Wind caught my load on a high-rise job last Thursday

I was on a 12-story residential build in downtown Austin when a gust pushed my steel beam into the side of the building. Took me 20 minutes to swing it clear without scraping the brick, and I had to re-rig the tag lines after that. Anyone else deal with sudden gusts on tight urban sites?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella_foster29d ago

You ever have one of those days where you think you've got everything dialed in, and then the wind just laughs at you... I was working on a site near the river once, and a gust caught the corner of a sheet of plywood I was carrying on the roof. It lifted me right off my feet for a second. Scared the living daylights out of me and I nearly dropped the whole thing into the street below. The foreman didn't let me forget it for a month. That's why I always watch the weather reports like a hawk now, even if it means waiting an extra hour for the wind to die down.

sean11929d ago

Man that's wild lol. I had something similar happen back when I was helping a buddy frame a garage. A big gust caught a whole sheet of OSB I was passing up and it damn near took me with it. I learned the hard way too, now I check the wind speed on my phone before I even grab a ladder. If it's blowing over 15 mph I just tell the crew we're doing ground work or waiting it out. Not worth busting your back or getting someone hurt over a few minutes of time. The guys give me crap about being paranoid sometimes but I've seen too many close calls living in my life lol.

-1