2012 - Images Of The Year
Something is changing in construction photography. The pictures are getting strikingly better. That's the only conclusion we could come to after our panel of judges finished reviewing the 1,564 entries to ENR's 2012, The Year in Construction Photo Contest.
San Diego Regional Beach Sand Project, San Diego, California, USA
San Diego Regional Beach Sand Project, San Diego, California, USA
Photographer: David Lloyd
Description: Lloyd, photographer with AECOM, scouted sites on the ground first to learn the schedules and activities. The sand was dredged offshore, conveyed via boat and pumped to the beach in 45 minute bursts every four hours, so timing an aerial shot was tricky. He had the pilot dip the wing while he shot with a 300-mm lens for a tight composition.
01_ENR01142013_PCON_lg-org1413.jpg
San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge, California, USA
San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge, California, USA
Photographer: Martin Chandrawinata
Description: A Hanna Group construction engineer and a native of Indonesia, Chandrawinata took this photo in early morning as workers prepared for the impending installation of the self-anchored suspension bridge's eastern span main cable. It is the crown jewel of a more than $6-billion replacement project. The fog inspired the idea for the photo and stirred a bit of nostalgia as well. "When I reached the office, I noticed how foggy it was, so I went to the field, up to the tower top and shot this worker on a catwalk," he says. "I like the early morning fog ... it reminds me of being on the mountain when I was little."
Second Ave. Subway Tunnel Bore, New York City, USA
Second Ave. Subway Tunnel Bore, New York City, USA
Photographer: Patrick J. Cashin
Description: Cashin's dramatic depiction of work beneath New York City appears in these pages for the fifth consecutive year, an unparalleled achievement. At Newsweek magazine 12 years ago, the photographer says he "saw the light" and moved into the dark as a Metropolitan Transit Authority staff photographer. Here he captures a sand hog waiting for the go-ahead to move large boulders in the 72nd St. station excavation. Working with a Nikon D4 in cramped low-light conditions, Cashin prefers tight shots with 35-70 mm and 17-35 mm lenses.
Benone Area Sewerage Scheme, Migilligan, Northern Ireland
Benone Area Sewerage Scheme, Migilligan, Northern Ireland
Photographer: Alan Lavery
Description: Lavery, the principal engineer on an AECOM job in Northern Ireland, shoots serious project shots of all his projects every month. He met this excavator waiting for low tide to work on an outfall, and he tested the exposures for the clouds and shadows. This led him to use a .6 graduated filter on the sky and a 10-stop neutral density filter to slow the shutter to 45 seconds so the moving clouds would smear.
Low-pressure headrace tunnel, Ingula, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
Low-pressure headrace tunnel, Ingula, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
Photographer: Louw Swanepoel
Submitter: Suzette Schreuder, Royal HaskoningDHV
Description: Swanepoel, a program engineer with Eskom, the government-owned power company in South Africa, captured this "light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel" shot of a lined headrace shaft interior, 116 stories below ground in the Little Drakensberg range. The 1,333-MW, $3.5-billion pumped-storage hydropower project began in 2008 and the first turbine is set to come online in 2014.
Eva Creek Wind Farm, Ferry, Alaska, USA
Eva Creek Wind Farm, Ferry, Alaska, USA
Photographer: Joe Ebertsch
Submitter: Jill Badzinski, Michels Corp.
Description: Joe Ebertsch, an assistant project manager for Michels Wind Energy, took this picture at the end of a long day in which two turbines were erected. The project, which involved putting up 12 turbines altogether, had been delayed due to heavy wind conditions, so erecting a pair after the wind subsided a bit was a "boost to morale," Ebertsch says, and the sunset at the end of the day was icing on the cake, he says. "It was real pretty," he adds.
Gdansk Tunnel, Gdansk, Poland
Gdansk Tunnel, Gdansk, Poland
Photographer: Marcin Bencer
Description: Gdansk's 42,000-seat PGE stadium was lit up for last summer's Euro 2012 soccer tournament as local freelance photographer Marcin Bencer recorded tunnel construction nearby for U.K.-based subcontractor Keller Group plc., London. He used a wide-angle lens on his Canon EOS 5D Mark II to capture the glowing bowl in the evening light with the muddy, piled tunnel foundation ramp in the foreground.
Former GM stamping plant, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Former GM stamping plant, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Photographer: Stephen SetteDucati
Description: SetteDucati, director of marketing and media for MCM Management Corp., says he snapped this photo of a worker whose sole job is to repair blades, grapples and other equipment like the six-inch teeth on this concrete pulverizer, or "muncher," as he calls it. "It's hard to get the right shot because the glare of an arc welder would do serious damage to my sensor," says SetteDucati. "It's brighter than the sun."
Shanghai's Triplets, Shanghai, China
Shanghai's Triplets, Shanghai, China
Photographer: Nicky Almasy
Description: From a hotel roof across the river, Almasy used a Canon Mark II with a 70-200 lens to capture the city's three tallest buildings—Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Centre. "It was very bad rainy weather, and I used the blue after-effect later," he says. A photographer for eight years, Almasy left his native Hungary at age 17, first for London then for New York, and became a music journalist. In 2006, he moved to Shanghai, fascinated by its development. He has been shooting Shanghai Tower's construction for two years.
Music City Center, Nashville,Tennessee, USA
Music City Center, Nashville,Tennessee, USA
Photographer: Bruce Cain
Submitter: Submitted by Elevated Lens Photography
Description: Photographer Bruce Cain shot this panorama of the 1.2-million-sq-ft Music City Convention Center project at dusk, after mounting his camera atop a 65-ft-tall telescoping mast attached to his truck. "The final photo is actually a result of shooting 24 exposures that were then blended and stitched together," he says. "That's how I was able to show the detail inside the building without making the sky too bright." Also noted: Amquip's 300-ton Liebherr crawler crane (middle of photo) was the first crane at Ground Zero on Sept. 13, 2001.
San Diego Regional Beach Sand Project, San Diego, California, USA
San Diego Regional Beach Sand Project, San Diego, California, USA
Photographer: David Lloyd
Description: As staff photographer for AECOM, which did environmental studies for the work, Lloyd says he approached the assignment to shoot the project by studying shots already taken. He found the light was flat and the compositions dull, but he knew the light would be gorgeous at sunset, and with a 24-mm lens and an angled machine he could power up the composition. "It was one of my favorite photos from that shoot," he says.
Piedmont Green Powerplant, Barnesville, Georgia, USA
Piedmont Green Powerplant, Barnesville, Georgia, USA
Photographer: Alissa Hollimon
Submitter: Jen Jonas, Zachry Holdings Inc.
Description: Hollimon, a professional photographer, flies all over the U.S. for Zachry. She spent one day at the Georgia powerplant "shooting everything and everyone," she says. Though every job inspires her, Hollimon has a soft spot in her heart for humanitarian photography. Two years ago, after working for nonprofits and government agencies in Africa, she started up her own nonprofit—Arise Africa—which focuses on helping children in Zamibia. The group opened its first orphanage last year. Check out Hollimon's shots of the kids on www.ariseafrica.org.
Harbor Project, Gloucester City, New Jersey, USA
Harbor Project, Gloucester City, New Jersey, USA
Photographer: Joe Palma, Jr.
Submitter: Rick MacDonald, Weeks Marine
Description: Palma has worked as a carpenter and construction diver, and for the past seven years has been an operating engineer apprentice. "I was going to work on the crew boat early in the morning and the scene came into view," he says of the ethereal image he captured. The job used a barge crane driving 200 piles to form a combi-wall.
Truck Driver Dana Lau, U.S. Navy Fuel storage Replacement Facility, Point Loma, California, USA
Truck Driver Dana Lau, U.S. Navy Fuel storage Replacement Facility, Point Loma, California, USA
Photographer: Thiel Harryman
Submitter: NOVA Group/Underground Construction Co. JV
Description: Photographer Harryman, a project engineer, repeats in 2013 as a photo contest winner. In the first of three photos on these pages, he captures Lau, a longtime NOVA employee, on site. Lau took the nontraditional job to support her family after the death of her husband, a former employee. "My goal is to capture who we are, and what we do," says Harryman.
The Gate District Project, Abu Dhabi, UAE
The Gate District Project, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Photographer: Baha Dahleh
Submitter: Submitted by Faisal Alami, Khatib & Alami
Description: The pièce de résistance of the Gate District Project on Al-Reem Island in Abu Dhabi, captured by photographer Baha Dahleh in an aerial photo, is a steel-framed penthouse that caps and connects the trio of 63-story residential towers. Crews first assembled sections of the 300-meter-long, two-story structure on low-level platforms and then hoisted them into place.
Aucilla River Bridge Replacement, Taylor County, Florida USA
Aucilla River Bridge Replacement, Taylor County, Florida USA
Photographer: Adam Pass
Submitter: Submitted by Thelma Garcia, GLF Construction Corp.
Description: Photographer Adam Pass had been shooting at the bridge site all morning and saw the rays of the rising sun rounding the edge of a pipe section and joining the showering sparks from the torch in an unusual light show. "I took this within an hour of the earlier shot that morning with the moon," he says. Two winning shots from one site is a very good morning's work.
Aucilla River Bridge Replacement, Taylor County, Florida USA
Aucilla River Bridge Replacement, Taylor County, Florida USA
Photographer: Adam Pass
Submitter: Submitted by Thelma Garcia, GLF Construction Corp.
Description: Early one morning, freelance photographer Adam Pass saw the elements of an unusual shot at a Florida bridge replacement project: the moon framed by a crane. He wanted the moon as big as possible and worked the crane into the sides of the frame. As he was setting up, "a bunch of vultures started flying all over," and one crossed in front of the moon as he made his exposure. As if to prove that art is everywhere, Pass landed another contest winner on the same site a little later ...
SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco, usa
SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco, usa
Photographer: Henrik Kam
Description: Fireworks streaming through a grid of rebar caught the eye of architectural photographer Henrik Kam, who has been shooting San Francisco's 35,000-sq-ft SFJAZZ Center, a $60- million performance space due to be complete on Jan. 21. Whether trades are welding, cutting, pouring concrete or walking steel, Kam says he likes to capture the mundane and make it artistic. With flying sparks, "You can streak it with a slow shutter speed, and it's visually fun," says Kam, who took this shot with a Canon 5D Mark II fitted with a tilt-shift lens.
Water Line Replacement, Everett, Washington USA
Water Line Replacement, Everett, Washington USA
Photographer: Will Austin
Description: Will Austin, a freelance photographer, was on assignment for general contractor IMCO, Everett, Wash., to cover a $6.2-million, 4,000-ft water line replacement project when he stumbled on this shot of a welder deep inside a 48-in.-dia. pipe. The welding torch that provided the lighting reflected off the glossy epoxy lining of the pipe's interior, creating a stunning halo of color.
World Trade Center Rebuilding, New York City, USA
World Trade Center Rebuilding, New York City, USA
Photographer: Timothy Schenck
Description: Lord Monroe, a rebar worker with the Metallic Lathers and Reinforcing Ironworkers Local 46, New York City, strikes a defiant pose at Four World Trade Center during the rebuilding of the complex that was destroyed in the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001. Freelance photographer Timothy Schenck says that "the worker had an aura about him that encompassed what the reconstruction effort was all about." The worker's T-shirt shows the WTC site right after the attack.
Pecorone Viaduct, Lauria, italy
Pecorone Viaduct, Lauria, italy
Photographer: Emilio Filippelli
Submitter: Submitted by Regina López Tudanca, Sacyr Vallehermoso S.A.
Description: Emilio Filippelli of SIS, a Torino, Italy-based subsidiary of Sacyr, Madrid, was gauging just how close he could get to the eroding Lauria Junction viaduct during implosion, he says. He wanted to capture the power and technical control of the explosives being used to bring it down. He calls the photo "Destruction for a New Construction." Ice and salt had degraded the viaduct, necessitating a rebuild. Filippelli says the new viaduct will be built to withstand better the snowy mountain climate of Lauria Junction.
Welder, Boyabat Dam and Powerplant, Sinop Province, Turkey
Welder, Boyabat Dam and Powerplant, Sinop Province, Turkey
Photographer: Batuhan Salihoglu
Description: Salihoglu, a photographer for the $1.2-billion project's contractor, Dogus Insaat ve Ticaret AS, Istanbul, was captivated by the welder's "flame hair," he says. Despite contending with a strong light on his right, "it was a moment of magic." Salihoglu used a Nikon D700 camera and a Nikkor 14-24mm lens. The 513-MW project, set to finish in 2014, is Turkey's largest private hydroelectric venture to date.
Storm Drain Installation, Charleston, TennesseeUSA
Storm Drain Installation, Charleston, TennesseeUSA
Photographer: Wendy Whittemore
Description: The shot was taken from a helicopter, about 1,200 feet above this storm drain installation project in Charleston, Tenn., for Wright Brothers Construction, also of Charleston. As the pilot took a steep turn, the helicopter was positioned directly above the site, giving Whittemore, photographer and president of Aerial Innovations of TN Inc., the right angle to capture the parallel lines and varying tones of the earth near the machines. "I found the divisions between the various materials and the formation of the equipment just visually interesting," she notes.
Panama Canal Third Set of Locks Project, Panama Canal, Panama
Panama Canal Third Set of Locks Project, Panama Canal, Panama
Photographer: Javier Conte
Submitter: Submitted by Lina Cossich, Panama Canal Authority
Description: This photograph was taken on Jan. 24, 2012, at precisely 6:39 p.m., says Conte, hired by the Panama Canal Authority to document the $5.2-billion expansion of the historic canal. "I am constantly on the lookout for a great shot," he says. "As I was walking the project, I saw that special moment ... on the Pacific side, as the sun was fading on the excavation's hillside. The project's lighting system had just been turned on a few minutes prior, and as the sun went down, the magical lights illuminated the scene."
Driving Tube Piles at Port of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Driving Tube Piles at Port of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Photographer: Garry Owens
Submitter: Submitted by Sandy-Lee Connolly, Keller Group plc
Description: Owens moved to Australia three years ago after more than 20 years of advertising photography in London. His first construction shoot captured Piling Contractors Pty Ltd.'s rig offsider Adam Martin observing a drill rig Kelly bar being lowered into a steel pile hole to create a rock socket. Owens liked this shoot enough to set up a company specializing in construction photography. See more of his work at www.raygun.com.au.
The Village at Santa Monica, California USA
The Village at Santa Monica, California USA
Photographer: Paul Turang
Description: Turang, a professional photographer, took this shot during a concrete pour while on assignment for Pankow Builders. "Light hits rebar just so, and the colors and textures of that really fascinate me—especially when you zoom in tight," he says. "It being an overcast day, there weren't any kind of distinct shadows that would make it a nice color photo, so I went black and white; it made it pop that way."
Commercial Comeback, Dubai, UAE
Commercial Comeback, Dubai, UAE
Photographer: Zaheer Karim
Submitter: Submitted by Brian Daly, Hill International, Inc.
Description: Karim, a senior urban planner and design manager for the Middle East at Hill International, took this photo on Oct. 10 at 7:30 a.m. from a residential tower facing north with a breathtaking view of Dubai's Business Bay and downtown. He sees the cityscape emerging from a rare dense fog as symbolizing Dubai's recovery from the 2008-2011 real-estate downturn. New project launches and completion of previously stalled projects are now common sights in the emirate, he says, which has become the business and leisure hub of the Middle East region.
New Irvington Tunnel Hole-Through, New Irvington, California USA
New Irvington Tunnel Hole-Through, New Irvington, California USA
Photographer: Katherine Du Tiel
Description: Du Tiel takes engineering archives photos for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Her work takes her from the Yosemite Valley to the San Francisco Peninsula and beyond as the commission works through a $4.6-billion upgrade. She says this assignment was her "most stressful shoot ever," as she was stuck in traffic as the teams of tunnelers neared the hole-through. Then concerns about the possible presence of methane almost prevented her from using her own camera.
Jeremiah Morrow Bridge Replacement, Oregonia, Ohio USA
Jeremiah Morrow Bridge Replacement, Oregonia, Ohio USA
Photographer: Michael Swan
Description: Swan is the CEO of Omnipro Services LLC, a construction management firm working for the Ohio DOT. "I captured this photo with a time-lapse camera during sunrise. Construction was in full swing, and the blueness of the photo is a result of state highway patrol cars' blue emergency lights reflecting off the piers during twilight."
Reston Station, Reston, Virginia USA
Reston Station, Reston, Virginia USA
Photographer: David Madison
Submitter: Submitted by Maggie Parker, Comstock
Description: Photographer David Madison likes the surreal nature of this photo. He was taking shots of an underground transit site being built by his client, real estate developer Comstock Partners LC, and saw a worker standing in front of a large screen with an image of a Metro station on it. "It takes people off guard," Madison says, because at first glance it appears as if the worker is coming out of an actual Metro station. "The shadow gives it away," Madison notes.
New Irvington Tunnel, New Irvington, California USA
New Irvington Tunnel, New Irvington, California USA
Photographer: Katherine Du Tiel
Description: Du Tiel says her goal was to shoot without a flash and capture the contrasting qualities of the cold light of the welder and the warm light on the worker divided by the intersecting line of the pipe. She says it is "pretty wet down there" in the tunnels and she has ruined a few cameras, but "I like it a lot. It's exiting. I like being dropped down into a project with a harness and I like being high in the air. I like the physical aspects of it."
San Joaquin Pipeline SystemâEastern Segment, Oakdale, California USA
San Joaquin Pipeline System—Eastern Segment, Oakdale, California USA
Photographer: Katherine Du Tiel
Description: The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's $4.6-billion water system upgrade involves more than 80 projects. Du Tiel says she found the scene near Oakdale "rather amazing," with the old pipe being replaced "lining up against the landscape as far as you could see." She climbed a hill of rubble to gain a vantage.
Auxiliary Water supply system upgrade, San Francisco, USA
Auxiliary Water supply system upgrade, San Francisco, USA
Photographer: Robin Scheswoh
Description: Scheswohl has worked for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for six years photographing pump stations and reservoirs. She says this cistern was built in 1910, following the 1906 earthquake, as part of a supplemental source of water for the fire department. Scheswohl notes that, like the worker who was engaged in seismic upgrade work in the image, she wore a hazmat suit, a harness and an air quality monitor as part of her equipment to get the shot. The monitor was used to detect the presence of hydrogen sulfide gas.
Westside Parkway, Bakersfield, Calif., USA
Westside Parkway, Bakersfield, Calif., USA
Photographer: Gilbert Vega
Submitter: Submitted by Amber Thompson, Parsons Corp.
Description: Parsons Corp.'s Vega, a senior CADD designer, shot soundwall work on a 4.25-mile, $88-million phase of new freeway. "I wanted the scrapers as both mid- and background elements," he says.
Industrial development, Tanauan, Batangas, Philippines
Industrial development, Tanauan, Batangas, Philippines
Photographer: Emilio Morales
Submitter: Submitted by EM2A Partners & Co.
Description: About 2,000 workers are involved in the 27-hectare greenfield industrial park project, and they have found reinforced concrete pipe sections in the laydown happen to be aligned to catch the breeze off the flanks of Mt. Makiling, an extinct volcano, offering a siesta respite from the humid 90º heat. Morales' company is the project's engineer-of-record.
U.S. Navy Fuel Storage Replacement Facility, Point Loma, California USA
U.S. Navy Fuel Storage Replacement Facility, Point Loma, California USA
Photographer: Thiel Harryman
Submitter: NOVA Group/Underground Construction Co. JV
Description: A welder configures low-point drain infrastructure on piping manifolds at this project, the first LEED-certified fuel depot. Harryman used a Canon 5D camera with a 50mm f/1.4 lens. Shooting in black & white "simplifies the frame while allowing the subject to stand out without distraction from other details in the background," he says.
Pontiac Plant demolition, Pontiac, Michigan USA
Plant demolition, Pontiac, Michigan USA
Photographer: Stephen SetteDucati
Description: Stephen SetteDucati, director of marketing and media, MCM Management Corp., says he knew his photo could be "potentially fantastic," as he climbed onto the ledge of a building overlooking demolition yards of an old Pontiac assembly plant, to get it.
U.S. Navy Fuel storage Replacement Facility Point Loma, California USA
U.S. Navy Fuel storage Replacement Facility Point Loma, California USA
Photographer: Thiel Harryman
Submitter: Submitted by NOVA Group/Underground Con. JV
Description: Harryman captured this shot among many on this project at the Navy's largest fuel depot. "During production, I noticed the light surrounding the truck position," he says. "The setting looked like a story to me. On the surface, [the truck] may appear gritty; but it is reliable, can be trusted and is a critical element of progress."