm not defying death..."

44

That thing was 1768 feet tall.  The re-built twin towers in NYC will be even taller.

1776 feet each.

Wonder if they'll have a roof top observatory?

45

That's just too spooky, I've built highrise buildings before but by the time I go up in them they have some semblence of floors, guardrails and catwalks.

Osha doesn't let anyone work without a guardrail that isn't tied on either.

46 Diogeneslamp -

Just want to say it, but you are a man's man doing a cool-ass job.  (I guess this is another part of my non-flipping-out over heights thing...I like being up high because it's just awesome.)

47 They won't be Twin towers, though - there will be one 1,776 footer (now about 1/4 built), another slightly shorter than the old Twins, (over 1,300 feet), one 1,100 footer, and finally one 980 footer.

48 Oh, that last post was in response to post 45.

49 @45: oh, and YES, the 1,776 foot Freedom Tower will have an observatory.

50 I thought the coolest part was when he fell off, at the end.

51 29 Once he started free-climbing from the junction box, I couldn't watch anymore. I guess you've got to somehow disconnect the part of your brain that fears the fall to your death once you're up more that 30-40 ft.

Posted by: Reno_Dave at September 17, 2010 09:26 PM (KrSck)

My philosophy always was that once you get above 50 feet, you probably won't survive if you fall, so don't fall. I've probably done a 100 or so tower jobs in the last 20 years, and I only came close to falling once. After doing enough jobs in a row, I started to get complacent. As you're climbing, you get tired every so often, and you have to rest. I always attached my safety line and leaned back in the harness. One time I was stopping to rest, and started to lean back, when I realized I had forgotten to attach my safety line. Scared the shit out of me! 

52 An observatory for who? NASA?

53 Its not the fall that kills you , its the sudden stop at the end.

54 At the end when he gets to the lighting beacon, check out his shoes.

Looks like cowboy boots to me.

55 NOW you know how Mrs. Cheney feels.

56 Those arent cowboy boots. His shoes have piss protectors on them.

57 "...when I realized I had forgotten to attach my safety line. Scared the shit out of me! Posted by: Diogeneslamp at September 17, 2010 09:42 PM (eVJ7T)" I bet! Scared the shit out of me just reading your post. Jeesh.

58

Osha doesn't let anyone work without a guardrail that isn't tied on either.

Posted by: robtr at September 17, 2010 09:38 PM (fwSHf)

Sez you.  But two things argue against your position.  One, that guy did 90% of his climbing without protection.  And two, during the narration, they said OSHA didn't mandate this protection while climbing, because it was such a pain in the ass.

Now perhaps there is some lawyer wiggle room here.  Perhaps "climbing" to the worksite isn't "working", and once he climbs to to the worksite, then OSHA says he has to tie in.

Lets ask that crazy guy with the greek sounding name who's carrying a lamp around Diogeneslamp about this.

59 38 I wonder how many men it would take to come up and drag me down that tower, assuming I made i up that high when I froze?

Posted by: redstatedeb at September 17, 2010 09:33 PM (CluUg)

A friend of mine who I have done a lot of work for tells me that there was a tower climber he knew in the northern part of the state that had a heart attack and died at the top of a tower. They had to send a fireman up to the top and attach a rope to lower him down. He apparently felt it coming on, and managed to tie off before his heart failed completely. Weird deal.

60 One time I was stopping to rest, and started to lean back, when I realized I had forgotten to attach my safety line. Scared the shit out of me!

This is exactly what happened to me once in an analogous situation.  It's the sort of thing that happens to you exactly once.  Because either you make sure not to get complacent again, or you're a smudge. 

And your attitude about being about 50+ feet is exactly correct, and as I already said is pretty much how I handle it: hey, you're screwed if ya fall, so don't fuckin' fall!

61 56 NOW you know how Mrs. Cheney feels. Posted by: Dick Cheney at September 17, 2010 09:44 PM (e9JZd) OK, threadwinner.

62 Wait, no, might be work boots. Probably work boots.

63 48They won't be Twin towers, though - there will be one 1,776 footer (now about 1/4 built), another slightly shorter than the old Twins, (over 1,300 feet), one 1,100 footer, and finally one 980 footer.

Posted by: CoolCzech at September 17, 2010 09:39 PM (tJjm/)

Didn't know that.  Thanks.

64 Jeebus, my palms will not stop sweating after watching that - nothing else, just my f*cking palms.  The one frickin thing I would not want to happen if I was the dude in the video: profusely sweaty palms.  Mental note: my palms want me dead.  Maybe it was all the sh_t  I made them do..... 

65 How much does a parachute weigh? I think I could carry that much extra weight.

Maybe we don't need all those tools...

"What do you mean, "I forgot the part?!?""

66 My ears popped three times just watching that.

67 Diogeneslamps -

Which state do you work in?

68 I'm gonna have nightmares tonight after watching that. No matter how much those guys are paid, it's not enough.

69 Re: everybody's testicles

Quote from X-Files:

Dr. Blockhead: Did you know that, through the protective Chinese practice of Tiea Bu Shan, you can train your testicles to draw up into your abdomen?

Mulder: Oh, I'm doing that as we speak.

70

Hey Diogeneslamp, just out of curiosity, how much do you think they got paid for that?  I assume the pay will differ based off of the time of the job, and the complexity, but if you could, just throw out some ball park guesses.

Thanks a lot.

71 47 Diogeneslamp -

Just want to say it, but you are a man's man doing a cool-ass job.  (I guess this is another part of my non-flipping-out over heights thing...I like being up high because it's just awesome.)

Posted by: Jeff B. at September 17, 2010 09:38 PM (NjYDy)

Thanks, that's kinda how I felt doing it. At first it was just a bravado thing, just to show my friend that I wasn't afraid to do it, and eventually it became a pretty good sideline. To be honest, some days I would jump on the tower and start climbing with nary a worry, and other days I was extremely jumpy and felt uneasy all the way up to my working height.

Even on the days when I was feeling scared, actually, after I had got to my working height, and started sending down the rope, ( I always climbed dragging a rope behind me, with which to pull up the antenna and transmission line) the fear simply vanished. I was never afraid climbing down.

Nowadays, I don't do any jobs over 300 feet. I've gotten too fat, and it's too much work! (plus, I don't need the money. )

72 Didn't know that. Thanks. Posted by: ed at September 17, 2010 09:46 PM (Zsqn4) No problem. Check out this pic: http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/85401223/original.jpg And: http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/104641641/original.jpg AND: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/New_wtc.jpg

73 69 Diogeneslamps -

Which state do you work in?

Posted by: Jeff B. at September 17, 2010 09:50 PM (NjYDy)

OKLAHOMA!

74 Oh, and at this moment the new Freedom Tower & the site look like this: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/4984755619_550fb35ba1_b.jpg That's the Freedom Tower, under construction, to the left.

75 Thanks Danby @ #33 for the answer to my question. I thought it was something like that. Those little pegs still look pretty severe to me, heh.

76 Re: everybody's testicles

Quote from X-Files:

Dr. Blockhead: Did you know that, through the protective Chinese practice of Tiea Bu Shan, you can train your testicles to draw up into your abdomen?

Mulder: Oh, I'm doing that as we speak.

And it's Meroving for the "Humbug"-related win!

77 And it's Meroving for the "Humbug"-related win!

Posted by: Jeff B. at September 17, 2010 09:57 PM (NjYDy)

Trivial Pursuit is my bitch.

78

I wonder if this guy ever listens to Tom Petty.

 

79 I've climbed a few local towers... much shorter of course. I'd love to climb one that tall!

80 72

Hey Diogeneslamp, just out of curiosity, how much do you think they got paid for that?  I assume the pay will differ based off of the time of the job, and the complexity, but if you could, just throw out some ball park guesses.

Thanks a lot.

Posted by: ed at September 17, 2010 09:51 PM (Zsqn4)

It depends on what state they are in and who they are working for. I once assisted a tower company working for KVRW installing a new antenna array, (This would have been around 198 and the guys helping were making $10.00 per hour. I couldn't freakin believe it, but that's what they said they were getting paid. I was getting $400.00 for myself, and I don't remember what the Tower company was being paid, but i'm thinking it was a couple grand.

All my work is by the job, and I bid what I think it is worth based on how much time I think it will take, and how difficult I think it's going to be. Climbing those poles with the handles out each side is harder, so I charge more for that.

Anyway, to answer your question, if they are in a state like New York, I wouldn't be surprised to find they are getting $10,000.00 for that job.

81 Good Heavens.

Just seeing that video gave me a dull pain in the testes and made my scrotum contract...

82 If that link goes out go to LiveLeak.com. They have it to. The guys that made this are pulling it as fast as they find it. Seems they are afraid of lawsuits

83

Posted by: CoolCzech at September 17, 2010 09:55 PM (tJjm/)

Thanks for the photos.

I had assumed we were just building the twin towers again, but bigger and taller.

I'm kinda sad, cuz no offense to the architect, but those new designs aren't really doing it for me.

But after 9 years, I'm just glad that we're building SOMETHING there, something big, bigger than before.

The thing that really worries me is the green space below.  I hope they don't put any gay-ass "reflecting pool" or some such shit where we can "ponder why they hate us."

James Lielkes said he wanted "stern iron eagles looking out vigillantly."

Sounds about right to me.

84 86
How about a 2500ft tall hand with extended middle finger towards mecca?

85

Diogeneslamp at September 17, 2010 10:02 PM (eVJ7T)

Thanks for the info.

86 It's definitely not a situation where you can get away with something like, "Honey, I forgot this thing has 1/8" allen head screws. Would you mind bringing the allen wrenches that are in the tool cabinet?"

87 Where the fuck did you find that.  Maybe if i watch it a hundred times, I'll stop puking. 

That's some scary shit, but the iron workers walk ACROSS the beams with no safety line, that not only scary it's fucking ballsy.

88 The thing that really worries me is the green space below. I hope they don't put any gay-ass "reflecting pool" or some such shit where we can "ponder why they hate us." Posted by: ed at September 17, 2010 10:04 PM (Zsqn4) Well, not exactly - the footprints of the old towers are being converted into pools, but they will feature giant waterfalls gushing in from all four sides of each pool. The surrounding area is being converted into a 2 acre park full of trees. You can check out this site for more pictures (some may be more to your liking) and info: http://www.wtc.com/

89 #36, #52: Okay, after eating dinner, I came back and watched to the end. Yeah, those little pegs are seriously disturbing. Funny thing, I don't mind climbing onto the roofs of one story houses, and have no problem working 15 feet up on a ladder that leans against a house, but when I had to climb a perpendicular 15 ft ladder in a service closet then go through a roof hatch, the lack of hand grips when transitioning through the hatch really bothered me, especially when I had to climb back through and down. Being on an observation deck in a tall building or in a plane doesn't bother me at all.

90
I thought I was pretty studly climbing radio (and water) towers, but I once saw a crew (up close) painting a water tower, and they slung boards across the iron supports about 200 feet above ground level, and walked across those boards upright. Cognitively I could sort of understand how they could get so cavalier about doing such a risky thing, but emotionally I thought they were out of their fucking minds!    

91 The Ground Zero project buildings are complete boring pussy-ass architechtural Cheerios.

If freakin' pisses me off. There ARE no architects, they all died of boredom.

Those buildings look like they were designed by the people who designed Hyundais or Kias or something. It's pathetic.

I'd be down with Iron Eagles. Stainless steel would be better. At least Art Deco was actually a style, as opposed to 99% of vapid commercial construction these days.

92 >>Thanks Danby @ #33 for the answer to my question. I thought it was something like that. Those little pegs still look pretty severe to me, heh. Crazy woman worried about pegs and boots. I've done some crazy stuff in my life but I farking hate heights. I can't believe I even watched that shit. You will pay.

93 In my relatively recent experience, it doesn't take that long to get over the sweaty palms, vertigo phenomenon. Early this year, the company I work with built a 50+ ft. tall straddle carrier like machine. The cab, control room, generator and engine are all located on top, so to access anything, you climb up a series of three ladders located on the back of the thing. The ladders are all enclosed with cages, so a fall isn't (or shouldn't) be a problem.

My first day on site, I definitely had to make myself climb up, hanging on for all I was worth. After that first day, the fear of falling was still there, but nowhere near as strong. By the end of the week, it was no more intimidating than climbing an 8 ft. stepladder.

Compared to that tower however; 50 feet is nothing. That video definitely got to me.

94 89 It's definitely not a situation where you can get away with something like, "Honey, I forgot this thing has 1/8" allen head screws. Would you mind bringing the allen wrenches that are in the tool cabinet?"

Posted by: NM Hick at September 17, 2010 10:08 PM (IzuWw)

A lot of mounting brackets for antennas nowadays are made of stainless steel. Stainless steel has an annoying tendency to gall when you try to remove a stainless nut from a stainless thread. I was replacing a bad antenna for KVRS, and I had successfully removed all the brackets but one, and when I started removing the nuts that was securing the bracket, the damn things galled on me.

So i'm 180 feet in the air, and the antenna is completely disconnected from the tower except for this last bracket, and I couldn't get the damn thing to come apart. I also couldn't leave the antenna attached with just one bracket holding it on. I'd come back the next day and find it ruined. What's more, I was holding the thing to keep it from falling over, and I was getting tired.

So I couldn't let go. I couldn't get the Bracket off, and it was getting on towards dark. What did I do? I pulled out my gerber knife, opened the file blade and laboriously cut that Vbolt in half, broke it open, and removed the final bracket. Lowered the antenna to the ground, and reinstalled the new one. (The old antenna was worth thousands of dollars, so dropping or damaging it was not an option.)

95 Boy I sure am glad he's wearing a helmet. That'll sure help him if he falls. Seriously, I think I pinched a hole in the seat of this chair.

96 @94: I agree that they aren't the most exciting designs in the world, though personally I do like the Freedom Tower. But once the project is done, NYC will have, once more, the greatest skyline in the world, more amazing even than before: http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/66753660/original.jpg Those are the architects, by the way - probably the most famous ones in the world.

97 Hm, I've never climbed a single tower like that one. That's just straight up! I have climbed all over suspension bridges, like this one. Climb the cables and towers, checking bolts, in the gales, ice, snow. Appraisal: Structurally deficient bridgehunter.com/me/hancock/3257/

98 I got dizzy and it took me till the end to realize my mouth was agape...I kept imagining myself in that position.  Eek...I'm not afraid of a fight if it comes my way, or intervening in a situation that might get me hurt...but that shit...I degrade myself from balls of steel to balls of tin.  THAT guy has balls of steel.  I'm sure he's not cavalier about his job, consummate professional...but, fuck man...I'd have lost my mud when the elevator door opened at 1600'.

99 My testicles are up against my diaphragm .   They may never come down

100 What happens if you're way up there and it starts to rain, even a little bit? Won't everything get wet and slippery and (at that height) freeze?

101 98 Boy I sure am glad he's wearing a helmet. That'll sure help him if he falls. Posted by: Oklahoman at September 17, 2010 10:24 PM (vKxhp) Maybe they should just wear parachutes...

102 Just then an angry woodpecker miss took Steve for a cat...

103 #104 A chute would foul against the tower and the guy wires.

104 42........ BUNK

105 103 What happens if you're way up there and it starts to rain, even a little bit? Won't everything get wet and slippery and (at that height) freeze?

Posted by: CoolCzech at September 17, 2010 10:29 PM (tJjm/)

I have never had to work under those conditions. I tell people to get someone else.

I HAVE had to work under extremely windy conditions. I built a tower north of Shamrock Texas a year ago, and it took me three hours to drive there from where I live. The only thing left to finish the job was to install the Antenna and Line, and I had gotten both of them pulled up to the top of the tower when this godawful wind blew up at about 40 mph hour. It was way to windy to stab the antenna, so I waited for it to die down. After 30 minutes of waiting, I finally climbed down and told my partners that I simply wasn't going to do it, and we might as well drive back home.

Came back next week, stabbed the antenna, tied down the line, finished the job and everything went off with no problems.

106 @106: I can't believe they can't design some sort of safety wire system that doesn't require rehooking every few feet. Maybe some kind of wire connected to a single pipe that follows the climber all the way up, and automatically tightens if he falls, sort of all the way a safety belt does in case of an accident. I mean, come on - how hard could it be to design something?

107 A buddy of mine was an iron  worker.  He said he noticed a racial/cultural thing- the American Indian iron workers had absolutely no fear of heights.   They'd be a couple hundred feet up, jumping from beam to beam, while the white guys were pissing themselves..  Didn't bother them in the least.  'course he said every one had a pint of Jack in his pocket

108 107 42........ BUNK

Posted by: MissTammy at September 17, 2010 10:34 PM (m8uUu)

Nope, true. Why would you think it was bunk?

109 @111: I don't think you quite get what Tammy means. She's being a veeeery naughty girl...

110

I have never had to work under those conditions. I tell people to get someone else.

I HAVE had to work under extremely windy conditions.

Yeah, as anyone who's ever been "up in the air" will tell you, it's not rain or snow that really worries you (that's what the chalk bag is for).  They are less-than-optimal conditions (and totally unsuitable for actual professional work), but very easy to adjust for.

It's the wind.  Wind will screw you every single time.  With seriously high winds, there's honestly just not a lot you can do: you're a slave to the whims of God and nature.

111 >>Nope, true. Why would you think it was bunk? Heh. This is what happens when you spend too much time at altitude.

112 @113: chalk bag? You mean chalk on your hands to improve your grip? Won't rain just wash it right off?

113 111 107 42........ BUNK

Posted by: MissTammy at September 17, 2010 10:34 PM (m8uUu)

********

Nope, true. Why would you think it was bunk?

Posted by: Diogeneslamp at September 17, 2010 10:39 PM (eVJ7T)

******

I believe that cry of "BUNK" was Ace o'Spades HQ shorthand for "I'll be in my bunk," thus an exclamation of sexual arousal engendered by the men who climb towers.

114 A buddy of mine was an iron  worker.  He said he noticed a racial/cultural thing- the American Indian iron workers had absolutely no fear of heights.   They'd be a couple hundred feet up, jumping from beam to beam, while the white guys were pissing themselves..  Didn't bother them in the least.  'course he said every one had a pint of Jack in his pocket

My grandpa was a railroad worker in upstate/western NY (Salamanca & Olean...it's the old congressional district of Amo Houghton and Eric Massa), and did some high-rise work.  The funny thing is, he told us the exact same stories.  "Them Indians...fearless fellers."

115 @116: we morons prefer to think of it as moronettes getting busy while calling out our names, Thank You.

116 Is there some science reason why all they get to work with are insultingly tiny footpegs right at the end there?

Laura, the less things sticking out on a tower, the better. The windload each little piece of the tower and antennas put on the tower is unbelievable. When the tower companies are designing your tower, they have to know every little thing that is going on that tower so that they have the right base and guy wire system.

Hey Diogenes, when I worked in radio we used to use a company called Sky Tower. They were out of Virginia and were a father/son company, but I heard they were killed when a tower they were building collapsed, did you hear about that and is my recollection correct?

117 I think I could go a good ways up, but transitioning to the orange segment and beyond? Fuck that! And why not leave a bag of equipment in its own compartment somewhere near the top so that everything doesn't need lugging?

Plus, attire. Boots and jeans? C'mon. Surely there's more flexible, better insulated climbing ware and grippier shoes. Then there's those freakin' small ladders/pegs: Fer cryin' out loud, that's really not a place to economize.

Related: What I really marvel at are skyscraper steelworkers. Simply insane. That's one union that earns its pay.

118 No

119 109 @106: I can't believe they can't design some sort of safety wire system that doesn't require rehooking every few feet. Maybe some kind of wire connected to a single pipe that follows the climber all the way up, and automatically tightens if he falls, sort of all the way a safety belt does in case of an accident.

I mean, come on - how hard could it be to design something?

Posted by: CoolCzech at September 17, 2010 10:36 PM (tJjm/)

They do have safety climb systems. THEY SUCK!  I HATE those things. Most of the ones i'm familiar with have a steel cable suspended from the top of the ladder or tower with a spring loaded mechanism to absorb some of the shock of a fall. They are ordinarily held out about 4 inches from the tower with these rubberized gripping mounts. The device that attaches to your belt attaches around the wire, and it has a gripping device that you have to pull against (upward) to release. If you pull downward, it locks on the wire.

The damn things are a nuisance, because they put a continuous drag on you as you climb, and the wire prevents you from getting closer to the tower (the way I prefer to climb) and so your arms have to take the strain of holding you out further from the tower. Every time you come to one of those rubberized wire mounts, you have to pull the wire out long enough to get your wire gripping device past it, then you have to poke it back into it's finger like mount.

On the water towers that I climb that those are used on, they put the mounting system right in the middle of the access opening in the catwalk so that you can't get past it. I usually have to climb over the rail, just to get around it.

You couldn't use something like that on a tall tower, because the wire would whip around and damage antennas and lines. (They usually don't stay in their rubberized mounts, but instead come out and swing about freely.)

120 I wouldn't do that job for $10 million per year. No way. Not if I had 72 virgins waiting in heaven for me, not even if I had 72 pornstars waiting in heaven for me.

121 112 @111: I don't think you quite get what Tammy means. She's being a veeeery naughty girl...

Posted by: CoolCzech at September 17, 2010 10:40 PM (tJjm/)

Ha ha ha... okay, I get it now, i'm a little slow, but I catch on eventually. Why thank you!

122 Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at September 17, 2010 10:46 PM (swuwV) My God, so many complaints in one post! You sure you're not really AnonymousSnivel?

123

I don't know that I'd want a chute, but hyper-absorbant Depends?  -Oh yeah...

I knew a guy who, every three months, changed the beacon  lamps on one of those giant smokestacks that line the Ohio river.  He just saw it as chance to not do his more mundane maintenence. 

Didn't drink much.  Liked to fish. 

124 It's the wind.  Wind will screw you every single time.  With seriously high winds, there's honestly just not a lot you can do: you're a slave to the whims of God and nature.

Posted by: Jeff B. at September 17, 2010 10:40 PM (NjYDy)

I don't mind the wind much EXCEPT if I have to stab or destab an antenna. Those things are ~ 20 feet long, and they can get some leverage on you. I've never dropped one, but i've come close once. 

What state do you work in?

125

Oh hey, did anybody respond to miss Laura's query? 

The teeny footpegs of death are there because the less mass you put up high, the longer the tower lasts.

 

126 128

Oh hey, did anybody respond to miss Laura's query? 

See post 119

127 128 Oh hey, did anybody respond to miss Laura's query? The teeny footpegs of death are there because the less mass you put up high, the longer the tower lasts. climber falls. FTFY! Posted by: Bob at September 17, 2010 10:53 PM (4SK8b)

128
Hey Diogenes, when I worked in radio we used to use a company called Sky Tower. They were out of Virginia and were a father/son company, but I heard they were killed when a tower they were building collapsed, did you hear about that and is my recollection correct?

Posted by: MrCaniac at September 17, 2010 10:45 PM (aaULJ)

I've heard of several incidents in which tower climbers were killed. Usually it's when they are doing construction or maintenance of the tower structure itself. I haven't heard of an incident for probably a year or so. Like I said, I don't do as much of it as I used to. Last job I did was on a 100 ft water tower replacing an antenna for the county fire dept. (about two months ago.)

129

Craigs List:

Southland Communications seeks technitians for outside work.

Must be very skinny and have a large bladder.

130 They had to send a fireman up to the top and attach a rope to lower him down.

Bet that fireman was thinking he needs a raise.

131 CoolCzech: "My God, so many complaints in one post! You sure you're not really AnonymousSnivel?"

I imagine I could come up with some more. Let's just say that that job wouldn't crack my top five options of a career and leave it at that.

132 What state do you work in?

Ha!  Work?  My friend, I'm a lawyer.  I just do crazy shit like climbing up to insane heights for the hell of it.

133 Bet that fireman was thinking he needs a raise.

See, I like this because it works on multiple levels.

134

Dear Diary

Today Bill farted again while climbing the tower. He knows Im on the bottom and I have to climb through his cloud of gas I guess he thinks its funny. Sometimes I get so mad I could just let go of his tool bag.

135 133 They had to send a fireman up to the top and attach a rope to lower him down.

Bet that fireman was thinking he needs a raise.

Posted by: KG at September 17, 2010 11:05 PM (S8TF5)

A lot of those firemen are pretty balsy dudes. Running into a burning building is probably just as dangerous, if not more so, than climbing a tower.

136 Ha!  Work?  My friend, I'm a lawyer.  I just do crazy shit like climbing up to insane heights for the hell of it.

Posted by: Jeff B. at September 17, 2010 11:06 PM (NjYDy)

So you know what kind of RUSH it is when you get to the top and look out at the horizon! Awesome! The first job I did, I asked my friend (who owned the tower) if I could climb to the top just for fun. (480 feet)  He said "no problem, but while you're up there, would you mind changing my side marker bulbs? " I said "Okay" and then he told me he'd give me $100.00 to boot. I said "cool." And from then on, I did a lot of tower work. 

137 >>Ha! Work? My friend, I'm a lawyer. You call down AmishDude for one of his math geek rants and this is on you.

138

you call being a lawyer work?

rolling up Helen Thomas' tits so they fit in her bra... now thats work

139 I couldn't get all the way through - the point where the narrator said "free climbing" was where I got queasy. 

140 I'm not afraid of heights and I don't get vertigo...

I could NOT watch that.   In about 2 seconds my stomach took over and said NO!

141 That was exceedingly difficult to watch. I feel semi-heroic for just watching it all the way through without having a coronary.

Whatever guys like these climbers and Diogeneslamp get/got paid for this stuff, it's not enough.

By several orders of magnitude.

142

Fuck

That

Noise.

Like someone else said, there ain't enough money in the world to get me to do that.

143

That was pretty freaky!

I used to do alot of rock-climbing in Yosemite, and never really had any fear of heights. I relied on the safety of my equipment and the competence of my climbing partners. Then 7 years ago I was caving in Arkansas, and fell 25 feet down a pit. I (luckily) landed in about a foot of water, cushioning my impact. Still managed to crush 4 vertebrae in my mid-lower back. I had to self rescue - spent 5 months in a brace, and 6 months of physical rehab...

I'm an inch and a half shorter now, and can barely climb a footstool w/o severe vertigo. After watching this, I hope I can sleep tonight!

144 My favorite (harrowing) height video, "High Voltage Cable Inspection", it's not new but it's still remarkable, for the narration as much as for the visuals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tzga6qAaBA

Diogeneslamp -- We loved your contributions to this thread. Thank you!

145 I feel a bit clenched after watching that.

146
Diogeneslamp -- We loved your contributions to this thread. Thank you!

Posted by: Mongerel at September 18, 2010 12:18 AM (YqWfw)

Enjoyed sharing. Thank you for listening. (reading)

147

Well thanks a fucking lot!

I said fuck it one day, and rolled my sailplane upside down.  I was at about 9,000 feet, lying on my back under a full-length clear plastic canopy.  I had on a 5-point aerobatic harness, cinched up ball-crushing tight.

I now realize I am actually a pussy.  Thanks a fucking bunch, serially.

148 Base Jump!

149 First: I need to puke now.

Second: I can't believe they even dare to mention OSHA in that piece. There are sections of that climb where there are literally no climbing devices, just pieces of fucking pipe to hold on to.

No one can convince me that a safer path could not be created without hindering the ability of the climber.

150 I don't like climbing more than three or four rungs up a stepladder. Thanks, Diogeneslamp, for your comments and anecdotes. As I always say, this is one of my favorite things about blogs. No matter what the topic, there's bound to be someone who has actual knowledge, experience, and expertise.

151 My legs were all "Chris Matthews" watching that!

152 After watching this climb, my Sphincter tightened up so much you couldn't pound a 20 penny nail into it.

153 Ho-lee crap. I'll willingly get in a Cessna 172 and got 6 or 7 thousand feet up, but this...this is just nucking futs. 

154

I cannot believe I watched this whole freaky thing.

 

I gets the acrophobia like you wouldn't believe.

155 I've literally had NIGHTMARES like that video.  I kept skipping forward, expecting him to fall off. 

Someone else posted a vid above about guys jumping off the side of a mountain above a lake with parachutes on.  That didn't bother me, though I don't know that I would want to do something like that myself.  But being 1700 feet up in the air, clinging to the outside of a relatively thin metal structure, that is literally like something out of one of my nightmares. 

156 I fly airplanes and that still made me woozy.
No safety line.... That fellow aint right in the head.

157  
Okay, so I've watched this "video" in its entirety and I have to say that I'm thoroughly unimpressed. The behaviour on display in this video, which was obviously fake, is the type of behaviour that I frown on.

If I happened to be anywhere near the base of one of these towers eating Pat Cadell's lunch or having a smoke or something and one of these yahoos came crashing down on me- I would be seriously pissed off. And it's totally screwed up that I should have to even worry about such an occurance.

 Do these towers provide anything that couldn't be covered by laying a few extra yards of cable? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Jerkoffs

158
Oops!  Wrong thread!

159 134 CoolCzech: "My God, so many complaints in one post! You sure you're not really AnonymousSnivel?" I imagine I could come up with some more. Let's just say that that job wouldn't crack my top five options of a career and leave it at that. Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at September 17, 2010 11:06 PM (swuwV) I totally agree. You couldn't pay me enuff.

160 My hat's off to the tower-climbing gang.  I know I'm too much of a klutz to do that sort of work

161 Since no one has mentioned it, the Helmut protects from dropped tools or parts, and bumping your head on the sky of course.. The Force is strong in this one.

162 "If a storm moves in, there's no quick way down"

I can think of one. But it only works once. 

163

This is incredibly misleading and dangerous.  Please know this is not an example of proper practice, although there are no shortage of inadequately trained guys out there who make the industry look bad by doing these kinds of unnecessarily risky things.  As a tower owner there's NO WAY I'd hire anyone who does work like this. 

Here's the professional side of the story:

http://tinyurl.com/2ac786h

164 Here's the deal: Your Wedding dress will be photographed and documented more than any other article of clothing you own, so it's important to choose a wedding gown you love! But when you first start shopping for Wedding dresses, the seemingly limitless options can be overwhelming.