[WRE UPDATE | PROJECT]
CONFIDENCE IN O’CONNELL ELECTRIC
BY JENNIFER H. MCINERNEY O
n June 23, aerial artist Nik Wallenda became the fi rst man to traverse a tightrope across the Grand Canyon, some 1,500 dizzying feet above the Colorado River – without a safety tether. But not long before Wallenda
sky-walked into history, a crew of eight riggers from O’Connell Electric personally made sure that his passage on the 2-inch wire rope would be safe. Certainly, Wallenda and O’Connell Electric are no strangers to extreme heights and supreme safety. Wallenda, 34, is a seventh-generation descendant of T e Great Wallendas, a family of circus performers and daredevils— many of whom specialized in high-wire feats. O’Connell Electric, based in Victor, New York, is a century-old company that initially laid the lines to deliver power to a sizable portion of the upper east coast. Additionally, Wallenda and O’Connell Electric have
a history working together: along with his most recent Grand Canyon crossing, the company also rigged his Niagara Falls
Photographs courtesy of O’Connell Electric; Photographer: Keith Meehan; RK5 Construction Marketing
IBEW Local 1249 Lineman Dennis Morgan works on attaching a pendulum clip to the cable. The 2” cable, manufactured by Wirerope Works, was also the same used in Wallenda’s Niagara Falls crossing.
For Grand Canyon stunt, Nik ‘Skywalker’ Wallenda asks experts for an encore
skywalk last June. To ensure a safe crossing from the American side to the Canadian side, O’Connell Electric extended a wire approximately 1,800 feet across Horseshoe Falls, the largest of the three waterfalls that comprise the Falls. In fact, the same 2-inch wire rope was used for both crossing and now has plans to be ‘retired’ at Wallenda’s home in Florida. “We knew he had confi dence in us, asking us to come back and work with him a second time,” notes Randy Fletcher, O’Connell’s General Foreman for both the Niagara Falls and Grand Canyon projects. “He knew, based on last time, that if anything came up, we could handle it, and that we’d get the job done.”
To Hellhole Bend in a Safety Basket Both the Niagara Falls and Grand Canyon endeavors were grand in scale, requiring rigorous attention to detail and countless safety checks to ensure the integrity of the wire and all of its components. And in both cases, Wallenda and the rigging crew faced one signifi cant obstacle that was essentially beyond their control: weather conditions. At Niagara, they had to contend with powerful spray from
the Falls, which had the potential to create a damp, slippery wire. In the Grand Canyon’s ominously named Hellhole Bend, the dry air and dust presented similar slipping hazards; in addition, unpredictable updrafts and wind gusts reaching 48 miles per hour could upset Wallenda’s balance on the wire. While Wallenda practiced and made preparations for his death-defying feat, O’Connell’s crew played out its all- important behind-the-scenes roles. For the company’s eight workers, the remote location of the wire’s starting point caused perhaps an even greater challenge than unfavorable weather conditions. To access Hellhole Bend, located in Navajo territory,
the crew and their equipment had to be fl own by helicopter across the gorge, about 20 miles from Grand Canyon National Park. T is required multiple helicopter trips, but only when conditions would allow.
76 JULY-AUGUST 2013 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
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