It's Quiet Up There

Mr Chirnside says it is quiet at the top of the 243-metre-tall Soul building on the Gold Coast. Click to enlarge.

Abseiling daredevils keep Gold Coast skyscrapers clean, top to bottom: Meet the workers who dangle from ropes hundreds of metres from the ground to keep the Gold Coast's skyscrapers clean. The iconic, gleaming towers of Surfers Paradise are visible from miles around and recognisable across the globe. The most effective way to maintain their shine is by sending someone out on a rope with a squeegee. Dean Chirnside is one such man.

His company maintains several towers, inside and out, across the glitter strip including the 243-metre-tall Soul building. "Everything is a lot smaller to look down at," Mr Chirnside told ABC Gold Coast. "It's quite quiet up there … the sounds doesn't travel up so far."

Cleaning tall buildings is in his blood. His father started a window cleaning business when they moved to the Gold Coast in 1986. Although the buildings were not as tall back then, Mr Chirnside worked in the family business during school holidays.

"A job came up as an abseiler and I took it and it's been great ever since," he said. "The view is great. You're not locked up in an office — fresh air, you're out in the sun. "When you are hanging outside someone's window they're always keen to have a chat."

When you are swinging around outside hotel windows high above the ground, occasionally you will stumble across some private, intimate moments. "From time to time you may catch someone out," Mr Chirnside said. "It's not something we're looking out for it but it's something that does happen from time to time."

The tower cleaning can take up to five days to complete. Although it may look frightening, Mr Chirnside said the danger was minimal as long as you keep your mind on the job. "It's pretty demanding, you're hanging on a rope for hours at a time, out in the sun," he said. "You've just got to really just get it done." The crews even time their work to be back on solid ground in time for lunch.

Having someone abseil with a bucket and squeegee remains the most cost-effective way to clean skyscrapers.

The Illustrated Window Cleaner

An illustrated water colour look at high rise window cleaning in Australia.

What's it like to be a high-rise window washer? Head to the top of the concrete jungle with high-flying cleaner Caleb Wilkinson. By Lucy Fahey & Paul Donoughue.

My heart was pounding the first time I went off a 21-storey building. White knuckling is what they call it — going over the edge and just holding on for dear life.

If you leap over the edge, that will put a shock load onto your system and that can pop the anchor point from the roof. A 'controlled descent' is what people like to call it.

When I first started I was doing a building and I [was] facing the actual wall, and cleaning the window, I was 100 per cent fine. And then a big gust of wind turned me around so I was actually facing the Brisbane River. That was when I first pooed my pants. Not literally, but it scared the bejesus out of me.

When we go up to a roof to do a job, there should be certified anchor points installed. I normally do a figure-of-eight knot, and I put a carabiner onto the anchor point and hook my rope into that. The ropes that we use are rated to at least a minimum of two tonnes.

We'll have a spotter on the ground so that when we are lowering our rope we'll make sure that, yes, it is definitely touching the ground.

I have heard in the industry of people who just do their business into a bucket if they are doing window cleaning. Or they will just do it in their pants and then they will pour their water from their window cleaning onto themselves just to wash themselves off.

I am not that type of person. I will just hold it, and just try to get the job done.

There have been times where I was abseiling down and the people had their back to me but I could see their computer screens, and they were on Facebook when they should have been working. I have known of people who have abseiled down buildings and there have been people, you know, having relations inside or in the middle of getting dressed or something.

Once I was doing a taller window drop, and everyone knew we were there but I caught someone on the toilet. And I just swung around the other way until they had finished their business. Not the nicest thing, I can tell you that.

I've had a lady cry because she was scared for me. In order to stop her from crying, it was pretty much clean the window as quick as possible and move down out of her line of sight.

I was at the retirement home and one of the ladies was deaf, and she saw just my legs hanging from the window — she couldn't see the rest of me — so she ran to her next door neighbour. 'Oh my God, there's a boy on the side of the building, I think he's stuck, I don't know what to do'.

By the time they came out onto the balcony I was down [below them]. I was like, 'Hi, how's it going?' We do confuse some people and scare some people but all in all a lot of people just let us do our job and leave us alone.

It is always good to have a bit of interaction. We've had coffees offered to us. 'Thank you very much, but I can't secure the cup.'

A lot of the boys do wear sunscreen — it's just their personal choice whether they want skin cancer or not.

We were doing a building and it was about 35, 37 degrees outside and the windows that we were doing were black tinted windows, so the reflection that comes off that adds another couple of degrees. And you can get sunburnt just by the reflection of the windows.

A lot of people just say, 'I'm glad it's you and not me' and 'I would never do that — I hope you get paid a F-load of money'.

Ropes Of Window Washer Netanel Arami Intentionally Cut

Authorities believe Palestinian workers may have cut rope of Netanel Arami, who was hanging by the 11th floor of a building, sending him to his death.

Police suspect man who fell to death was murdered: Investigation shows that ropes holding window washer Netanel Arami were intentionally cut • Police looking into possible nationalistic motives • Family accuses authorities of covering up motive for murder, calls protest march in Bat Yam.

A window washer who fell to his death from the 11th floor of a Petach Tikva building at a construction site two weeks ago was murdered, police announced on Tuesday. They said the ropes that had secured Netanel Roei Arami, 26, to the building had been cut intentionally, possibly out of nationalistic motives.

Arami had been strapped into rappeling equipment while at work washing the windows. Initial investigations and evidence from Arami's workmates indicated that he had been working carefully, as he always did. The team of window washers had rappeled off the roof, and when their work was done, lowered themselves all the way down. When Arami's workmates did not see him on the ropes, they searched the area and were shocked to discover him on the ground.

The workers called an ambulance and the Petach Tikva police, who opened an investigation that was later handed off to the Shin Bet security agency.  Since the incident, Arami's family has been angry at the police and their alleged obfuscation of what took place. On Tuesday, Arami's parents and pregnant widow, Moriah, convened a press conference. The couple's two children -- Avia, 4, and Itai, 2 -- were also there.

"We knew from the beginning this was murder, because he was a professional. The fact that he was murdered because he was Jewish leads us to demand that the killers be brought to justice," said Arami's mother, Miriam. "The government needs to draw the right conclusions about how to treat terrorists. I am pleading that Netanel be the last victim. If the punishment isn't harsh enough, I'm afraid it won't be enough. All this whitewashing won't help," she said.

Arami's parents, Uziel and Miriam, and his widow, Moriah.

Uziel Arami, Netanel's father, said, "The loss of my son Netanel is the public's loss. Every day [terrorists] slam us. We weep for what God took from us and want Netanel to be the last victim of the Jewish people. Our strength is in unity. So we are asking the public's and media's help in bringing the truth to light."

Uziel said the family would hold a protest walk Wednesday evening from Yoseftal Street in Bat Yam toward the local police station. Moriah Arami described her late husband as "an amazing father. A man with no enemies … a full partner. A devoted father. A working man who left every day to make a living. An amazing husband."

The family's attorney, from the Honenu National Legal Defense Organization, Hori Nizori, said: "Two weeks ago, Netanel Arami was murdered, and since then welfare authorities have not contacted the family. … Only after two weeks of pressure from us and from MK Moshe Feiglin, did the police agree to partially lift the gag order [on the case] and admit that they are looking into possible nationalistic motives for the murder."

Feiglin said at the press conference that "whenever it's possible to turn a blind eye and stick their head in the sand, the police and the establishment does so, because it's apparently convenient, or because they are afraid of protests. There was pro-Hamas and pro-Islamic State graffiti on the building. Stones from the building were found in nearby playgrounds."

The police have not responded to the family's statements. According to the police, an investigative team has met with the Arami family no fewer than four times, including on Monday with the head detective. The police also said the family knew about the gag order and had received an update when it was partially lifted, and that some 20 minutes after the incident took place, Arami's brother arrived and said that he wanted to notify the rest of the family himself. 

A police source said, "All possibilities are being investigated. It is still unclear if this was nationalistically motivated. There have been no arrests thus far, and the investigation is ongoing and intensive." 'My son was murdered because he was Jewish'. Mother of Netanel Arami, who was killed 2 weeks ago after falling off the 11th floor of a building, criticizes authorities for mishandling the family, calls for capture of perpetrators.

“He told me several times that he was afraid that the Arabs at the construction site would try to kill him by cutting the cables,” his wife, Moria.

Police suspect murder in construction worker’s death: Family of Netanel Arami, who died in a fall two weeks ago, accuses authorities of covering up facts to keep public calm. Police lifted a gag order Tuesday on an investigation into the death of an Israeli construction worker who died in a fall at a building site in Petah Tikvah, confirming that he may have been murdered.

Following the death of Netanel Arami, 27, two weeks ago, in what police initially said was an accidental fall — both the cables he was using to rappel down the face of a building snapped — his family lobbied for police to investigate the possibility that he was murdered. “He told me several times that he was afraid that the Arabs at the construction site would try to kill him by cutting the cables,” his wife, Moria, said, according to Israeli news site NRG.

Arami’s brother, Ohad, said that his brother was a professional with many years’ experience who always employed proper safety measures, and there was no chance the fall could have been an accident. “When they are working and rappelling from high up, they are attached to two cables so that if one snaps, there is a backup cable,” Ohad Arami said. “There is no way that both cables could snap at the same time unless somebody intentionally cut them.”

Last week, Arami’s widow went as far as accusing the police of attempting to cover up the circumstances of her husband’s death. “Maybe they didn’t have a suspect, but they knew what happened, and could’ve given [us] the details of the incident,” she told Channel 10. “They tried to cover things up, so there wouldn’t be an uprising, chaos and war.”

The building Netanel was working on.

"My son was murdered because he was Jewish, there's no other reason," said Miriam, the mother of Netanel Roi Arami, who fell to his death two weeks ago from the 11th floor of a building under construction in Petah Tikva. The Arami family held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, after police suspicions the death was not an accident were made public earlier in the day. "I call on all government branches to put a stop to those who slaughter us. It's as if we're in a shooting range. No one knows who's next," she said, clarifying that the family "knew this was a murder and not a work accident from the get go."

Police suspects Netanel's murder was nationalistically motivated. Miriam urged for the capture and the execution of judgment of the perpetrators. "Let Netanel be the last victim. If there's no deterring punishment, this would not be the last case. All of these cover-ups won't help. The people are not stupid." Miriam also criticized the police's handling of the family. "They come to tell the family and they find a woman with a baby in her arms, and she collapses, but they ask her to come straight to the station so she could sign off on the autopsy. There's no emotional support from the police. They have to also show sensitivity," she said. "The people of Israel support us, and came to the shiva (Jewish 7 days of mourning), and continue supporting us. We don't get support from the government or any other authority. No one from welfare or the municipality came to visit us," Miriam charged.

Netanel's father, Rabbi Uziel Arami, also spoke at the press conference, saying his son was "not a private victim. He's a public victim that belongs to all Israelis. We see what's happening out there - one time it's an attack with a truck and another time with a tractor. Stones are thrown at kindergartens and there's graffiti in support of Hamas and ISIS. We don't want another victim like Netanel. I'm asking for the truth to be set free, and for things to not be covered up." Choking on tears and struggling to speak, Netanel's widow, Muriya, turned to the gathered reporters and asked: "My son is two years old and asking me where dad is. What do you tell a child that age? I tell him that dad's watching over us from the sky."

Netanel Arami with his wife and children.

Muriya, who is pregnant, said her late husband "had no enemies and he was loved by all. He was a full time father, an amazing husband, dedicated, who did everything. I don't know how my children could grow up without a father."

Attorney Hur Nizri from the organization Honenu, who is representing the family, said: "Two weeks ago Netanel Arami was murdered and until now welfare authorities have failed to contact the family. The family was abandoned and was not taken care of by the authorities, while at the same time it needs to bear the pain of a situation likes this - losing what is most precious to them. The family is determined to fight until the truth comes out, and we expect the police to keep the family updated on the progress of the investigation."

Netanel Arami, 26, owned a construction company contracted to do exterior work on a hi-rise building in central Israel. During the fatal day, Arami was rappelling along the side of the Petah Tikvah building in order to seal vent openings when both his cables snapped and he fell 11 stories to his death.

Over 50 workers were at the site of the time, the majority of which are Israel-Arabs and Palestinians, as well as a few Chinese nations, but none have been arrested. The workers, for their part, claim his death was an accident. During the investigation all were quested about their whereabouts and if they know anything about the suspected murder or who was behind it. Their stories were crosschecked and none were arrested. The police say the investigation continues and all investigation leads are being followed.

According to an initial investigation, Roi Arami left his home in Moshav Ahiezer, said goodbye to his pregnant wife and two children and proceeded to the site. There, he and a group of other rappellers worked on the side of the building, sealing the air ducts of the building's security rooms. The team had finished, but Roi Arami was still working. The crew worked their way down and waited in the car for his arrival. When he failed to show up they began to search for him and were horrified to see he was no longer on the building. A few minutes of additional searches led them to his lifeless body.

Big Ben Gets A Window Clean

A crack specialist team have been at work on one of the four faces of Big Ben’s clock at the Houses of Parliament in London today, abseiling down the clock face to perform vital maintenance and cleaning.
The brave four are suspended some 90 metres above the ground as they carry out the work, which will take all week, working on one face of the clock per day with one day set aside at the end just in case there are any weather delays. It is the first time in four years that the clock has been given a scrubbing.

Brave abseilers with head for heights give Big Ben's tower its annual scrub: The face of the Big Ben tower was given a scrub this morning by four cleaners with a head for heights. Specialist abseilers clambered down the 96 metre tall landmark and spent the day washing the clock face.

Every four years window cleaner’s abseil from the belfry and wash each clock face. Time is spent inspecting and repairing cast iron joints and the opaque white glass in the four faces, all while hanging 60 metres from the ground. Each seven metre diameter clock face has 312 panes which can often become damaged by pigeons and bell vibrations.

Clean-up: the four abseilers clambered down from Big Ben this morning.

The clock will continue to keep time during the cleaning process, but the hands on the face being washed do not move. Deputy keeper of the clock Steve Jaggs said: "Big Ben is one of the UK's greatest icons, and cleaning the Great Clock is a vital part of its maintenance. "The process is complex and requires a real head for heights. We have an expert team who will ensure that the clock is thoroughly cleaned and that this piece of our national heritage is safeguarded for future generations."

He said: “The glass panels over the clock face are terribly thin and fragile, because originally the dials were lit by gas, which is very dim. Birds can fly into them and break them. This is why our window cleaners have to be extremely careful.

Big Ben's clock gets big bath from abseiling cleaners: Dangling sixty metres above the ground from one of Britain's most famous landmarks, it is far from being an ordinary day in the office for these window cleaners. The four workers, wearing helmets and climbing gear, are tasked with buffing and shining the 312 pieces of glass that make up the iconic clock face on the Westminster tower that houses Big Ben. The Great Clock, which sits atop Parliament’s newly-named Elizabeth Tower, began ticking in 1859 and was last cleaned in 2010.

One face of the clock will be cleaned every day from Monday, with Tuesday’s crew working in the rays of the rising sun, and the north and west dials to be tackled on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Paul Robeson, chairman of the British Watch and Clock Makers’ Guild, which maintains around 2,000 clocks across Parliament, told the BBC’s Today programme the cleaners were “very brave or mad, one or the other.”

He said: “The glass panels over the clock face are terribly thin and fragile, because originally the dials were lit by gas, which is very dim. Birds can fly into them and break them. This is why our window cleaners have to be extremely careful. “It’s no longer the biggest clock, it’s no longer the biggest bell, it’s no longer the tallest clock, or any of those things. But it is the most famous the world over.” The stopping of each side's clock for cleaning will also give technicians a chance to carry out essential maintenance on the 155-year-old mechanism.

Both hands were designed to be made of cast iron, but that proved too heavy, so gunmetal was used instead. But the minute hand was still too weighty and would struggle up to the point of midnight before dropping down four minutes in one go, so had to be replaced with a hollow copper equivalent.

The Most Hated Window Cleaner In The UK

Guilty ... Tony McCluskie.

Brother of EastEnders Gemma guilty of murder: The brother of EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie has been jailed for life for killing his sister and dumping her dismembered body in a canal. Tony McCluskie, 36, was a cannabis addict who had resented being overshadowed by his 29-year-old sister throughout his life. He murdered her during a blazing row after he left the taps on and flooded the bathroom. Window cleaner McCluskie spent up to three hours cutting off Gemma's head, arms and legs with a knife and a meat cleaver in an attempted to cover up the crime.

CCTV video shows Tony McCluskie dragging plastic bag with body parts to taxi.

Over the next four days he posed as the concerned brother desperate to find his missing sister - even posing for The Sun holding an appeal poster. But he was finally forced to face the truth when his father and brother identified him from CCTV footage taking the suitcase containing her body to the Regent’s Canal in Hackney, east London. McCluskie gave police a vague account of his movements, claiming he could not remember the killing but must have lost control when his sister tried to throw him out of the family home in Shoreditch. He also tried to blacken her name by saying she had bullied and abused him for years. The jury rejected his defence and convicted him of murder by a majority of 11-to-one.

His father Tony snr was in court as the verdict was announced. His mother, who contracted MRSA after an operation to remove a brain tumour, remains desperately ill and requires 24 hour care. McCluskie had few friends and had drifted from job to job while his sister was talented, popular and outgoing. While she quickly found success as Kerry Skinner in the BBC soap Eastenders in 2000 at age 17, he struggled to get work as a bricklayer. He spent most of his time staying in his room, smoking cannabis and drinking up to ten pints of lager and a few shots of tequila a night. In 2002 their mother Pauline McCluskie threw him out of the house because he was constantly arguing and shouting at her and Gemma. McCluskie went through a series of temporary labouring jobs before being taken on by Principle Cleaning.

McCluskie became an ’abseiling window cleaner’ and part of his work involved cleaning the glass on the outside of Lloyd’s of London in Lime Street.

He became an ’abseiling window cleaner’ and part of his work involved cleaning the glass on the outside of Lloyd’s of London in Lime Street. But by March last year his life was falling apart. He dreaded going into work after his colleagues ostracised him because they believed he had been over-promoted and had informed on two of them for not wearing safety harnesses. His relationship with a single mother-of-one Teri Arnull had ended after a series of rows and an incident when he slapped her in the face. He began spending even more time alone in his room, smoking between 10 and 15 spliffs of powerful skunk weed a day. McCluskie would roll a joint before he even got out of bed in the morning. His sister would criticise his pot smoking and on March 1, 2012, he got into a row with her after she found the bathroom sink overflowing because he left taps running.

Jailed ... Tony McCluskie after arrest.

He stayed in bed while she went out to video a friend’s child singing in a choir at the re-opening of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. At around 1pm she was overheard by her friends ringing him to tell him he was sick of his skunk habit and he should move out. Gemma said: "He’s ruining my mum’s house. It’s not fair. Mum worked hard to get her home together. "It’s because he’s permanently stoned. He puts a spliff in his mouth the moment he wakes up and doesn’t know what he’s doing. Gemma, who was working as a barmaid between acting jobs, was last seen returning home to the flat in Pelter Street, Shoreditch, east London, at 1.50pm. A neighbour heard her sobbing at around this time and it is thought he killed her within an hour of her return. McCluskie spent the rest of the afternoon sending and receiving ’flirtatious’ texts with an old female schoolfriend and chatting to his ex-parter. The next day on March 2 he texted his sister, pretending he did not know she was dead. His text read: "Ring me when you get this message. What you having for dinner. Are you working tonight?"

Murdered actress ... Gemma (right) in EastEnders.

In another he added: "Hi gem just letting you know I’m up the hospital mum is doing really good and the doctors are pleased with her... going to look at her throat and swallowing today! Love ya xx." Detectives say this is the only message out of the dozens recovered where he told Gemma he loved her. Neighbours heard him repeatedly shouting out: "I’m sorry Gemma, I’m sorry, I must have been out of my mind." That night he booked a taxi from a firm near the flat and was caught on CCTV loading a bag into the boot. He asked McCluskie what was inside and he replied: "My sister." A private camera in Thrasher Close, Hackney, captured him dragging the suitcase backwards down the towpath at around 10.55pm. The following day McCluskie looked after his ex-girlfriend’s young son before finally going to police to report his sister missing.

Gemma McCluskie's body was found in Regent's Canal, five days after her murder when the suitcase was hit by a canal barge which caused it to spring open.

He continued to pretend he had no idea what had happened and fed the police false leads in an attempt to divert them to other suspects including Gemma’s former boyfriend and a kebab shop owner. McCluskie even claimed that his mother, who was in hospital, had told him she was visited by Gemma the day after she was killed. On the afternoon March 6 he took advantage of a hoax ’ransom demand’ made by a prank caller to continue his charade. His story began to unravel when Gemma’s torso was spotted floating in the Regent’s Canal near Kingsland Road, Hackney the same day. Over the next two weeks her arms and legs were also recovered from the waterway. Police also found Gemma’s blood and body tissue on a knife at the house in Pelter Street. McCluskie was recorded making phone calls from prison telling a friend that the police were trying to "stitch him up".

Heartbreak ... Tony McCluskie Snr.

But in April his father Anthony and younger brother Danny, now 34, confirmed it was him on CCTV footage bundling the suitcase into a taxi. McCluskie now changed his story and said he could not remember what happened. In one call he told his father: "I can’t remember any of it Dad, it’s just the things that actually driving me f***ing mad, Dad." On 20 May he told Anthony McCluskie: "I can only imagine that I strangled her dad." When his father told him that it was important they found Gemma’s missing head, he replied: "Dad, I know. And I know I put everything in that canal." After her head finally turned up in September last year an expert concluded she had been hit at least three times with a blunt object.

Tragedy ... Gemma McCluskie.

Professor Susan Black, who examined the remains, said that McCluskie made up to 100 cuts and slashes with a knife and meat cleaver as he struggled to dismember her body. On 28 September McCluskie finally admitted he had killed his sister but claimed he had no memory of the attack or cutting up and disposing of the body. He told jurors that he had a flashback of feeling angry when Gemma picked up a knife and threatened to stab him and his ex-partner if he did not move out of the house. McCluskie said: "All I remember is grabbing her wrists. I can remember I bent her wrists to drop the knife to the floor. After that I have no memory at all." He claimed that Gemma had repeatedly swore at him, humiliated him and made him feel worthless by criticising his appearance. "She said I dressed like a tramp. I smelled, I didn’t wash, I was unhygienic, I was dirty," he added. Dr Michael Kopelman, one of the world’s top experts in amnesia said McCluskie’s memory loss story was inconsistent because that was not the first explanation he gave to police. In his closing speech to jurors, Jeremy Dein QC had described the killer as "a volcano waiting to erupt." McCluskie, of (23) Pelter Street, Bethnal Green, east London, admitted manslaughter but denied murder.

The brother of the former EastEnders actor Gemma McCluskie, whose mutilated remains were found in a London canal, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years after being convicted of her murder. Tony McCluskie, 36, a window cleaner who was "hopelessly addicted" to skunk cannabis, had admitted manslaughter but denied murder, claiming he had lost control during a row with his sister and had no memory of having killed her.

How To Rescue A Window Washer

Firefighters Conduct Window Washer Rescue Training at Portland Providence: This week, Portland Fire & Rescue firefighters from Station 1 participated in a rescue drill at Portland Providence Medical Center in NE Portland. Pictured above, rescuer en route to victim; time is of the essence in these types of rescues.

Rescuer contacts the victim. The drill included a simulated rescue of a window washer whose equipment malfunctioned.  The window washer began by rappelling about one story down the side of the six-story building and then tied off, playing the part of a victim awaiting rescue. Portland firefighters took turns being lowered to the window washer, securing to the victim’s harness, removing the washer off his rope system, and lowering him safely to the ground.

The edge person oversees the rescue and is in charge of overall safety and communication with the rescuer. During the drill, firefighters utilized “two points of contact” in their system. This means that the rescuer and patient are always attached to the system by two ropes, a mainline and a safety line, that are part of a system. The mainline is the working rope that is used to do all the work. The belay (safety) line is attached to a separate anchor and a different point on the rescuer and patient on their harness. In the event of a failure of the mainline, the belay (safety) line is always there to catch the load. This type of redundant system is essential in maintaining a sufficient safety factor for not only the firefighters but also those being rescued.

The rescuer performs an assessment of the victim upon initial contact. Firefighters used specialized equipment including helmets, gloves, harnesses, static rescue and safety ropes, pulleys, and other hardware.

The rescuer attaches rescue equipment to victim and lowers the victim to safety. The simulated rescue went smoothly.  The close to 40 firefighters involved in the rescue drill are members of Portland Fire & Rescue’s Technical Rescue Team. These members are trained in high angle rope rescue and are skilled in the use of ropes and other rigging gear to use in high angle rescue scenarios. 

According to Station 1 Lieutenant Jamie Ziegler, “Our firefighters frequently practice rope rescue skills and this drill was a great way to prepare for a complicated rescue.” Photos by Dick Harris, Portland Fire & Rescue.

Skyscraper News

Mixing business with pleasure - David Graham starts his descent from the top of Customs House.

Broom with a view - rock climbers love their cleaning jobs: Most people dream of working their way to the top. But it’s the exact opposite for a group of Canberra window cleaners. The 14 employees of Touchdown Building Service spend their workdays cleaning the exterior of Canberra’s largest buildings – and the job isn’t done until they hit terra firma. The army of thrill-seekers conducts all manner of highwire activities, from cleaning windows to installing birddeterrent spikes. The type of job isn’t important, as long as it involves dangling precariously several metres above the ground.

And the views are to die for. Surprisingly, Touchdown Building Services spokesman David Graham described the job as a ‘‘stress free’’ way to make a living. Mr Graham said the majority of the industrial window cleaners are rock climbers seeking to mix business with pleasure. ‘‘The scare factor is what people think when they see us working, but it doesn’t worry us,’’ Mr Graham said. ‘‘[We] see people through the glass at their desks and we’re glad we’re on the outside of the building. It seems to give [the office workers] a bit of a thrill, it must take them out of their mundane work routine.’’

Mr Graham said Canberra had a number of large buildings that require cleaning about twice a year, meaning there is always plenty of work for the adrenaline junkies. He said the design of modern buildings meant they required cleaning by abseilers. ‘‘The architects who design these large buildings don’t stop to think about how to clean it, birds nesting, and stuff like that.’’ But the job isn’t as easy as just hanging from a rope. Each industrial window cleaner must complete a week long Australian Rope Access Association course before they are hired.

One World Trade Center at Ground Zero rises up into the air March 9, 2011 in New York City. Construction continues at the Ground Zero site on the signature skyscraper, with workers up to nearly sixty floors of the building's planned 104-story height.

A view of the West Side Highway is seen from near the current top of One World Trade Center at Ground Zero March 9, 2011 in New York City. Construction continues at the Ground Zero site on the signature skyscraper, with workers up to nearly sixty floors of the building's planned 104-story height.

A general view of the Shard building on January 13, 2011 in London, England. The Shard will be the tallest skyscraper in the European Union on its completion scheduled for 2012, standing at 1,016 feet.

The moon rises behind the Burj Dubai, the world's tallest skyscraper. The Burj Dubai skyscraper stands over 800 meters (approximately 890 yards) and is currently the tallest structure built by men.

New highrise office buildings and hotels, many of them still under construction, stand illuminated in the new City Center and West Bay district at sundown on October 24, 2010 in Doha, Qatar.

Chicago-based firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture recently announced that it has won an international competition to design the Wuhan Greenland Center，which will likely be China’s third-tallest building，and the fourth tallest in the world，when completed in about five years at 606 meters (1，988 feet) high. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer in Wuhan near the meeting of the Yangtze and Han rivers. A project of the Shanghai-based Greenland Group，the 119-level Wuhan Greenland Center will be comprised of about 300,000 square meters of floor area, including about 200,000sm of offices，50,000sm of luxury apartments and condominiums，a 45,000sm five-star hotel, and a 5,000sm，27-meter-tall private club with spectacular views at the tower’s penthouse level.

Still under design， Wuhan Greenland Center features a uniquely streamlined form that combines three key shaping concepts—a tapered body， softly rounded corners and a domed top—to reduce wind resistance and vortex action that builds up around super tall towers. The building’s extremely efficient aerodynamic performance will allow it to minimize the amount of structural material (and its associated embodied carbon) needed for construction. The tower’s three corners rise from its tripod-shaped base and taper upward, culminating in an arched tip above the dome at the top. The corners will be of smooth curved glass，contrasting markedly with the more textured curtain wall cladding the body of the tower. The curtain wall will enclose a composite concrete core with steel framing. Apertures in the curtain wall at regular intervals will assist in venting wind pressure against the tower; the apertures will also house window-washing systems and air intake and exhaust systems on mechanical floors.