Years ago, I met a man who took me up more than 1,800 feet above the ground in Gaston County. Here's how I got up there, what I saw, and what it's like to climb towers for a living.
Kinda seems like a job for robots now...at least rourine stuff like bulb changes. I know I could never go up there! Thanks for sharing the experience, Jeremy!
On building construction the lifts on the side of the incomplete structure are called hoists and not elevators. I know not what the critical distinction is nor how it changes from one type structure to another.
David Haas was my instructor at Gaston college. That was around 30 years ago. I remember the first time he talked about working on the towers, he told how he was so fascinated with this tower that while they were building it he would spend his lunch breaks watching. I knew I had to see the view from the top of this terrifying work of art so I asked him, what are the chances of me going up with you sometime. He said, I'll call you the next time I go up. Great, I said, figuring that would be the end of it. A few weeks later my phone rang, it was David. He was going up in a few days. Long story short, it was one of the coolest things I've ever done. It was everything the author said and then some. I got a little nervous once or twice but just like the author said, David was as cool as the center seed of a cucumber.
What a fantastic well written piece which petrified me till the end. Heck, the pictures gave me vertigo.
Kinda seems like a job for robots now...at least rourine stuff like bulb changes. I know I could never go up there! Thanks for sharing the experience, Jeremy!
Really enjoyed this one, Jeremy. Such good writing. Way to go to the limits to research a story. Well done!
Thanks, i would love to have his job.
On building construction the lifts on the side of the incomplete structure are called hoists and not elevators. I know not what the critical distinction is nor how it changes from one type structure to another.
David Haas was my instructor at Gaston college. That was around 30 years ago. I remember the first time he talked about working on the towers, he told how he was so fascinated with this tower that while they were building it he would spend his lunch breaks watching. I knew I had to see the view from the top of this terrifying work of art so I asked him, what are the chances of me going up with you sometime. He said, I'll call you the next time I go up. Great, I said, figuring that would be the end of it. A few weeks later my phone rang, it was David. He was going up in a few days. Long story short, it was one of the coolest things I've ever done. It was everything the author said and then some. I got a little nervous once or twice but just like the author said, David was as cool as the center seed of a cucumber.
Article was "breathtaking"---haha! Excellent!
I can't imagine doing that for a living.
It makes my climb to the top of Oak Island lighthouse (at age 66) seem like child's play. (But I did get a T-shirt.)
This is beautifuil. Thanks from a retired journo.
Exceptional piece, Jeremy. Really nice work.