Tag: Caisson (engineering)

HDR Construction Images of a Morning in November 2013

Ironworkers from Local 70 preparing rigging on a caisson for the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville KY
Ironworkers from Local 70 preparing rigging on a caisson for the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville KY

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Today’s post is rather long on images yet short on words. I decided that what I wanted to show my readers was a series of several HDR construction images from a morning in November 2013. I thought sharing these HDR images from a single morning shoot would help my readers see how busy things are on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

I am always amazed at the skill and expertise that is required to do the work of Heavy Highway and Bridge Construction. Ironworkers, Carpenters and Operating Engineers must choreograph so many moves into placing the pieces of a single pier. The skill and commitment  to safety that they use to get the massive components in place is a sign of their professionalism and dedication to their respective trades. Any miscalculation when handling these pieces could result in slowing or stopping construction or even worse the very real possibility of the loss of someone’s life. For that reason the attention paid to properly performing each element in the process is paramount to safely accomplishing the task at hand.

Ironworker Local 70 member Travis tying rebar on a caisson. #2
Ironworker Local 70 member Travis attaching rigging to a caisson. #2

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Ironworker Local 70 member Travis tying rebar on a caisson.
Ironworkers Local 70 member Travis attaching rigging to the caisson.

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Crane booms in the sky
Crane booms in the sky.

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Ironworkers Sean and Travis rigging the caisson for the pick and placement in the pier casing. #2
Ironworkers Sean and Travis rigging the caisson for the pick and placement in the pier casing. #2

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Ironworkers Sean and Travis rigging the caisson for the pick and placement in the pier casing.
Ironworkers Sean and Travis rigging the caisson for the pick and placement in the pier casing.

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Starting the pick of the caisson as Travis and Sean stand by.
Starting the pick of the caisson as Travis stands by and Sean communicates with the crane operator through hand signs.

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Early morning on the Indiana Approach
Early morning on the Indiana Approach.

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Apprentice Carpenter Escarlett learning how to use a cutting torch.
Apprentice Carpenter, Escarlett, learning how to use a cutting torch.

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Placing a Caisson in the pier casing
Placing a Caisson in the pier casing on the Indiana approach of the downtown span.

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Placing a Caisson in the pier casing on the Indiana approach of the downtown span. #2
Placing a Caisson in the pier casing on the Indiana approach of the downtown span. #2

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Rigging the caisson for picking.
Sean and Travis rigging the caisson for picking.

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Sean and Travis rigging the caisson for picking. #2
Sean and Travis rigging the caisson for picking. #2

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I hope these HDR construction images help reveal the size and scope of the Ohio River Bridges Project as well as the my admiration for the skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen who perform these critical tasks. I also hope that the next time you see a construction site or meet a construction worker you will see their contribution to our way of life and the valuable part they play in building the world. Maybe you’ll even have a little more understanding of the important role that organized labor plays in providing skilled professionals that construct safe and dependable infrastructure for our world.

One final note about these images. All of the images in this post were created from three exposure bracket sets of +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures. They were merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and finished in Aperture 3. I use NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 because it does the best job I have found of reducing, and in most cases eliminating, ghosting when working with active subjects such as the men and women in these images. I finish the merged images in Aperture 3 because it allows me to control all the other variables such as color, contrast, sharpening etc in a non-destructive workflow.

Lowering the Caisson into the Pier Casing

Lowering the Caisson into the Casing.
Lowering the Caisson into the Casing.

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This HDR image shows the 60 foot long caisson as it is being guided, by the Ironworkers and Carpenters, into place inside the pier casing. After placing the caisson the next step will be to fill the pier with concrete. The steel casing sits on the river bottom and then the caisson fits into a rock socket has been bored 30 feet below the casing into the bedrock of the river bottom. This makes the total length on the pier nearly 60 feet from the surface to the base. The iron cylinder is there to both guide the drill during drilling and to form a protective shell for the pier once the bridge is built.

This image is from a three frame bracket set using -2, 0 and +2 EV settings. I merged the bracket set in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and because the workers were moving quite a bit I had to apply 80% anti-ghosting to isolate them and remove the ghosts of their arm movement. After merging and some mild tone-mapping in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 I returned the merged file to Aperture 3 where I completed my processing by adjusting contrast, alignment, sharpening and the individual color channels to achieve the look I wanted for the final image.

Final Assembly of the Pier Reinforcement Structure

Ironworkers on barge
Ironworkers on their construction barge put the final touches on the pier reinforcement structure.

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This image shows the pier reinforcement structure that will be taken out to the drilling platform in the background and installed inside a steel caisson  that has been drilled thirty feet into the bedrock under the river. The men are making their final assembly before rigging it to be lifted and inserted into the caisson the next day.

Once again I worked with a single frame from my bracket set in Aperture 3. I created a preset that I can apply to most of my shots from this day which will greatly speed up my processing for the entire shoot. Once I have my basic settings adjusted to suit my vision for the photo I create a preset that I can then apply to other images from the shoot and then adjust to fine tune a particular image.

Ironworkers Assembling an Iron Caisson

Ironworkers Assembling an Iron Caisson for a Bridge Pier on the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville Kentucky
Ironworkers Assembling an Iron Caisson for a Bridge Pier on the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville Kentucky.

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Ironworkers known as “Rod Busters” are seen here assembling a steel rebar caisson for the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville Kentucky. There is also a completed caisson in the background on the work barge. These caissons will be inserted into the steel cylinders that are in the right hand side of the image when those cylinders are placed in the river to build the piers for the new bridge. It was early in the morning and a fog bank was coming in from the east which diffused the light and lent an ethereal quality to the morning sunlight.