Monday, April 21, 2008

First and Main, I happened on the construction crane installation

Yesterday while doing errands, I decided to go through downtown and take the Hawthorne Bridge over the Willamette. I wanted to see that big hole on I've been photographing, on a weekend day. Lo and behold, folks were at work putting up a yellow construction crane. I made a couple of blocks, parked the Buick beside Chapman Square a block and a half from the hole, and set off with my camera around my neck. Unseasonably cold weather wouldn't stop me from hopefully getting some interesting photos.

Here are five of the workers I noticed after I'd snapped a few photos. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, or hearing for that matter. I swear, I could hear something that sounded like a hammer striking metal. Skilled, capable, careful workers for sure.
crane_5men_close
Situated on SW First was the black crane that picked up the pieces of the yellow crane and took them up into the air. And two more workers are in this photo.
crane_other_crane_operator_truck
If you look closely, you can see the cables from the black crane to the piece of the yellow crane. You can even see one heading down from the left end of that yellow piece, going out of the photo in the lower left corner.
crane_pieces_other_crane_close
There's a lot going on in this photo. There's the empty steel plate where the bulldozer sat in my earlier posts about this great big hole. Notice the poster that depicts the finished 15-story First and Main building. And there's another piece of the yellow crane still on the truck, plus a piece on the ground to the right of that flatbed.
crane_piece_truck_poster_bldg
In this photo that I took from a raised patio of a high rise building on the opposite corner, you can see both cranes pretty well. In no time, the leaves will be out on those trees, obstructing the view. Maybe I can get a photo from up on the sidewalk of the Hawthorne Bridge which is the opposite direction from where I'm standing now.
crane_wide
Zooming in, you can see the steel wall with the yellow crane behind it which lets you know that the base of the crane is down in the great big hole. Why has that section of the steel wall been left so high above the rest of the wall that surrounds the great big hole? This photo shows something else unique at this intersection at this particular moment. This street is usually one way east. However, the silver car beside the brown steel wall is heading west in the lane made for traffic during the crane installation. The reason this traffic flow reconfiguration took place is all of that equipment on SW First, beyond the great big hole, had to have somewhere to park. Considering how busy this intersection--the eastbound entrance to the Hawthorne Bridge and the westbound exit off the Hawthorne Bridge--is in the morning and evening workday rush hours, installing the crane on Saturday makes all sorts of good sense.
crane_base_steel_wall_close

12 comments:

Janet said...

Some major work going on! You got it from all angles.

George Townboy said...

This is a great post ... very interesting and a work of art too! Your photos are excellent!

I'm curious ... did you see anyone else taking photos - maybe a professional looking dude/dudette?

Dragonstar said...

Great to be able to document work like this. My OH did the same (on a much smaller scale) when 8 new houses were built opposite us on a small plot that originally contained one house.

Anonymous said...

Really skilled labor at work here and the cranes are not forever and sometimes crash down when the operator don't get the balance just right. Each load requires a computer to balance the load with the counter weight on the other end. It is an amazing performance.

Oh and i see Powell's Books. I still sometimes buy books from them.

Andrea said...

Amazing how cranes work and construction takes place. Great shots of progress.

smilnsigh said...

WoW!!!! To see what goes into the preparation for and the construction of, those big buildings! We see all the buildings. We never think of how they got there.

Well, I for one don't. It's almost too much for my mind to wrap around! Even seeing your photos, it's still almost too much for my mind to wrap around! :-)

Mari-Nanci

Denton said...

What a great name for a building, First and Main speaks volumes about a location of prominence ... I also have noted crane work done on the weekends in an effort to avoid interference with traffic ... You did a good job of limiting the camera distortion caused when taking a photo looking up. My Crain photos often have building unnaturally tilting in toward the crane.

smilnsigh said...

I'm baaaaaack. :-)))))))

Thank you for your kind words, in your comment, on my leaving CDPB post. I'll still be having fun with my photographs. And still visiting people I've met.

And I'll try to remember to put the link to my blog, after my signed name.

Mari-Nanci
Photos-City-Mine

Neva said...

That is a lot of equipment! and you got quite a few pictures showing them! Many a boys dream come true!

brian stout said...

great photos, lynette! i've always had an interest in cranes, as my grandfather was a crane operator...although a much smaller one than these =)

Chuck Pefley said...

Let's hope they've built the base correctly. We've had a couple of these topple over in Seattle in the last couple years.

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

very interesting!