Unbuilding the Grace and Pearman Bridges

For Sparky and myself, curiosity drives passion which in turn fuels our life's engine. Our passion was capturing the story of both unbuilding the Grace (1929 - 2007) and Pearman (1966 - 2007) Bridges and discovering the unbuilders. It takes a lot of passion to track a project from July 2005 until April 2007 - rain, shine, hurricanes or moving to Singapore. We discovered the joy of discovery learning. Ken Canty opened the front door for us - then Steve Testa, Ponch Billingsley and Mickey Rogers opened many side doors. Below are the highlights of what we discovered, who we met and what we learned.

And a reminder from T.S. Eliot (East Coker from the Four Quartets)

Home is where one starts from. As we grow older
The world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated
Of dead and living. Not the intense moment
Isolated, with no before and after,
But a lifetime burning in every moment
And not the lifetime of one man only
But of old stones that cannot be deciphered.

Home Meeting St East Bay Drum Island Mt. PLeasant Pearman Stories Grace Stories Implosions Enginnering Insights Stories of unbuilders Learning Links Bridge Video Bridge Blog Unbuilding Archive All Unbuilding Segments Building the Ravenel Bridge Photo Essays About me

November 2, 2006: Chris and his Ironworker Acrobats

Carlos, Nugget and Stan: Ironworkers, acrobats or clowns?

Cousin Arthur looks a bit lonely - but look at the clouds. A perfect day for a bit of building

Today Sparky caught Chris and Manny and their cranes with Carlos, Nugget and Stan in the air while Troy is working on the ground. Here is the worksite and the project - add legs to the 2nd Pearman support

Here is the aerial configuration - Carlos, Nugget and Stan

You can tell it is Nugget - just look at his chin

Nugget signaling Manny and his red-crane-that-can

The base of one of the supports

Another view

Here is the other base - a virgin base that will com into action later today

Here they are - Stan, Carlos and Nugget - we've missed them and they have brought back their smiles and energy.

Are these guys acrobats, ironworkers are clowns?? - Whatever, they bring a bit of fun to the job

Here is Stan and his welding cap in the up position while Manny holds the triple support tube array in place.

The completed Grace support

Here is our team - Carlos handing the torch while Stan is manhandling the angle iron and Nugget is whispering encouraging words from above. Click to watch this dynamic trio do their thing