Construction workers are feeling the sun’s triple digit wrath five days a week, 8 hours a day, but when those hours are logged they are not your typical
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The 113 degree weather has forced them to start before the sun rises.
Some local contactors working with Stava Building Corporation on a bank project on South Elm and 121st Street are arriving at 4:00 a.m. to start mixing concrete. The concrete has to be mixed below triple digit temperatures otherwise it will result in cracks.
“I don't think staying cool is an option,” said electrician Jace Bryant. “We try to get done in a hurry.”
“The roofers are the ones I feel the sorriest for,” said project supervisor Joe Coppenger. “They end up red as a beet by the end of the day. Just being close to that metal you can see the radiate heat on their face; they are the ones I feel the worst for.”
However, those roofers know how to keep themselves safe. They know their limits and know when to come down for a drink and a break. They come in early and work on the shaded side of the building as the hours pass through the day.
Project managers and supervisors know that other construction companies lose employees in this weather.
“A lot of people are having trouble staying on site, saying the heat is too much,” said Coppenger. Thankfully, he said, no one has quit yet.
“I have a young one, she turns four this month,” said Bryant.
His little girl’s smile keeps him happy to work out under the sun.
“That's what keeps me motivated, is supporting her, she's the lady in my life,” said Bryant.
He also said crews try to stay cool by taking hourly breaks, drinking water, bringing their own resources of water, ice, and Gatorade and wearing cooling towels around their necks.
“He's got a cooler full of Gatorade; we all kind of sneak out here and rob his Gatorade,” said Coppenger.
Stave Building Corporation’s project has slowed down a little bit but it still plans to meet its deadline in September.
