The Dance Of The Gloved Hand

So what's going on up there? How does the crane operator know if he's guiding the truss or whatever in the right direction--exactly? The man sitting on the parapet is the west wall man who is giving hand signals to the crane operator down in the west yard. This blogger was quite fascinated with the apparent expressiveness of these signals--they were as good as words, maybe better. (Again, be sure to click on the photo.) We can see the east wall man in a bucket, in his turn also giving signals which the crane operator certainly can't see. Is the west wall man relaying these, or is a point man down on the floor the relay person? Whichever it is, the truss in these pictures is snugly brought to its resting place--in the hole reserved for it on the east wall and the slot left for it on the west wall. The man on either side then welds it into place. The man in the middle bucket must disconnect the cable spreaders, the lines attached to the truss. Notice the harnesses on the men in the buckets. These are attached a tether line that acts as a safety line in case a worker would lean too far out from the bucket and fall. We do pray frequently for the safety of the workers! The vertical bars that are hanging from the truss in one picture are hangers for the catwalk. Finally, we can see the "dash board" in a parked bucket. The men we see in the photos above are not only performing their various tasks in the air, but are also maneuvering the vehicle from which the bucket extends. All of this requires a great deal of concentration in order to remain safe and efficient, one would think.
The next posting will show the next act on the roof. Be sure to come back after the break!