A week ago last Friday I had the pleasure to visit Scott Zelenak at work and had the tour of a lifetime.
We met outside the site and then proceeded through security and into the depths of the subway station. Scott handed out vest and hardhats, as well as safety glasses.
Luckily my wife/partner was able to attend as she is a valuable employee of Outermost Land Survey, Inc. She became the "recorder."
Scott and I at the Dove
Learning about Oculus's, 500' curved beams, and some sort of truss that I forget the name of, that's running perpendicular to the curved trusses in the picture.
Here's a part of the completed station, along with SWMBO
.
Then came the elevators! 102 floors in the first one, then some more in another, then we climbed stairs up to the catwalk, and then a ladder up onto the catwalk, the lower ring surrounding the Mast. That is the Statue of Liberty off my right shoulder 🙂
In this next photo you can see the three rings surrounding the Mast, the lower one is where we were. There are ladders to climb to the next rings which face outwards! If you can't climb the ladder you don't belong on the 2nd ring, or the top one!!! LOL Psychological deterrent/barrier. Best guess is about 1,400' above ground level.
I also found this guy up there! 
Another of Scott and I
Well this was the opportunity of a lifetime and I can't thank Scott enough for taking the time to show us around! It's an awesome experience, but I can't even imagine being Chief of Survey for a project of this magnitude. Just seeing the amount of markings, etchings, cross cuts etc for control was mind boggling.
Not even to think of trying to implement some of the design features!!
Enough for now, Thanks Scott!! We had a wonderful time!
Dtp
Wow! Just Wow!!
Great pics!!
Did you help go beat up that architect from the other day?
wow is right! very cool!
:good: :good:
Yes, taking the tour with Scott is something that one will always remember.
I need to visit the memorial soon.
Wow is indeed the only thing that comes to my mind!
Thanks for sharing your life time experience!
Christof.
I had the pleasure of taking the tour with Scott in May of 2008 - quite a change from then to now. It is indeed, the experience of a lifetime - Thanks again, Scott!
Great post! I do NOT belong up there. Awesome beer legger.
I'm jealous, Don.
Great pictures and looks like a great visit.
I would have enjoyed the view, but had a pretty tight grip on the cable.
Bob
Acrophobics need not apply - count me in that list.
Long as I have something to hang on to or am tied off, I'm ok.
Vertigo hits me pretty quick just looking at stuff like these pics.
Don't know why. I used to be fearless about heights.
Climbing a 100' silo was never a problem.
In years since I've taken a few high falls - one in front of my step-daughter and she bolted out the door to help me up. I landed flat on my back with my carpenter tool belt strapped on - lucky I didn't skewer myself.
Watch that History Channel show with Scott in it. Them fellers hanging the glass panels gave me vertigo just watching.
I am one that is scared of heights, but also one that has to overcome that fear when I can... I have climbed cliffs, most notably cathedral ledge, NH at 550' vertical feet, jumped out of an airplane at 10,000 feet and now I have stepped out onto the ledge at 1,400' NYC datum 🙂
Scott made it very easy, he is very laid back and calm about it, so I just grabbed that ladder and climbed on up. I was very nervous at first, white knuckled my way to the edge, but the weather was so perfect, light winds and the view to die for! (LOL) It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, until I went to climb one more level and then I said "nah, this is enough for me!" That outward facing ladder is an effective deterrent. I almost didn't climb the first ladder but I did after all...
Dtp
I had the good fortune to get a tour from Scott when heights were not a problem. But the size, complexity and history of the project site were still enough to make my knees weak. I'll never forget it.
I don't mind airplanes or scaffolds up to 3 stories, and I'm comfortable in a bosun's chair hanging by a wire from the top of my boat's mast 60 feet up. But tall buildings terrify me. I once went up in the original WTC and had to sit on the floor by the elevator and wait for the rest of my family to finish looking at the view.
THANK YOU for posting these!!
WOW indeed - this is so different from where I am and what I see that it might as well be another world!
Did you graffiti the new tower?
Yes, I did add our names to the top o' the tower club 🙂
