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The opening image is a shot of Monique Jones in the cab of here Front End Loader while working on the Ohio River Bridges Project. “Moe”, as she is known by the crew members at the Kentucky Approach of the Ohio River Bridges Project, is seldom without her wonderful smile. She is on the go all day long moving everything from rock for the project to large containers of parts.I don’t think I’ve ever seen her when she wasn’t sitting up there in her “office” smiling.
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In this second image of Monique she is talking with another Operating Engineer, Nan Grant. Nan is the Oiler for one of the cranes stationed on the Kentucky Approach to the Downtown Span on the Ohio River Bridges Project.
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The photo above is of Todd Blankenship one of the many Crane Operators on the Ohio River Bridges Project. It seems that nearly every photo I shoot of crane operators is from this vantage point. I think it is appropriate since their work has them looking high into the sky over the job.When guys like Todd have a load hanging from the crane they are constantly looking up to see the signals from the people they are working with. The job of a Crane Operator is one that carries immense responsibility; any mistake by them could cause a catastrophic situation if the load or the crane itself were to topple.
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In this photo Slade Rock and Jimbo Clark are working together to build a rebar structure for one of the many pier caps that support the roadway. In the background you can see a column with a concrete cap sitting on it. The structure Slade and Jimbo are working on will be lifted up and placed inside the concrete forms on another column to strengthen the concrete cap. Jimbo is a Journeyman Ironworker and is training Slade, who is an Apprentice Ironworker, how to layout and properly tie the rebar according to the blueprint specifications. As an Apprentice Slade will spend thousands of hours under the watchful eyes of experienced Journeymen like Jimbo learning the Ironworker’s Trade.
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I shot this photo of Jimbo Clark as he was tying the mat for the new roadway that will carry eastbound traffic onto I-71 North out of downtown Louisville. I liked the way the concrete abutment and the rebar for the barrier wall framed Jimbo in the shot. One other interesting thing about Jimbo is his love of photography. Almost all of the people on this job carry smartphones and snap photos of one another throughout the course of a day though few have as good an eye for composition as Jimbo. Jimbo shared several images on his phone with me one day and I was really astounded by the way he had framed his shots. When he told me he had been carrying a camera with him since his early days as an Ironworker I understood that he too was an avid photographer.
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One of the great pleasures of being a Heavy Highway and Bridges Construction photographer is getting to see the sunrise. Building our nation’s infrastructure is a demanding job that requires the women and men working there to face the elements each day. Many of them have commented to me about a beautiful sunset that they saw that morning especially if I get to their section later in the morning and fail to see what they saw. In this image I wanted to tell the story of how the day begins as the sun rises and the workers gather their tools and get their work assignment together.
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Whenever you see the Road Grader on the site you can be sure they are preparing the new road bed for the next phase of construction. The size and power of these massive machines is needed to move hundred of truckloads of gravel into place and leveled according to the plan specifications. On the Ohio River Bridges Project there in only one such grader working in Section One; it is operated by Neil Childress, another member of the Operating Engineers Union Local 181 in Louisville, Kentucky.
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In the image above you can see the beginnings of five of the six towers that will carry the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project. Since this image was taken a couple of weeks ago the sixth tower has emerged from the river and is well along the way to climbing into the sky.
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I liked this shot because it shows the concrete forms for square bridge columns along Main Street and the silhouette of the worker in the background.
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This image from above the construction near Slugger Field show a square concrete form being “flown” into place along Main Street. It will be lowered over the rebar structure and then stabilized and filled with concrete to form another bridge column.
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This view of the area by Slugger Field shows the progress being made on the current phase of Section One. On the right side you can see the cap for carrying the girders for the new roadway. On the left can be seen another cap that has been formed and will soon have concrete poured inside to make another pad for the girders that will carry the road. In the background the first completed section of southbound I-65 is clearly visible as it passes by Slugger Field.
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In the image above two Carpenters are working together to build a catwalk and safety rail around a concrete form for a bridge cap. Safety is paramount on the job and shows the commitment of the workers to preventing injury to anyone on the job.
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While building these concrete forms it is important that the Surveyors measure and verify that everthing is within the design specifications. In this image a Surveyor is being helped to get on top of the concrete form to take measurements.
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This image shows the steel girders that will carry the roadway from I-65 onto I-71 when the project is completed.
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I couldn’t resist taking this shot of the shadows formed by the steel girders and cross braces that placed cast initials on the ground. I took it as a sign that I am where I should be at this time and that my desire to document the Ohio River Bridges Project is the right choice for me.
