Things on the transmitter project are stating to enter that final phase. The tower and building are nearing completion, the transmitter and other equipment is either starting to come in or will be in soon. That also means that the people who have been doing the work in construction of this new facility are either getting ready to move on to the next job, or are moving on.
Enter Ralph and Philippa. (yep, that is how she spells it)
Ralph and Philippa work for the tower company. They assemble the pieces of steel that make up the tower sections. They are the first on site, long before the erection crew, the people who actually take the individual tower sections Ralph and Philippa put together and build the tower. They are usually the first people to leave the job site. Sometimes before the tower is completed or sometimes as the tower is being completed. In this case, they are leaving now with the tower work almost completed.
Ralph and Philippa pick out the correct steel piece for the tower - July 2005
Did I mention that Ralph and Philippa are also married. To each other?
I first met them the fourth week of the project. They pulled into the site on that Monday morning looking for their area so they could start setting up their equipment. A little later a 5 ton fork lift arrived. About 2 hours later, three 18-wheelers pulled in. Two had the first sections of the tower and the third had a container that held all of their tools.
Ralph jumped up on the fork lift and had the tower legs and cross members unloaded in no time. While he was doing that, Philippa took inventory. I stood there and watched all of the activity. The thought crossed my mind, what would Philippa do when the inventory was done? Could she drive a folk lift? Would she help assemble the pieces of steel? Could she lift the pieces of steel? Well it didn't take long to find out. Within a couple of days, after they got everything in order, they began to assemble the sections of tower and Philippa did her part and then some.
There were times when Ralph would drive the folk lift over to pick up the 1 ton legs and put them on the framing jig, and then other times Philippa would. Philippa would run the folk lift lifting smaller pieces or large pieces up to the jig to be installed. She would bolt the small pieces to the sections, whatever it took to get the job done. They worked as a team, lifting the steel, moving the steel, bolting the steel together and then moving the completed sections over to the staging area. They had been doing this for so long that they rarely spoke when working, but each knowing what the other needed and when. It was more art than science.
They started assembling in July, through the sweltering days of 98 and 99 degree temperatures. Sweat rolling down their faces and arms. They would start early in the morning and work until about mid afternoon, when the temps got their worst. They continued this ritual for 6 weeks.
When the tower erectors arrived in late August, Ralph and Philippa completed assembling the last 3 upper sections of the tower as the erectors prepared to lift the bottom 6 sections into place. When the first lift happened in mid September, Ralph and Philippa changed roles from tower assemblers to ground crew, preparing the tower sections for lifting up the stack and supporting the erectors on the tower, knowing that the call could come at any time to pack up and move to the next job.
Ralph and Philippa are from the UK originally. Philippa is a naturalized US citizen, Ralph is still a UK citizen but is working on his US citizenship. They have been married for about 2 years and as you might figure, met on the job. Both have traveled the world over assembling and erecting towers.
Ralph told me of the time when he was still climbing, he was working in Libya when Momar Kadafi came to power. The whole crew was put under house arrest and were led to the tower site under guard at daybreak and then back to the hotel at sundown every day. As soon as the tower was completed, the crew was kicked out of the country. That is some nice "thank you."
Philippa related the story of the time she was working in Indonesia and made one of the war lords mad. She was afraid that when she left the country that drugs would be planted on her so she would be arrested by the authorities. To avoid that, she left all of the belongings she had brought with her. On the way to the airport, she stopped and bought new clothes and changed into them and left the clothes she had been wearing in the trash in case drugs or residue had been planted on her clothes. She left the country literally with only the clothes on her back and her passport.
These tower nomads work six day weeks and every 6 weeks they get one week off. Ralph and Philippa have a lovely home in West Virginia, but they don't get there very often, instead living in a trailer that they pull behind their Jeep Liberty.
Ralph and Philippa on their last day at the site at the base of the tower they assembled and help erect - November 2005
They were offered the opportunity to be on the crew going to Jakarta, where their company has the contract to build a 1400 ft tower in downtown Jakarta. That might not sound very unusual, but horizontal real estate in downtown Jakarta is unheard of. So this tower can only be built in one city block, in contrast to the 20 or so acres our 1250 footer sits on. The tower sits on a 400 foot tall steel frame the size of that city block and the guy anchors extent up a short way from there to cut down on the total guy wire length so it will fit in this one city block. This is the first time this has been done. Both Ralph and Philippa turned it down, instead coming to our site and now moving on to Georgia to assemble a new tower there.
The tower erecting crew will still be here a few more weeks finishing things up and then they too will be moving to a tower in Virginia to mount some antennas and then on to other sites. One of the erectors is from Texas, and the other 4 are from Canada, three from around Toronto and one from Saskatchewan, Canada. The erector crew did have an apprentice who was just pulled two weeks ago to be on the Jakarta crew.
All of the Nomad's - November 2005
But now it is time to pull up stakes and move on. The call of Nomad is in the air. So long Ralph and Philippa. We will miss your cockney and southern English accents and your wonderful personality. If you are back this way, feel free to stop in and say hello. You are always welcomed here. It has been a pleasure to know you.
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