ENR's "2022 Year in Construction" Slideshow
While each of this year’s 40 winning photos were evaluated individually on their photographic merits by a panel of six judges, ENR’s senior art director Scott Hilling spotted a common theme that unites the winners. “As I reviewed all of them, something was standing out across many of the images, but I just couldn’t put my finger on directly what it was” says Hilling. “As I continued my review, it finally hit me. More so than in past years, these images show a similar beauty in their geometry, with symmetry, harmony, bold lines or shapes.” Each subject has been captured with an eye towards that visual appeal, such as “the shape of a bridge or pipe at a certain angle, the energy or force in a worker’s action, the angle of a shot or the direction of shadows, each frozen in an image that is visually stunning,” he adds. The judges assessed more than 1,000 entries to make this year’s selections.
Columbus Yard
Photographer: Mike Grantz
Submitted by: Brooke Mock, Crossland Construction Co.
Columbus Yard
Columbus, Kansas
Shane Wolken, a Crossland heavy crane operator, is seen after returning from power washing a crane on a January morning. Mike Grantz, the firm’s crane operations manager, captured Wolken after he completed the tough work to remove fine limestone dust to prevent expensive damage. “It needed to be done fairly soon but I told Shane it was fine if he wanted to wait,” says Grantz, referencing the freezing weather. Wolken “did the job anyway because he knew it was necessary and that’s who he is,” Grantz notes. “We consider ourselves real builders who take great pride in getting the job done safely all the time, not just when it’s comfortable. Shane is a fine example of that.”
Tyson Food Processing Plant
Photographer: Matthew
McFarland
Submitted by: Allison Vollmar, Clayco
Tyson Food Processing Plant
Danville, Va.
Using a drone, McFarland captured this aerial view of workers installing insulation panels on the roof of the Tyson food processing plant. A professional photographer for 26 years, McFarland earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Kansas City Art Institute, and initially did advertising and annual report work. Some photos he took of buildings began bringing him architect clients. He has been shooting extensively for Clayco for 11 years, covering over 100 projects across the U.S. “Dynamic construction shots come with experience,” he says. “You don’t just float casually onto jobsites at sunrise.”
Rock Tunneling
Photographer: Jonathon Stewart
Submitted By: Submitted by John Miller, Ironclad Marketing
Rock Tunneling
Toronto, Ontario
Though he was primarily flying a video drone that day, construction photographer Jonathon Stewart decided to snap candid shots of this remote-operated Brokk demolition robot at work. “We were deep in the shaft; they were creating a tunnel to another shaft,” he recalls. He already had recorded video of the demolition machine with his DJI Mavic 2, but decided to get a wider shot with his Sony A73 a few feet behind the robot and its operator. Stewart shoots a fair amount of construction and demolition work with his Toronto-based company, Concrete Pictures, of which he is a co-owner and co-founder. “I’m a photographer and an editor, a creative guy, but I find myself putting on workboots and a safety vest more often than not,” he says, adding that getting up close to the workface is key. “We want to open up this world to the average viewer, put a story behind it, make it interesting to watch.”
Biosolids Digester project
Photographer and submitter: Robin Scheswohl
Biosolids Digester project
San Francisco
Robin Scheswohl, head photographer for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission who documents construction progress of agency facilities, took this striking photo of work underway on a new biosolids digester at the city’s Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant. Seeing the white waterproofing membrane gave her an idea: use the ground as the backdrop. Scheswohl climbed out of the digester to look down on the scene 40 ft below. When a worker walked by amid the hold-down micropiles, she had her dynamic image. “This shot required a lot of patience,” Scheswohl says. “I started off taking photos on the ground level of the waterproofing material being inspected but decided a photo from above with the white material as the backdrop would make for a more interesting shot.”
Chimney Hollow Reservoir Project
Photographer and submitter: Jeremy Deuto
Chimney Hollow Reservoir Project
Larimer County, Colo.
“Pictures out here just write themselves,” says Deuto, a project engineer with Northern Water and an amateur photographer. This shot showcases the intersection of day job and hobby. Standing inside a 10.5-ft-dia steel pipe, Deuto snapped this pic of Casey George during inspection of a 72-in.-dia wye intersecting Deuto’s pipe. A fan of black and white photography, Deuto says that decision was definitely the right choice for this scene. The pipes will convey water and connect to the Chimney Hollow Reservoir once it’s built and the project is complete. With an August 2025 target completion date, there is still a ways to go. “The pipe isn’t connected to anything yet,” adds Deuto. “We have around 8,000 ft of that 72-in. pipe to install with maybe 2,500 ft already installed.”
Biosolids Digester Facilities Project
Photographer and submitter: Hannah Rosenfeld
Biosolids Digester Facilities Project
San Francisco
Photographer Hannah Rosenfeld, with subcontractor Alta Group, captured a unique view of the assembly of digester tanks for San Francisco’s Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant last November. She climbed to the top of a 150-ft crane and, using her Canon EOS M50 Mark II, shot directly down over the staging area while crews secured the layers of rebar into forms that will be the base of one of the tanks. “Capturing this image was such a joy because from above I could view the almost perfect geometric placement of the subjects and the true scale of how big each section is,” she says.
bridge construction
Photographer: Trey Cambern
Submitted by: Kim Meyer, Walsh Construction
St. Louis
The modification project for the Merchants Bridge reconstructs the Mississippi River rail crossing that is located between St. Louis and Venice, Ill., and owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. Completed in August 2022 , work included removal and replacement of three river-span trusses, seismic retrofits of the existing river piers and improvements to the east approach. The last segment of the 520-ft east truss is being pushed into place by tugboats. The aerial pic by photographer Trey Cambern was shot via drone for contractor Walsh Construction. The $222-million project saw the the east truss floated into place on Aug. 26 to double the capacity of an important freight crossing that dates to the 1890s.
Site development for electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility
Photographer and submitter: Charles Morgan
Site development for electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility
Near Memphis, Tenn.
“Watching land-scraping crews from above is like watching synchronized swimming,” says Morgan, a content producer with contractor Phillips & Jordan Inc. Morgan used a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone and followed the crews as they worked with the red clay. He says that most of the machines were yellow, but two red tractors were side by side. With the drone airborne, Morgan says, “I saw the color story play out with the red tractors, the texture of the terrain and the gradient of brown to red next to untouched grey.” He adds, “The tractors just pop!”
1915Çanakkale Bridge
Photographer and submitter: Resit Yildiz
1915Çanakkale Bridge
Çanakkale, Turkey
Yildiz, director of projects for Limak Construction, one of the bridge project’s four joint-venture contractor partners, took this photo in February 2022. “I was walking on the south catwalk of the Asian sidespan of the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge [during] the night shift. I noticed the number of vehicles lined up on the bridge, which gave the image of congested traffic. It seemed ironic as the bridge was not opened yet and the pavement works were ongoing. The time was around 7:00 p.m. so it was already dark. I was about 300 meters above sea level. It was completely spontaneous. But you know photography is my hobby so I always look at scenes and objects from a photographical perspective. So I did not hesitate to take this shot.”
Jenks Wastewater Treatment Plant
Photographer: Kross Hamblin
Submitted by: Samantha Bogle, Crossland Construction
Jenks Wastewater Treatment Plant
Jenks, Oklahoma
A field engineer shooting daily progress photos with an iPhone at a wastewater treatment plant project in early morning may not seem like components to produce a striking image. But Kross Hamblin made that happen one day last year at this Crossland Construction jobsite when he encountered Jose Torres Oliva, a concrete finisher-carpenter, cutting rebar for a pipe penetration in a 21/2-ft-thick wall at the plant’s new headworks structure. Shooting for his daily report, “I noticed how cool the picture would be since it was still dark outside plus the sparks from cutting the rebar,” says Hamblin, who likes producing images not only for his employer and clients, but also so his crew and his own family have visual evidence of the work involved day-to-day. Hamblin, who has worked at the firm for nearly six years both full-time and as an intern, and aspires to be a superintendent, says “ I am hands on with my crew learning, and am becoming better every day working alongside these skilled guys.” The Jenks plant upgrade is set to finish by the fall.
Charlotte Metro Office Tower
Photographer: Daniel Delasancha
Submitted by: Kaytee Casey, Batson-Cook Construction
Charlotte Metro Office Tower
Charlotte, N.C.
Up more than 40 stories high, a lot can go wrong when installing a glass roof. Working by night to reduce hazards to pedestrians below while battling high winds above, this team, proudly captured by a safety manager, got it right. “They’re all tied off. They have their tag lines, they have their spotters, the crain operation,” explains Jeremiah McCrory, senior project manager, Batson-Cook. “It’s a really cool installation, and everyone is doing the right thing.”
Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility
Photographer and submitter: Daniel Mekis
Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility
Moss Landing, Calif.
Mekis, a continuous improvement project manager with Granite Construction, was meeting with the project manager at the largest battery storage facility in the world when he encountered the team installing drainage in the thick early morning fog of the Monterey Bay. “I noticed the line of the trench leading to an excavator digging in front of the old Moss Landing Power Plant,” he says. “I had my Sony camera with me, I lined up the elements in the scene, composed it, and waited to take this shot. It is amazing to me the expansive scope of work that our construction crews do around the country, and bringing my camera with me when I visit projects and capturing the teams in the process of building incredible things has brought a lot of enjoyment. It has been a launch point to photographing other things I enjoy like surfing, landscapes and nature, and has been a great way to share the value of the hard work our crews do around the country and in our communities,” he adds.
Tyson Food Processing Facility
Photographer: Matthew McFarland
Submitted by: Allison Vollmar, Clayco
Tyson Food Processing Facility
Danville, VA.
Matthew McFarland captured this shot of workers setting diagonal braces on tilt-up panels by positioning himself at ground level. “It is always a good idea to be informed by the foreman” in advance to get a sense of the day’s activities, he says. “I try to be a fly on the wall to capture the most real images as possible.” A professional photographer for 26 years, McFarland initially did advertising and corporate annual report work. Some photos he took of buildings began bringing him architect clients. He has been shooting extensively for Clayco for 11 years, covering over 100 projects across the U.S.
Central Station Metro
Photographer: Morris McLennan
Submitted by: Jabin de Keizer, Laing O’Rourke
Central Station Metro
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Arriving at the jobsite early to capture construction progress around Sydney’s Central Station, photographer McLennan from Rusty Goat Media stumbled across a rarely noted part of a construction worker’s day—a stretching session. “We endeavour to not only capture the construction of the project but the workers who make it all happen,” says Cath Bowen, director of photography at Rusty Goat. Laing O’Rourke is the contractor for the $955-million expansion and renovation of the landmark station. Scope of work includes a renewal of the Grand and Northern Concourses and the new Central Walk—a 19-m-wide underground concourse connecting riders to a variety of public transportation options.
Lower Baker Dam Retrofit
Photographer and submitter: Hannah Gott
Lower Baker Dam Retrofit
Town of Concrete, Wash.
“Doing a safety walk of the site” on the modernization project, to reduce water seepage around the Lower Baker Dam’s foundation and abutments, brought Gott, a Traylor Bros. Inc. field engineer, to the top of the existing dam as a member of a safety audit inspection team. She says this shot was a lucky snap with her Canon EOS 77D because the crew brought the barge-mounted crane boom down perfectly into a boat—exactly below Gott’s position. The team was replacing an electrical device with a sensor that prevents two-blocking—when the crane hook comes in contact with the boom tip. Two-blocking can cause the hoist line or even the boom to fail. The electrical device “is tested every shift as part of the crane inspection,” Gott explains. In this case, the morning inspection revealed it needed to be replaced. The Liebherr HS895 crane with a 190-ft-long boom is the key piece of equipment on the job, a joint venture led by Traylor with Ballard and Advanced Construction.
Seagirt Marine Terminal Berth 3 Wharf Improvements
Photographer: Ashish Singhi
Submitted by: Amber George, Shikun & Binui USA Construction
Seagirt Marine Terminal Berth 3 Wharf Improvements
Baltimore
Ashish Singhi, a project engineer on this port improvement project, was on the site early one morning for a daily briefing with the project team. The submitter of the photo, Amber George—a colleague of Singhi’s at Shikun & Binui USA Construction—says, “The colorful sunrise and its reflection on the water caught Ashish’s attention, as he has a passion for photography.” The image, which was taken early in the project’s timeline, shows the large cranes at the berth facility that are used to unload ships’ cargoes. The project aims to upgrade the facility to enable it to handle larger ships, according to George.
Onshore Wind Energy Turbine Blade Prep Work
Photographer and submitter: Dennis Lee
Onshore Wind Energy Turbine Blade Prep Work
Lewis County, N.Y.
Shooting the Wesson Group’s prep work on a large turbine blade before its connection to the 105.9-MW Number Three onshore wind energy project in upstate New York, Lee says he sought to balance a focus on the blade’s “beautiful lines” with ironworker Sierra Ray’s efforts to position it to be “stabbed” into the turbine rotor. “I like every shot to tell as much story as possible,” he says. “Incorporating a person in the picture always increases the interest even if he or she is a tiny component,” Lee explains, adding that waiting for that person in the frame to have some sort of “decisive” moment always makes a difference in the energy of the picture. Seeking to capture the final remnants of sunset that still lit the sky but avoid a green tinge from work lights turned on, Lee says he “switched to black and white and found that the lighting still looked really good and perhaps even told the story better.” The photographer says he never tires of taking photos: “Between the ever-changing weather, the interesting design of the components, the workers and tools, it’s like a visual playground for me every time I go out.” Lee notes that record-breaking rainfall created challenging site conditions for the construction team, but the 27-turbine wind project for developer Invenergy LLC was completed last year. It is also set to export power beyond Lewis County.
the alignment of bracing steel shadows
Photographer: Jennifer Oliver
Submitted by: Christopher
Imbeau, Rafn Co.
Seattle
As a project engineer at Bellevue, Wash., contractor Rafn Co., it’s not unusual for Jennifer Oliver to shoot cell phone photos during site inspections to ensure quality control or share progress with owners. But during a site walk for a 157-unit mixed-use apartment building in Seattle’s Green Lake neighborhood, the alignment of bracing steel shadows caught her eye. Oliver centered herself to shoot the photo with an iPhone 14 Pro. “We were digging about 30 ft below grade during the summer, so the sun was shining down into our excavation, which created interesting shapes during ordinary lagging activities,” she says. The project is set to be completed in the summer of 2024.
Elm Fork Deep Tunnel
Photographer and submitter: Robb Williamson
Elm Fork Deep Tunnel
Carrollton, Texas
Robb Williamson, senior AECOM photographer who has worked at the firm for 12 years and has been photographing professionally for 35, captured this image hundreds of feet underground in Carrollton, Texas. It was taken as work proceeded on the 2-mile Elm Fork Deep Tunnel for a new 72-in.-dia water main. Williamson chose the off-center angle deliberately, saying it allows the viewer to better experience the tunnel by seeing more of its walls and the center track. He caught two project managers discussing the tunnel boring machine while it was disabled and the tunnel cleared of carts. “I love the work I do because I see things that affect everyone in the whole world every day,” Williamson says.
Medical Office Building
Photographer and submitter: Paul Knapick
Medical Office Building
Latham, N.Y.
“Blue skies are my thing,” says Knapick, staff shutterbug for BBL Construction Services since 1999. A veteran ENR photo contest winner, two of Knapick’s blue sky shots impressed the judges this year (see p. 62). Some eyes may be drawn to the ironworker’s high-wire act but this shot, which Knapick calls Between the Lines, caught his eye because of the contrast between the steel beams—primed white—and the sky. When Knapick arrives on a jobsite to take progress photos, he talks to the workers, asking them what they will be doing that day—and when. For Between the Lines, “I showed up at the right time,” he says, adding, “it’s part of the documentation of the project—it’s not about being artistic.”
University of Dayton Roger Glass Center for the Arts
Photographer: David Brun
Submitted by: Brandon Wellington, Messer Construction Co.
University of Dayton Roger Glass Center for the Arts
Dayton, Ohio
Seeking LEED silver certification, the tilt-up concrete panels constructed for the 50,000-sq-ft University of Dayton Roger Glass Center for the Arts will eventually form a space that will be experimental for its operators and experiential for its occupants. Including a theater, concert hall, classrooms, an art gallery and a TV studio, the project utilized prefabrication to construct crucial material elements in a controlled environment free from exposure to weather. They were then tested in a warehouse off-site and retested once installed to ensure every piece and part fits perfectly.
Wind Energy Project
Photographer and submitter: Dennis Lee
Wind Energy Project
Broome County, N.Y.
Lee shot this image for contractor client the Wesson Group through his car windshield at an upstate New York worksite for the 26-turbine, 112-MW Bluestone Wind onshore wind energy project after work was temporarily halted by a sudden summer rainstorm. On previous shoots, “when I noticed the surrealistic look through my windshield without the wipers working, I started documenting sites with this technique whenever work was shut down for weather,” he says. “The sun came out as the final drops fell from the sky, giving the scene a unique quality of light. In this shot you can actually see rain still streaking down through the scene.” The South Salem, N.Y.-based photographer credits the firm and other industry clients for providing “tremendous freedom to follow my own vision and document their work through my own personal style,” he adds. “Of course I always take their needs into account … and in the end I think the relationship is mutually beneficial.” The Bluestone project is set for completion this year.
Lawson house Renovation
Photographer: Joey Nottoli
Submitted by: Kim Meyer, Walsh Construction
Lawson House Renovation
Chicago
Photographer Joey Nottoli snapped this picture during a renovation of Lawson House, a 90-year-old historic Art Deco apartment building near the north side of Chicago. Construction workers are seen demolishing an abandoned water tank on the property. “Sights like these are some of the most beautiful spectacles to see,” says Nottoli. “Highlighting pieces like this does justice to the invisible work that goes on behind the scenes of major construction projects.” The structure, being renovated by Walsh Construction, will be converted into 409 affordable apartments from 538 single room occupancy units.
Granite Canyon Bridge
Photographer: Robert Barbutti
Submitted by: Branwyn Rhodes, BrandSafway
Granite Canyon Bridge
Monterey County, California
BrandSafway provided suspended scaffolding for a Caltrans preventive maintenance project performed by American Civil Constructors. When Robert Barbutti arrived to photograph the jobsite for the subcontractor, he found the Northern California coastline provided a backdrop just as impressive as the 288-ft-long 1930s concrete arch bridge. “The waves were crashing in below,” he says. “Whales were migrating in the background, you could see the spouts. It’s really a spectacular place.”
Manufacturer’s Warehouse
Photographer and submitter: Paul Knapick
Manufacturer’s Warehouse
Slingerlands, N.Y.
Paul Knapick’s signature elements—blue sky and steel beams—are enhanced in this shot by an ironworker with his foot in the air, as if on a balance beam. That’s why the staff photographer for BBL Construction Services dubbed the photo One Step at a Time. With his 80-400 telephoto lens, Knapick waited for the action, inspired by the composition, which he calls a “tic-tac-toe board” in steel. A veteran ENR photo contest winner, Knapick has been shooting progress photos full time since 1999. But he says his job is dying out, thanks to the increasing quality of cell phone cameras that will allow job superintendents to take progress photos.
Frenchman's Bridge
Photographer: Justin Ramer
Submitted by: Bernadette Miller, Parsons Corp.
Frenchman’s Bridge, Kicking Horse Canyon
British Columbia
This photo shows ironworkers ready to receive the next pair of girders on the Frenchman’s Bridge at the Kicking Horse Canyon Phase 4 project, which involved realigning and widening 4.8 km of one of the most rugged sections of the Trans-Canada Highway, just east of Golden, B.C., while also constructing four new bridges and nine viaducts. The photographer, Justin Ramer of Parsons Corp., is the engineer who designed the girder erection plan for the bridge, and he was on site to help if needed that day. “The girders being flown in are a paired, spliced and curved four-pack of girders to be spliced onto the previously erected pier girders. The paired girder set weighed a total of 210,000 lb and was picked by two cranes,” Ramer says. “I was standing back toward the bank of the cliff and thought it was cool to see everyone there waiting for the piece,” he adds. Once the splice in the photo was made, the girders were transversely launched using rollers and hydraulic rams 18 m (59 ft) out into the canyon.
Wastewater Pond
Photographer: Anita Hannon
Submitted by: Megan Yaranon, Odin
Wastewater Pond
Utah
This drone shot captures the construction of an embankment for an industrial wastewater pond in southern Utah. The project owner has requested anonymity. Hannon, a project and quality control engineer with Odin, says “documenting projects is part of my daily tasks.” Odin is an environmental, geotechnical and heavy civil contractor with specialties including impoundment structures. Given the remote nature of projects that Odin works on, Hannon often lives on jobsites for five-week stretches. She feels “it is good to be intentional while looking for necessary and creative photo possibilities.”
Gold Star Memorial Bridge
Photographer: Paul Sampson
Submitted by: Henry Doll, FIGG Bridge Inspection
Gold Star Memorial Bridge
New London, Conn.
blurb
Road Construction
Photographer and submitter: SIMÓN THIBAUD
Road Construction
Chimbote, Peru
Coming from a family of photographers, Thibaud’s interest in the practice dates back to childhood. With experience working on nature documentaries in addition to his current focus on construction photography, “I don’t like to be typical,” says Thibaud. “I like to go further and try to tell a story with a picture.” For Thibaud, the stark contrast in the scene he captured for the Acciona-Ferrovial venture Consorcio Vial Chimbote during the early morning hours, at a site on the outskirts of Chimbote, speaks to both the present—how life is lived in the provinces—and also hints at the future. “The new road is going to change the lives of the people of Chimbote,” he says. The divided highway under construction in the region, in addition to reducing traffic congestion in urban districts, will link remote areas, such as this one.
303 Project
Photographer and submitter: Megan Allen
303 Project
Goodyear, Ariz.
Photographer Megan Allen was a recent college graduate hired by the Small Giants marketing firm to document progress on the 303 freeway project. She used an Inspire 2 drone to capture this image at the project’s completion, manipulating camera settings on the ground while the drone was aloft. She was surprised by the beauty of the images capturing the freeway project. She says she never considered that pictures of a construction site itself could be beautiful. “It almost looks weaved, with how the bridges overlap the road,” she says. “It’s been very cool to go out to the same project and see its progression to the final result, which was beautiful,” she says.
construction worker
Photographer and submitter: Lou Jones
Winthrop Center
Boston
To photograph Omar Miqui help install one of the largest pieces of glass in the country in June over the entranceway of Winthrop Center in downtown Boston, Jones squeezed into a tight place to get “up close and personal” to Miqui, a member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Glaziers Local 1044. Jones also had to stay out of Miqui’s way while carrying multiple DSLR cameras and zoom lenses that “allowed me to shoot all contingencies,” Jones says. Aside from the large crew required to “manhandle the window into position,” Jones says, “two mobile cranes and a special device to suction cup the glass had to be designed and fabricated just to handle the job.”
Exchange
Photographer: Max Wineland
Submitted by: Eric Fish, Barton Malow
Exchange
Detroit
Exchange, a 16-story residential tower, is being built using the top-down assembly construction method from LIFTbuild. This approach allows each floor section to be assembled on the ground and then lifted into place. Barton Malow business transformation manager Max Wineland had been on the site testing some other construction tech when he got a call. “I got a commercial drone license for some of the things we do, and the LIFTbuild team asked me to get some photos of the concrete pour.” Crews were halfway through the concrete placement for the fourth floor to go up when he sent up his DJI Mavic 3 drone. “I like this shot—it’s kind of a yin-yang of the half complete/incomplete concrete pour of the floor.”
Emigrant Bridge Demolition
Photographer and submitter: Garrett Valenzuela
Emigrant Bridge Demolition
Sparks, Nevada
“Too often our heavy/civil team finishes a project with months of hard work buried beneath freshly paved asphalt, and we always celebrate the finished product for how smooth it rides,” says Valenzuela, marketing director for Q&D Construction. “This was a rare opportunity to expose the guts of an old bridge with the newly constructed bridge sitting alongside—a stunning reminder of what our team built just a few months before its predecessor was destroyed. This eight-hour shutdown of Interstate 80 through rural Nevada allowed for an overnight demolition of the structure, which was initially tipped on its side before being turned to rubble. While the action was mostly in the center of the roadway, the side view brought clarity and beauty to the full circle of construction.”
Sacred Heart University’s Martire Family Arena
Photographer: Robert Umenhofer
Submitted by: Marta Versprille, Consigli Construction Co.
Sacred Heart University’s Martire Family Arena
Fairfield, Conn.
Shooting for construction manager Consigli in September, Umenhofer was on the ice hockey arena’s concourse level looking across at the suites where three workers were applying silicone seal between large glass panes. “I thought it was cool how the angles of his lift contrasted against the grid of curtain wall and the mirroring of his image in the suite glass, creating a nice silhouette,” Umenhofer says. Hosting its first game on Jan. 14, the 122,580-sq-ft facility has the latest technology in ice management to support a National Hockey League standard rink. The arena houses strength and training areas, locker rooms and lounges, a sports medicine and hydrotherapy suite and a pro shop.
Gordie Howe Bridge, American Side
Photographer: Eric Perry
Submitted by: Kiefer Wright,
Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority
Gordie Howe Bridge, American Side
Detroit
Hired to document the American-side construction of the Gordie Howe Bridge—one of the largest cable-stayed bridges in North America—photographer Eric Perry had an eye for more than the mundane. A professional commercial photographer, most of his career has been focused on the automotive industry. The assignment inspired him to go beyond simply documenting the progression of a seminal project into the realm of art. “I was always looking for the jewels that represented this timeless project being built,” he says.
One Madison Avenue
Photographer and submitter: c.lilianmarlen
One Madison Avenue
New York City
From the street in the heat of summer alongside the 27-story One Madison Avenue project in Manhattan, photographer c.lilianmarlen captured this image of an Ironworkers Local 40 crew high up in the air connecting two pieces of a tower crane boom. c.lilianmarlen, who has landed at least one winning photo in ENR’s annual contest for the past several years, titled this year’s entry “Making Connections,” because “social skills and connecting are totally underestimated skills in construction.” Located adjacent to Madison Square Park, the 1.4-million-sq-ft office building topped off several weeks ago on its way to an on-time completion in November. SL Green Realty Corp. developed the project with Hines and National Pension Service of Korea, with Kohn Pedersen Fox as architect and AECOM-Tishman as construction manager.
Supermodule Furnace Projects
Photographer: Michael Rowand
Submitted by: Patti Barrett, PCL Industrial Construction Co.
Supermodule Furnace Projects
Baytown, Texas
For photographer Michael Rowand, the second goal of a project shoot—after safety—is trying to tell a story in one photo. Hired to document PCL Industrial Construction Co.’s supermodule furnace project as part of upgrades to a petrochemical plant in Baytown, Texas, he said his main focus was the contractor’s delivery—via self-propelled modular transporter—of a furnace weighing more than 2,800 tons to its ultimate location about 1.5 miles from its modular construction site. Rowand used a DJI Mavic Air drone camera to shoot the move, which took several hours to complete. His favorite shot, however, was taken shortly after the move began at around 7:00 a.m. Rowand likes how this photo “captures the entire project for that day,” pointing out that it “leads viewer’s eyes from the furnace, and the size of it, down the road and to where it’s going.”
Hart Airport Guideway and Stations Project
Photographer: Lew Harrington
Hart Airport Guideway and Stations Project
Honolulu
“I was trying to illustrate a story of what goes into the creation of such a monumental construction,” says Lew Harrington, contract photographer for the Shimmick/Traylor/Granite joint venture. Each of the precast, steel-reinforced segments of the overhead guideway system vary in weight from 40 to 65 tons and must be carefully and precisely moved into position. Approximately a dozen are placed in an evening of work using one of three articulating gantry cranes. Harrington used a Canon 1DX Mark II and a 70-200 f2.8 L lens and relied on the construction lighting since using flash equipment would have been distracting and dangerous for the workers.
LAX People Mover
Photographer: Brandon Tseng
Submitted by: Heath Montgomery, LAWA
LAX People Mover
Los Angeles
Tseng, who works in Airport Operations at Los Angeles International Airport, captured this image of segmental construction of the Automated People Mover train guideway over Sepulveda Boulevard one night in March 2022, using a Nikon D750 with 24-70mm lens. Crews would eventually place the last 800-ft-long, 200-ft -wide segment. “The unfinished bridge along with the LAX light pylons made it an amazing sight. I saw the view and I had to take the shot,” he says.