Our Local 212 high-rise concrete carpenters recently finished up their work on the newest addition of the American Museum of Natural History – the Richard Gilder Center.
In November 2020, they started on what will become a new community pillar of the upper west side of Manhattan. The Gilder Center will be a five-story, 190,000 square-foot addition that will include new science and technology exhibits and learning spaces.
While it might look like your run-of-the-mill foundation work, this project is anything but that. “This is not a typical building,” Daniel Aillet, general foreman said. “Our challenge is to support the slabs without proper structure support. We had to do some heavy canyon shores, which are big steel shores that take the loads off the slabs from the top floor all the way through to support the building until the exterior walls are cast in place. This is new to us and probably new to a lot of people.”
Devon David, a shop steward on the project, said he’s never seen anything like this project before.
“It’s not your average square building,” Devon said. “There are curves and there are hardly any columns. Most things I work on, I don’t have a strong interest in seeing the completed product, but this is something I would like to see it when it’s finished. This is something I’d show my kids.”
Milos Budzel, a general foreman, agreed, saying, “Only doing the structural parts of this project is kind of sad. We usually never get to see the finished project, but this is something we’ll get to visit years down the line.”
While Daniel enjoyed the project and found the structural challenge rewarding on many levels, he said that the main goal on any project is always safety.
“We embrace every challenge that we’re given,” he said. “Our challenge is to come to work each day and work safe and make sure everybody gets home safe. Like every project, no matter the height, size, or length of the project, our main goal is to do the project as safely as possible. This crew was a great team of outstanding men and women. They deserve all the credit.”