Sunday, March 25, 2012

High Concrete - Capping the Pier









© Stuart Pearl 2012 - Click on Images to Enlarge

Nearly twenty stories up these construction workers don't have time to appreciate the Cleveland skyline.  They are pouring the cap on Pier 5 of the new Innerbelt Bridge. 

Using a hydraulic system they are pumping concrete up into the form that will create the top of the bridge pier.  They must carefully work the concrete into a maze of reinforcing rebar, kneeding and tamping the concrete like a baker, to insure that no air pockets form.  This would weaken cure.

Pier 5 rises from the east bank of the Flats right next to the Cuyahoga.  It's cap is similar to others and will require about 110 truck loads of concrete to fill.  That is 1100 cubic yards.  The black "skirt" hanging from the top cap is an insulation blanket.  It helps the concrete to dry and cure more evenly.
Whenever possible the rebar structures are assembled on the ground.  It's safer and faster to do it this way.  Cranes lift them into the forms.  The workers then anchor them in place and concrete is pumped throughout the structure. 


An extensive array of pipes snakes its way throughout the rebar.  As the concrete is pumped into the form, these pipes will become submerged in that "mud."  Cool water will begin flowing to keep the concrete from getting too hot during the curing process.  After approximately ten days the forms are disassembled and carefully lowered to the ground.








In this picture the Norfolk & Southern railway trestle crosses the river into Tremont on the west bank.  It passes the area previously occupied by Cleveland Cold Storage.

This early morning shot from the west bank shows the hydraulic pump arm injecting concrete into Pier 5.




Monday, March 19, 2012

Pictures At An Exhibition - Butler Solo Show









© Stuart Pearl 2012 - Click on Images to Enlarge

Every serious photographer appreciates some form of recognition.  Certainly we "create images" for our own satisfaction, but we also enjoy having opportunities to showcase those efforts to the public.  It's validation for our hard work.
 
It is always a pleasure to have work displayed in a gallery with optimum lighting and good viewing space.  It is is even more satisfying to be asked to stage a museum exhibit.
 







I was fortunate this year to have been invited by the Butler Institute of American Art to mount a solo exhibit of my work. That show ran from January 14 - March 5 of this year. These are some images from that show.




Don Nikolai at the show






Stuart Pearl with featured work. 

For a virtual tour of the prints in this exhibit click HERE for a slide show.