Tuesday 17 June 2014

SkyWalk Spring Clean + Fall In New Jersey

Rope Access Technicians Michael Duran (right) and Rick Dillman (left) dangle below the Grand Canyon Skywalk installing safety rigging in preparation for cleaning the glass. Click to enlarge.
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/2014/06/16/12news-grand-canyon-skywalk-cleaning/10642051/
Skywalk spring cleaning has workers dangling: Ever wonder how the underneath of the Grand Canyon Skywalk is cleaned? It takes a well-trained crew, a lot of rope - and no fear of heights. "Well, it's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Not every day you get to hang off the Grand Canyon," said Michael Duran, a rope access technician and project manager for Abseilon USA, a company specializing in this kind of work.

The trick to keeping his cool? "I don't look down," he laughed. "Try to focus on my job at hand, not really worry too much about what's underneath me. I already know it's a long way down." In fact, it's 4,700 feet down.


Duran and his crew dangled under the Skywalk using nearly 5,000 feet of rope on Monday, preparing safety rigging the cleaning crew will rely on Tuesday. "This is our Super Bowl today," said Abseilon USA Vice President Kenneth Piposar. "The Skywalk...doesn't get any better than this."

The Skywalk, which hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world visit annually, gets cleaned four times a year. "The window part is the easy part," said Duran. The difficult part, he says, is gaining safe access to the "window." "This is why we train, this is why we're skilled technicians," he said.

Rope Access Technicians Michael Duran roped to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, preparing for his crew to clean the glass.
It takes thousands of hours of practice to get to do a job like his.It may not be something you'd sign up for, but some jump at the chance. "The guys are licking their chops to get a piece of this job," said Piposar. "Everyone wants to be on the Skywalk. It's a one-in-a-million opportunity to be out there and do their work. I mean, those are bragging rights for life."

Minus the nerves, Duran says there's nothing like a bird's-eye view of one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. "It's a great view," he said. "It's nice when you get a chance to kind of stop and look. It's kind of an awe-inspiring experience." Also see here.

A window washer fell two stories from 210 Carnegie Center DrIve in West Windsor.
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2014/06/window_washer_falls_two_stories_from_west_winsor_office_building.html
Window washer falls two stories from West Windsor office building: A window washer fell two floors from the outside of a West Windsor office building this morning and had to be rescued from a balcony by first responders, officials said.

The man, whose identity and extent of injury were not revealed, fell from the fourth floor of 210 Carnegie Center Drive around 9 a.m. His fall was broken by the second-floor balcony. Fire and emergency medical responders brought him down from there, according to Jim Yates, director of fire emergency services. The man was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton. His condition was unknown.

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