Invisible Occupation | National Geographic

over the past few decades the
freeze-thaw cycle on this bridge has
resulted in cracks that span the entire
depth of the bridge the crew prepared
for the job by erecting wood shielding
on the underside of the deck this
ensures that their work debris won’t
fall on the railroad tracks below first
the crew has to jackhammer out every
inch of concrete the men will cut
through the rebar and climb inside the
hole to erect the plywood form on which
the new concrete will be bored once the
form is in place the crew will tie in
brand-new rebar lastly they’ll fill the
hole with rabid set concrete like a
well-oiled assembly line the men ready
their drills and air hoses preparing for
a long night of jackhammering ahead even
with every man on the job this process
could take over four hours and with Jay
still in the emergency room the men have
to shoulder his share of the work but in
his haste to get started eric has
forgotten one very important thing
in the middle of the night staying
visible is crucial to staying alive
unlike a partial repair tonight they
have to jackhammer out all the concrete
108 cubic feet until they’re left with
only rebar
jackhammers nothing but a vibrating pry
bar
jackhammering for 26 hours a night it
stopped to not feel eat hands and stuff
always trying to stretch a hands and we
like that tingling all the time even
wake up in the morning they still like
that jakim is 190 pounds then you figure
the bets a couple of pounds plus all the
hoes you drag around the hammer punches
right through a hole and there’s nothing
holding it up but the rebar and yourself
the skid steers move in to clear out the
rubble