by Terry Costales
(15 of 17)
On a Wednesday morning a month later, workers were being taken
up to the bridge to begin work. To the left was the ventilation tube
that was operating to bring fresh air to their workplace.
by Terry Costales
(17 of 17)
The ventilation tubes after a month of use. Notice the bases of
the tubes are attached to stout ventilation machines. It was unclear
if one sucked and one blew, or if they both blew.
by Terry Costales
(1 of 17)
A series of ventilation tubes were installed up one leg of the Bay Bridge.
The clear intent was to provide fresh air to
workers above from the ground below. Here, the first two sections of tube
were
by Terry Costales
(2 of 17)
Close up of the installer working on a boom lift. Note that the man wore
a safety harness. The yellow tubes were held up with what looked like boxing straps.
by Terry Costales
(3 of 17)
The next day started with a heavy rain storm that delayed work.
Over the previous day the bottom half of the tubes had been installed
all the way to the ground.
by Terry Costales
(4 of 17)
The rain slacked of mid day and allowed the work to continue.
Dressed in rain gear and a safety harness, the man was flanked with
two boxed tubes. It was unclear why it took two additional men on
by Terry Costales
(5 of 17)
The worker operated the boom lift in a manner that allowed it to rise
vertically with little horizontal drift. Notice how the previous day's
straps caused partial collapse of one of the tubes.
by Terry Costales
(6 of 17)
The boom lift approached the place where the previous day's tubes
began. Note the clouds just starting to clear in the distance.
by Terry Costales
(8 of 17)
Just as the tubes had been installed from the top down the day before,
today's tubes would also be installed from the top down. The boom lift
continued to rise slowly to the endpoint of the
by Terry Costales
(10 of 17)
The rain returned as just a sprinkle but the work continued.
The gap between the bottom and top tubes would still be finished this day.
by Terry Costales
(11 of 17)
The ends of the new tubes had been attached to the bottoms of the prior tubes.
The worker made ready to descend, feeding out and strapping this next run of tubes.
by Terry Costales
(12 of 17)
Just like the gold spike joining the transcontinental railway, the
top tubes were finally joined to the bottom tubes in the middle. Note the
two men still waiting below and the lack of a crowd of
