There is a lot in this photograph. And you might not guess that the subject is the delicate vertical structure alongside the building to the right of center, in the far distance. That delicate structure is a "tower crane" and they are everywhere in the world where construction is going on, Here's the part that will give you the "willies" - there is a man in the cab at the top of the crane, where the angled piece, called the "jib" joins the vertical piece, called the "mast," at the cab. Both the crane and the building start out on the ground, and the crane helps build the building. And as the building rises, so does the crane! It is called "Jumping the crane" and the top of of the crane is jacked up by itself with a frame around the mast, and then a new section of mast is inserted under the cab! It is too difficult to explain in words, so here is a link to an animation showing how the process works. I think you will find this interesting Jumping a Crane
Color me stupid, but when I did the first photograph with the wide angle lens on my camera, it never occurred to me to zoom in and do a closer photograph. Fortunately, the image is so large from my SONY a7 that I could just crop out this part of the original photograph and post it as a separate image. You should know that the operator has to climb the mast from the bottom each day, and then they climb back down at the end of their day. Good exercise. Scary place to work!
3 comments:
Interesting photo of a very busy city! My hands were sweating just thinking about doing the crane job! How scary to be working like that! I'm sure some people love the view, though. Trace
Interesting photo and link, but no thank you. It gives me the willies! I remember a few years ago a crane in New York City toppled while constructing a building. Very frightening. Joan
I had the same reaction as Tracy and Joan - very nervous watching the cranes. All I can think of is one of them falling over from too much weight on the end. Betsey
Post a Comment