[WRE UPDATE | PROJECT] RIGGING


WALLENDA’S WALK O’Connell Electric helps high-wire artist make history


Copyright© 2012 O’Connell Electric Co./ KeithMeehanPhotography.com


Linemen Justin DeSantis (Front) and Steve Parkes (Back) re-rig the wire after it reaches the Canadian side.


A 78


s high-wire artist Nik Wallenda achieved his childhood dream of performing a tightrope walk across Niagara Falls on June 15, he relied on the exceptional talents of O’Connell Electric Company


every step of the way. Wallenda turned to O’Connell Electric for the all-important


task of erecting and dismantling 1800 feet of 2-inch wire cable across Horseshoe Falls, the largest of the three waterfalls that comprise Niagara Falls. When Wallenda called O’Connell’s offi ce seeking the staff ’s wire-rigging expertise, “At fi rst—I’ve got to be honest—I thought it must be a joke,” said Tom Parkes, the Chief Operating Offi cer at O’Connell Electric Company; however,


JULY-AUGUST 2012 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE


after Parkes did a little research through Google, he learned Nik Wallenda and his request was serious. “When I was 6, I visited the area with my family and I thought, ‘How cool would it be to walk across Niagara Falls?’ ” Wallenda said in an interview. “It sounds strange, but coming from 200 years and seven generations (of Flying Wallendas), it’s sort of in the blood.” To fi nd the right team for the wiring job, Wallenda contacted the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), an organization representing approximately 675,000 members who work in a wide variety of fi elds, including utilities, construction, telecommunications, broadcasting,


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