Big Huge Crane

Around the beginning of July, the construction crew down the block from us spent a Saturday erecting a huge tower crane. The time was ripe: they've been 55 feet deep for a while. Much deeper, and they're at risk of opening up the local Metro station to the great outdoors. Through conversation with the work crew, I found out that unexpected groundwater necessitated a lot of pumping.

Anyway, they're not wasting time anymore. Since that crane went up, there are usually 30 people or more working down in the hole. Form work has already been taken down, revealing concrete foundation slabs running up the side of the hole.

I will try to take more pictures this weekend to give readers a better idea of what's going on.

Contrast the recent photo with one I took in August 2006. Or look at this site for more information on how tower cranes are set up (hat tip: Jack Shafer, slate.com).