January 20, 201214 yr That is pretty wild. So do you know how many people actually died during the building of the Empire State Building? It was in the single digits - 6 or 7 I think - which considering the safety measures at the time and the crazy pace of the construction schedule was a pretty extraordinary feat. The project superintendent, John Bowser, has chapters in many construction textbooks dedicated solely to him and his management strategies on the Empire State Building construction. He built that 103 story building in just over 13 months with over 3,500 workers. (That's INSANE for those who aren't familiar with construction.) He even created some significant advances toward the design of modern tower-crane because he needed something better for his project. It's the water-related projects that really racked up the fatal accidents - think Brooklyn Bridge, Hoover Dam, and the Panama Canal.
January 20, 201214 yr It was in the single digits - 6 or 7 I think - which considering the safety measures at the time and the crazy pace of the construction schedule was a pretty extraordinary feat. The project superintendent, John Bowser, has chapters in many construction textbooks dedicated solely to him and his management strategies on the Empire State Building construction. He built that 103 story building in just over 13 months with over 3,500 workers. (That's INSANE for those who aren't familiar with construction.) He even created some significant advances toward the design of modern tower-crane because he needed something better for his project. It's the water-related projects that really racked up the fatal accidents - think Brooklyn Bridge, Hoover Dam, and the Panama Canal. Didn't hundreds of people die while constructing the Hoover Dam? I've also always heard that some people fell in while they were pouring the Hoover Dam and were never recovered. So there are actual dead bodies inside the dam. Any truth to that? Any good books on the subject that DON'T read like a textbook?
January 20, 201214 yr Didn't hundreds of people die while constructing the Hoover Dam? I've also always heard that some people fell in while they were pouring the Hoover Dam and were never recovered. So there are actual dead bodies inside the dam. Any truth to that? Any good books on the subject that DON'T read like a textbook? Some say that happened in one of the bridges in Cincinnati.
January 20, 201214 yr Didn't hundreds of people die while constructing the Hoover Dam? I've also always heard that some people fell in while they were pouring the Hoover Dam and were never recovered. So there are actual dead bodies inside the dam. Any truth to that? Any good books on the subject that DON'T read like a textbook? The Hoover Dam number is kind of argued...but it's somewhere around 100. I can't imagine they would have ever left a body in the concrete during construction though, if only because that would REALLY be bad for the structural integrity of the concrete and would potentially cause the dam to fail. I haven't come across any non-textbooks on that kind of stuff, but I'm sure there are some out there somewhere. Let me look around for a bit and I'll see if I can find you something.
January 20, 201214 yr Some say that happened in one of the bridges in Cincinnati.I've always wavered on thinking it was an urban legend. But now I may finally know the actual truth... Edit: Seems like urban legend is probably right.
January 20, 201214 yr Didn't hundreds of people die while constructing the Hoover Dam? I've also always heard that some people fell in while they were pouring the Hoover Dam and were never recovered. So there are actual dead bodies inside the dam. Any truth to that? \ My understanding from engineers is that this couldn't be true because once they decayed, they'd actually be weak spots in the dam and so it wouldn't have been allowed to happen.
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