SHOW AND TELL

Again, we are leaving the usual Ask Jim format. This time we are going to do a Jim's Show and Tell post (even though I have been scooped by Anna's BLOG of Doom). I've been an electrician for almost 30 years and there are always things that I have never done before. This past Friday, I managed to take one more thing off my list of things I have never done. That was to climb a tower crane to do electric work. I knew the job was coming up and I had volunteered to do it, so I brought my camera to work to record the event.

Here is the crane. I was told it is a 120 foot crane, but that would be to the top of the boom extention. I have to climb the white section. The horn that I have to replace is just below the cabin. That part is 100' high. Not very high as tower cranes go but as I have not done high work for many years, it is plenty high for me.


As you look at the red section, you can see 3 sections plus the tower extension. The bottom third is the bottom half of the turret, the middle third is the top half of the turret and the top third is the cabin. The horn that I have to replace is under the floor of the cabin (roof of the turret).


At the base looking up.


The 90' ladder I had to climb. Every 15-20 feet there is a platform to stop and rest. I only passed one, by the time I reached the second I realized should stop at all the others.


This is the new horn. Notice on top, the window is for the operator to look straight down.

Here is the horn bell. The boom is straight out and the cable holding the hook is right down the middle of the picture. The crane operator is in the process of lowering my tools down to my ground man. To the left you can see the Arch which is about 4 1/2 miles away.

The back boom and counterweight are looking almost due west. The tall buildings on the right are in downtown Clayton which is about 7 miles away.

And that's it. I made it back to tell the story. Climbing the tower crane reminded me of the time I went snowmobiling. It comes under the category of "Been there, done that, it was interesting but I'd be very happy to never do it again".