When I first went to work in heavy construction about 20 years ago, the first six months I was a mechanic for a piledriving crew building footings for freeway bridges and work bridges. The bigger H-beam was driven with a KOBE and later with a DEMAG hammer, but the smaller stuff was put in with a model 1 VULCAN hammer, which we ran on compressed air. The hammer hadn’t had particulary good care, and suffered the effects of having been worked on by people who didn’t understand taper keys, so it behaved like a collection of loosely attached parts. Having worked on steam equipment previously, I knew how to make the parts and install them correctly, so that the hammer didn’t suddenly spit out a chunk of metal when driving. Doctoring hammers was a minor but fun part of my work.

Later, I left mechanical work, and I now work for a state department of transportation, doing work on bridge electrical equipment. Seattle has lots of construction going on, and the sound of piledriving is often heard. I still love to watch and listen.