Tag: Sunrise

The Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project nears completion of structural steel and cable stay operations.

The Downtown Span Approaches Completion

The work on the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span is moving so fast it is becoming more and more difficult to shoot, edit and post the photos I’m getting now. With Ironworkers, Raising Gangs and Cable Stay Gangs, working feverishly to complete their tasks it is hectic to say the least.

The Ohio River Bridges Downtown Span August 24-29, 2015

The Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project. HDR Version
The Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project. HDR Version

Last week the Ohio River Bridges Downtown Span grew another 180 feet in length. The cable stays on Tower Five were completed and the scaffolding to the top of the towers was removed. One of the cranes being used to build the bridge structure blew an engine but that didn’t keep the structural gang from completing the building of another 45 feet of bridge.

The photos in this post are both three frame HDR mergers and single frame images. In all cases the image was first adjusted for sharpness and color saturation in Adobe Camera Raw followed by a trip into Photoshop CS5 for lens correction when needed. I also used Topaz Clarity to bring out the texture and contrast which I applied to a separate layer; in several cases the opacity of the Topaz Clarity layer was reduced to between 25 -75%.

Progress of the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

This group of images shows the progress of the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project. The bridge deck is nearing completion as the Ironworker’s Structural Gang and Cable Stay Gangs extend the bridge decks on all three towers toward one another. It won’t be long until all the structural steel and cables are in place and the bridge will be one piece from shore to shore.

Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup.
Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup.

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The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup #2
The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup #2

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The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup
The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup.

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Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup. #4
Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup. #4

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The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup from Waterfront Park.
The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup from Waterfront Park.

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Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup. onOne Perfect B&W Version
Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup. onOne Perfect B&W Version

For this final panorama I decided to convert the scene to black and white simply to see what effect it would have on the image when compared to the color images.

 

Sunrise over Louisville’s Towhead Island

Towhead Island is at the eastern end of Waterfront Park in Louisville, KY.
Towhead Island is at the eastern end of Waterfront Park in Louisville, KY.

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Towhead Island is located in the Ohio River just east of downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It was formed by a barge that sank many years ago and obstructed the channel. Over many decades the river delivered loads of silt and debris which eventually created the island we see today. Not only is it a staging area for barges to be transported down river it is also a mini wildlife refuge hosting a few blue herons and the occasional beaver.

Fall sunrise on the Ohio River  in Louisville KY.
Fall foliage at sunrise on Towhead Island in the Ohio River at Louisville KY as seen from the observation deck below the Big Four Bridge.

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Towhead Island also creates a calm protected waterway to the University of Louisville’s boathouse, a police substation and a large marina. The lights on the distant shore are from the Jeff Boat boat building yards in Jeffersonville Indiana. On this particular morning the University of Louisville rowing teams were training and moving along the western end of the island.

People Working on The Ohio River Bridges Project

Monique Jones in her "office" on  the Front End Loader.
Monique Jones in her “office” on the Front End Loader.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

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.

Monique and Nan confer on the Ohio River Bridges Project.
Monique Jones and Nan Grant confer on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

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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.

Todd Blankenbaker, crane operator, on the Ohio River Bridges Project.
Todd Blankenship, crane operator in Section One of the Ohio River Bridges Pr0ject.

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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.

Slade Rock and Jimbo Clark tying rebar on the Ohio River Bridges Project.imbo Clark and Slade Rock tying rebar on the Ohio River Bridges Project.
Slade Rock and Jimbo Clark tying rebar on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

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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.

Jimbo Clark tying rebar for a new abutment on the Ohio River Bridges Project.
Jimbo Clark tying rebar for a new abutment on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

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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.

Ironworkers gather their tools to start the day on the Ohio River Bridges Project.
Ironworkers gather their tools to start the day on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

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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.

Neil Childress grading along I-71 as part of the Ohio River Bridges Project.
Neil Childress grading along I-71 as part of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

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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.

Progress on the Bridge Towers is Going Strong
Progress on the Bridge Towers is Going Strong

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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.

Concrete forms for bridge columns along Main Street.
Concrete forms for bridge columns along Main Street.

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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.

Crane Flying Column Form Into Place
Crane Flying Column Form Into Place at Slugger Field

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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.

Slugger Field Progress
Slugger Field Progress

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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.

Carpenters Installing Safety Rail
Carpenters Installing a Safety Rail on a Concrete Form

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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.

Carpenters assist a Surveyor while building a safety rail around the top of a concrete form.
Carpenters assist a Surveyor while building a safety rail around the top of a concrete form.

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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.

Steel Girders for the I-71 section of Spaghetti Junction march east.
Steel Girders for the I-71 section of Spaghetti Junction march east.

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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.

Shadow pattern of cross bracing and steel girders making an "N" on the earth.
Shadow pattern of cross bracing and steel girders making an “N” on the earth.

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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.