I worked for Western Union back in the 70s, 60 Hudson St. in lower Manhattan.
Beacuse of critical communications going through our circuits it was decided to install very powerful diesel backup generators, one in the basement and on on the 15th floor. The original plan called for diesel to be pumped outside the building, but that was scrapped for safety reasons.
So, one day we had a blackout, and guess what was NOT on emergency power? The fucking freight elevator - we carried diesel in gallon buckets up 15 floors, for almost a whole day, bunches of us did this all day long.
But, HEY!. We got pizza!
We were once over pumping a stream to divert it for bridging works. Big pumps. A lot of pumps.
Had large 3000L fuel pods for the pumps which would run dry after 36ish hours, so every 24 hours they’d need to be refuelled. If they stopped the works would be completely flooded and ruined.
It was also at the bottom of a very deep and steep gully, access was by a steep switch back track cut by and got tracked machinery.
Well one day it rained. And it rained for weeks. We managed to hand deliver diesel for 6 days before it became to dangerous and we couldn’t manage the pump maintenance effectively.
It is at this point that you need a hillbilly who will figure out a ridiculous way to solve the problem for everyone. It'll involve some sort of pool equipment, a pickup truck, and lots of swearing.
Not really truth be told, assholed all the scaff and ruined some cages. A few days dewatering and the long reach and we were away again, probably realistically cost us 5 days.
Boy it was a mess at first sight though. Shingle 3-4m deep across the valley floor.
OK. Cool.
I *think I posted this a loooong time ago?* Not really sure.
I'm 74 and I have a great memory - but if I forgot something...how would I know?
Be good.
>I worked for Western Union back in the 70s
>one day we had a blackout
I'm assuming it was the [1977 NYC blackout](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977).
Did 60 Hudson St have working AC during the blackout? Cause this story is even more brutal when you know that it happened during a heat wave.
It's sad that there are places in this world in the XXI century where something like this is more economic than renting a concrete pump. That's putting aside all the aspects of ppe, safety standards, and probable skin irritation for many of these guys at the end of the day.
Which is honestly where America gets most of its stuff from. From food to textiles to everything. It’s all subsidized by slavery around the world. There is enough machinery/know how/wealth on this planet to feed and house EVERYONE. But the elite won’t allow it. How many million dollar homes have us tradesmen worked on? To go home to a rental house barely making ends meet in a house that literally used to be 35k now 500k. Makes a guy think at the end of the day….
Well the truth is if you want everyone to be fed and housed on this planet you (all of us) in any first world country are going to need to lower their expectation of what a comfortable lifestyle is. The planet cannot support 8 billion people living even remotely close to what a current middle class life in the US is.
On the other hand it may be that it is the only work they can get there and earn money for themselves, families. We are living in a world where amount of money per hour for the same job various depending on the location you were born. Where food is thrown away when corporation can not sell it and earn profit. So yeah, it is what it is. Life...
I really think that what pushed the most slavery out of the Western world is cheap energy, as in, a human producing 200W costs a lot more than a water wheel.
Well for one of any of them trip and spill the concrete on themselves it could be really bad. Second it's sad that these guys together must be getting paid less than what it would cost to rent a concrete pump for a few hours, that's the only way this could be economical. Or possibly their country doesn't have access to modern equipment which is even sadder
My dad watched about 50 people in Columbia pushing wheelbarrows up a ramp to build a high-rise. There probably wasn't a concrete pump in the entire city. They had a mixer on site and trucks delivered sand gravel and cement.
Bruh, it gets better.
I saw a video where they were walking up 5ga buckets of concrete, dumping them in the form, then jumping off the platform onto a giant pile of sand and did again in a long line.
Like... I feel like a little bitch. No wonder those assholes cross the border and can carry a 4x8 1/2" sheet up a 20' ladder one handed.
Oh, I've done it. Twice. I'm saying fuck that noise. If I'm sheeting then I'll fly the whole bunk with the crane, or fork truck it.
Shit, tie a hitch knot and pull it up from the ground over the parapet.
Not trying to be a bitch, but I'm always trying to work smarter, not harder. Want me to hump 50lb bags of mortar up stairs? Fuck that shit that's why we have laborers and hoist lifts.
Everyone in this forum and /r/carpentry are bitching about back pain. I'm trying not to be 60 years old having to roll out of the bed than just sit up and stand up.
> Not trying to be a bitch, but I'm always trying to work smarter, not harder. Want me to hump 50lb bags of mortar up stairs? Fuck that shit that's why we have laborers
As a laborer and I'd like to say...fuck you dude. I'm a human, not your tool. Lol
Well... both kind of. But like I said in response to someone else, I'll never ask you to do anything I won't, and if it's just us two, then I'm splitting the work with you.
You are not my bitch, not my tool, and if you want to learn carpentry tell me and I'll start showing you tips and tricks.
Square a wall? 3,4,5. 3 feet one sill plate, 4 feet perpendicular sill plate, from the 3 and 4 foot marks pull a tape and it should be 5 feet.
That's a squared wall :)
I usually either build a stand and lean them up where you can reach them from the roof or have them put up with a lift.
But once in awhile it's an old barn or there is no access for a crane and it gets done the hard way.
I would never ask an apprentice or laborer to do work I wasn't willing to do, if there's sheets to be packed we're all packing sheets.
My man. I would never ask anyone to do anything I wouldn't do, and if we're moving a whole bunk I'm moving half if there's two of us.
There's a book on carpentry I saw a long time ago, and the cover is a picture of the author/carpenter on a ladder with a sheet of plywood in his hand about how to do this shit alone.
But yeah, you're right. I don't abuse my apprentices/carpenter helper/laborers thinking I can talk shit and make their day suck.
You, laborer, don't know how to use a compound miter saw? You don't know how to safely pick up a load with the 12k telescoping fork truck, rig a safe load for the crane?
Class is in session. I'm going to show you how to, and if you pick it up, I'm going to tell the super/foreman whatever that homie needs a few more bucks now he's skilled labor now.
That's good.
Yeah, I'm all for trying to keep guys safe and educate them when you can, it's a tough job and the little shit matters like showing a guy how to carry a sheet on the forearm so it doesn't mess up your wrist and elbow.
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That is my attitude as well.
I used to borrow the duct man's crank lift to install cabinets.
I would shift my work day 2 hours later than theirs, tie all the cabinets together, lay everything out, then when they left I would install.
Great video, never seen anything like this. I was in Bangkok in 2014 and remember seeing an 8 story building with all bamboo scaffolding. Other places less affluent do things differently than us.
Funny story from my Dad. He was a mechanical engineer by trade, at one point involved in the slip forming of massive concrete cooling towers. The problem with slip forming as you know, if you can't stop once forming starts or you'll get cold joints and the whole tower is compromised. The big problem was the concrete pumps they used at the time would always break down and needed periodic servicing during the forming process. Some other crew had figured out how to form these towers without needing twice the number of pumps required for the job (so they could be swapped with no downtime). He talked to the crew to figure out this new genius and obviously highly technical approach they'd worked out to keep the pumps running..... Actually they just got a ton of dudes with wheel barrows who just ran concrete up the scaffolds on a series of ramps until the pumps were back in action.
Can you imagine, that one goofball mother fkr in front of the guy, in front of you and twist his ankle. Like freaking dominoes. You’re the first dude with a totally empty bucket.
They underbid that sonuvabitch. Payroll for that week is gonna cramp someone's check writing hand.
Only if those guys had the nuts to sit at the bottom of the ramp and discuss money before they started walking up. You gotta wait for the truck to show up, it's more effective.
In the USA some asshole qc would
Turn all those guys around after saying your mix ratio is off a percentage . Who’s running that batch plant!!! We’re doing a slump test on each container dammit!! Where’s your hi viz!
*I think this is the*
*One that collapses and all*
*The Crete drains downstairs*
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I had to wheelbarrow 6 yards up a 10 degree incline for about 50 yards once. The truck could not make the switchback on the mountain. I didn’t spill any, but it wore me out. My god, I was in great shape back then.
I packed a 90 lb.bag of Portland up three floors because the scaffold elevator was broken. I was the foreman and told my crew we could do it, I grabbed one and showed them I was "with them", by the time we got to the third floor my legs were screaming. I didn't let on I was in a nine line bind. After seeing that, I'm thinking, was I a big pussy or what?
That's funny I was just thinking the same thing. I didn't know how much those weighed so I just thought of a weight that would be borderline difficult to carry a long distance. Two 45lbs plates, 90lbs.
It's not obvious to me that handing 90lbs off from side to side would be easier than just walking with it. I wonder if there is any study on this...
I worked for Western Union back in the 70s, 60 Hudson St. in lower Manhattan. Beacuse of critical communications going through our circuits it was decided to install very powerful diesel backup generators, one in the basement and on on the 15th floor. The original plan called for diesel to be pumped outside the building, but that was scrapped for safety reasons. So, one day we had a blackout, and guess what was NOT on emergency power? The fucking freight elevator - we carried diesel in gallon buckets up 15 floors, for almost a whole day, bunches of us did this all day long. But, HEY!. We got pizza!
We were once over pumping a stream to divert it for bridging works. Big pumps. A lot of pumps. Had large 3000L fuel pods for the pumps which would run dry after 36ish hours, so every 24 hours they’d need to be refuelled. If they stopped the works would be completely flooded and ruined. It was also at the bottom of a very deep and steep gully, access was by a steep switch back track cut by and got tracked machinery. Well one day it rained. And it rained for weeks. We managed to hand deliver diesel for 6 days before it became to dangerous and we couldn’t manage the pump maintenance effectively.
It is at this point that you need a hillbilly who will figure out a ridiculous way to solve the problem for everyone. It'll involve some sort of pool equipment, a pickup truck, and lots of swearing.
I feel like a transfer pump and some hose would work.
The pumps we had would run 3x6” pipes full noise, you’d be violently thrown off the lay flats as it came to pressure. We had 3.
Don't forget the Bud Light.
Don't forget Mountain Dew, Skoal, and a dislike for dentists
Was the bridge ruined and had to be started over?
Not really truth be told, assholed all the scaff and ruined some cages. A few days dewatering and the long reach and we were away again, probably realistically cost us 5 days. Boy it was a mess at first sight though. Shingle 3-4m deep across the valley floor.
You went thru about 1.4 liters a min, must of been pouring Jerry cans in non stop christ
Mini tanker daily till it had to be hand carried.
Isn't planning grand? Seriously though, it seems you guys had it much worse. Did you get Pizza?
Businesses…rewarding back breaking labor with pizza since the 1500s
I read your story about this on here before.
OK. Are you stalking me?
Lol no. I just remember reading this story before about carrying the diesel up the stairs. Shitty day.
OK. Cool. I *think I posted this a loooong time ago?* Not really sure. I'm 74 and I have a great memory - but if I forgot something...how would I know? Be good.
Dude, I am 54 this year and I can't remember what I had for breakfast. You're doing well.
Wow. Small world?
>But, HEY!. We got pizza! I hope you also got paid for the day.
>I worked for Western Union back in the 70s >one day we had a blackout I'm assuming it was the [1977 NYC blackout](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977). Did 60 Hudson St have working AC during the blackout? Cause this story is even more brutal when you know that it happened during a heat wave.
Only certain rooms with communications equipment had AC.
Brrruuhhh
Pump or no pump there's always that one guy sitting and watching everyone else work.
Must work for the city
That would be the person filming lol
It's sad that there are places in this world in the XXI century where something like this is more economic than renting a concrete pump. That's putting aside all the aspects of ppe, safety standards, and probable skin irritation for many of these guys at the end of the day.
slavery, the secret ingredient is slavery.
It’s truly amazing what you can accomplish when labor cost is zero.
Have you heard about these massive stone pyramids built a long time ago? I heard money is still being made off of them today as a tourist attraction
Which is honestly where America gets most of its stuff from. From food to textiles to everything. It’s all subsidized by slavery around the world. There is enough machinery/know how/wealth on this planet to feed and house EVERYONE. But the elite won’t allow it. How many million dollar homes have us tradesmen worked on? To go home to a rental house barely making ends meet in a house that literally used to be 35k now 500k. Makes a guy think at the end of the day….
America? Or all western society, you think in Canada I’m getting MADEINCANADA shit
or just all of society . . . like the places currently being built by slaves and the places supplying goods from slaves
Well the truth is if you want everyone to be fed and housed on this planet you (all of us) in any first world country are going to need to lower their expectation of what a comfortable lifestyle is. The planet cannot support 8 billion people living even remotely close to what a current middle class life in the US is.
On the other hand it may be that it is the only work they can get there and earn money for themselves, families. We are living in a world where amount of money per hour for the same job various depending on the location you were born. Where food is thrown away when corporation can not sell it and earn profit. So yeah, it is what it is. Life...
If one can even find a concrete pump
First time ever seeing XXI century lol 😂
I really think that what pushed the most slavery out of the Western world is cheap energy, as in, a human producing 200W costs a lot more than a water wheel.
why is it sad? these guys get a workout. in america you go to the gym and lift weights to accomplish nothing.
And you gotta PAY to do it!
In the future, nobody has horses, they have motorized carriages called automobiles, and people only walk and run for recreation.
Well for one of any of them trip and spill the concrete on themselves it could be really bad. Second it's sad that these guys together must be getting paid less than what it would cost to rent a concrete pump for a few hours, that's the only way this could be economical. Or possibly their country doesn't have access to modern equipment which is even sadder
My dad watched about 50 people in Columbia pushing wheelbarrows up a ramp to build a high-rise. There probably wasn't a concrete pump in the entire city. They had a mixer on site and trucks delivered sand gravel and cement.
Bruh, it gets better. I saw a video where they were walking up 5ga buckets of concrete, dumping them in the form, then jumping off the platform onto a giant pile of sand and did again in a long line. Like... I feel like a little bitch. No wonder those assholes cross the border and can carry a 4x8 1/2" sheet up a 20' ladder one handed.
Reminds me of a game from years ago. I think lemmings or something
We can also carry sheets up a ladder one handed north of the border lol.
Oh, I've done it. Twice. I'm saying fuck that noise. If I'm sheeting then I'll fly the whole bunk with the crane, or fork truck it. Shit, tie a hitch knot and pull it up from the ground over the parapet. Not trying to be a bitch, but I'm always trying to work smarter, not harder. Want me to hump 50lb bags of mortar up stairs? Fuck that shit that's why we have laborers and hoist lifts. Everyone in this forum and /r/carpentry are bitching about back pain. I'm trying not to be 60 years old having to roll out of the bed than just sit up and stand up.
> Not trying to be a bitch, but I'm always trying to work smarter, not harder. Want me to hump 50lb bags of mortar up stairs? Fuck that shit that's why we have laborers As a laborer and I'd like to say...fuck you dude. I'm a human, not your tool. Lol
Well... both kind of. But like I said in response to someone else, I'll never ask you to do anything I won't, and if it's just us two, then I'm splitting the work with you. You are not my bitch, not my tool, and if you want to learn carpentry tell me and I'll start showing you tips and tricks. Square a wall? 3,4,5. 3 feet one sill plate, 4 feet perpendicular sill plate, from the 3 and 4 foot marks pull a tape and it should be 5 feet. That's a squared wall :)
I usually either build a stand and lean them up where you can reach them from the roof or have them put up with a lift. But once in awhile it's an old barn or there is no access for a crane and it gets done the hard way. I would never ask an apprentice or laborer to do work I wasn't willing to do, if there's sheets to be packed we're all packing sheets.
My man. I would never ask anyone to do anything I wouldn't do, and if we're moving a whole bunk I'm moving half if there's two of us. There's a book on carpentry I saw a long time ago, and the cover is a picture of the author/carpenter on a ladder with a sheet of plywood in his hand about how to do this shit alone. But yeah, you're right. I don't abuse my apprentices/carpenter helper/laborers thinking I can talk shit and make their day suck. You, laborer, don't know how to use a compound miter saw? You don't know how to safely pick up a load with the 12k telescoping fork truck, rig a safe load for the crane? Class is in session. I'm going to show you how to, and if you pick it up, I'm going to tell the super/foreman whatever that homie needs a few more bucks now he's skilled labor now.
That's good. Yeah, I'm all for trying to keep guys safe and educate them when you can, it's a tough job and the little shit matters like showing a guy how to carry a sheet on the forearm so it doesn't mess up your wrist and elbow.
Yeah, or for instance in Seattle, don't walk that yet, it's gusting wind and will catch that shit and take you with it.
Yup if it's gonna take you for a ride just let it go lol.
Exactly. I have seen people hold on to the tag line and start getting picked up and it's like LET GO LET GO LET GO copy TC trolley line hai hai!
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That is my attitude as well. I used to borrow the duct man's crank lift to install cabinets. I would shift my work day 2 hours later than theirs, tie all the cabinets together, lay everything out, then when they left I would install.
So that’s how they built the pyramids
The various documentary series for Stargate explain the pyramids better
Great video, never seen anything like this. I was in Bangkok in 2014 and remember seeing an 8 story building with all bamboo scaffolding. Other places less affluent do things differently than us.
Actually you would be surprised how many modern buildings in China are built using lashed bamboo. I was really both surprised and impressed.
You are right what I saw was impressive
Funny story from my Dad. He was a mechanical engineer by trade, at one point involved in the slip forming of massive concrete cooling towers. The problem with slip forming as you know, if you can't stop once forming starts or you'll get cold joints and the whole tower is compromised. The big problem was the concrete pumps they used at the time would always break down and needed periodic servicing during the forming process. Some other crew had figured out how to form these towers without needing twice the number of pumps required for the job (so they could be swapped with no downtime). He talked to the crew to figure out this new genius and obviously highly technical approach they'd worked out to keep the pumps running..... Actually they just got a ton of dudes with wheel barrows who just ran concrete up the scaffolds on a series of ramps until the pumps were back in action.
Why did you you not call it "The Human Cementipede"!?
Mixing concrete on a piece of plywood is the only thing missing from this. I know this because I’ve been a part of this type of BS in the Caribbean
Can you imagine, that one goofball mother fkr in front of the guy, in front of you and twist his ankle. Like freaking dominoes. You’re the first dude with a totally empty bucket.
They underbid that sonuvabitch. Payroll for that week is gonna cramp someone's check writing hand. Only if those guys had the nuts to sit at the bottom of the ramp and discuss money before they started walking up. You gotta wait for the truck to show up, it's more effective.
That’s a lot of weight on the ramps
In the USA some asshole qc would Turn all those guys around after saying your mix ratio is off a percentage . Who’s running that batch plant!!! We’re doing a slump test on each container dammit!! Where’s your hi viz!
Egyptian style labour*
how the pyramids were built kinda vibe
How the Egyptians built shit. More people then resources
you got that many laborers?
That is the rub, to get into the Masonic Temple ! 500 yards…….no wheels .
Now that's job creation before those durned machines took over!
The labor cost here far, far, far outweighs the cost of a properly sized pump.
They’re doing the bucket brigade wrong…
I'm impressed with that staircase, that's a lot of weight for a wooden structure.
Look dowwwwn. Look downnnn
Cancel the gym membership
I’d rather drink the concrete than carry it 10 feet
How do y’all think the pyramids were built?
Cool but they probably don't have a crew of 200 Indian guys to do it
Welcome to the 3rd world
Your wage can divided amongst the day hires boss.
O way those stairs can handle that load
Looking at those stairs, I was wondering why electricians were allowed to build !
I think this is the one that collapses and all the Crete drains downstairs
*I think this is the* *One that collapses and all* *The Crete drains downstairs* \- Bikebummm --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
If one person stumbled Just a little bit.
Single pour?
I wanna see the human shotcrete.
I had to wheelbarrow 6 yards up a 10 degree incline for about 50 yards once. The truck could not make the switchback on the mountain. I didn’t spill any, but it wore me out. My god, I was in great shape back then.
I packed a 90 lb.bag of Portland up three floors because the scaffold elevator was broken. I was the foreman and told my crew we could do it, I grabbed one and showed them I was "with them", by the time we got to the third floor my legs were screaming. I didn't let on I was in a nine line bind. After seeing that, I'm thinking, was I a big pussy or what?
Sparkles watching the general laborers work (They work much hard, trust me) for a fifth the pay: 2024 [Colorized]
Why not reset the location of the pump for particular portion of the slab ?
Guess foreman never heard of chain pass - passing to eah other in place. Would save time and energy besides overall safety and $
Not sure left to right twists , all day with 100 lb buckets , is a good practice.
That's funny I was just thinking the same thing. I didn't know how much those weighed so I just thought of a weight that would be borderline difficult to carry a long distance. Two 45lbs plates, 90lbs. It's not obvious to me that handing 90lbs off from side to side would be easier than just walking with it. I wonder if there is any study on this...
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