A steeplejack is a craftsman who scales tall buildings and structures to carry out repairs or maintenance. They are sometimes also involved in new construction, as well as demolition.

Processes and techniques

Steeplejacks erect ladders on

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

s and steeples, industrial

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typical ...

cooling tower A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream, to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove heat and cool the ...

bell towers A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tow ...

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

skyscrapers A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

, or any other tall structure. In the UK, modern steeplejacks use a belay rope fall-arrest system (similar to the method used by rock climbers) attached to the ladders as they are erected to eliminate solo climbing and greatly reduce the risk of falls from height. Once ladders have been erected, the next stage is usually to suspend a

bosun's chair A bosun's chair (or boatswain's chair) is a device used to suspend a person from a rope to perform work aloft. Originally just a short plank or swath of heavy canvas, many modern bosun's chairs incorporate safety devices similar to those found ...

(a strong wooden plank on which the steeplejack can sit, pull themselves upwards or lower themselves downwards, or sit in a stationary position), but abseiling (UK) or rappelling (US) equipment is replacing the bosun's chair on many operations because of its lighter weight. Steeplejacks at work

Once this has been done it is possible to use this access to begin building

scaffolding Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other human-made structures. Scaffolds are widely u ...

to carry out any repairs which may be required. This is done by fixing

anchors An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anchor ...

into the wall (whether concrete, stone, or brick) and "kicking" the scaffolding off from there. It is also possible to carry out repairs from "suspended access cradles". These are the same type of rig window cleaners use on

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

s. The cradle is suspended from four wires. Two of these run through an electric motor which can "climb" or "descend" the wire, and the other two run freely through a box which allows the cradle to travel upwards with no obstruction, but will stop it instantly if it starts to fall. These "suspended access cradles" are popularly called "swing stages" by their crews.

Duties

Steeplejacks are called upon to repair or replace

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

(brick, stone or concrete), carry out general

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

or roof repair, remove and clean and repair windows, as well as

sandblasting Sandblasting, sometimes known as abrasive blasting, is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove su ...

and other masonry cleaning tasks.

History

The profession has existed since at least the 11th century–when the

Bayeux Tapestry The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidery, embroidered cloth nearly long and tall that depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest, Norman Conquest of England in 1066, led by William the Conqueror, William, Duke of Normandy challenging H ...

, which depicts a steeplejack, is thought to have been created.

Notable people

Albert Ball Albert Ball, (14 August 1896 – 7 May 1917) was a British fighter pilot during the First World War. At the time of his death he was the United Kingdom's leading flying ace, with 44 victories, and remained its fourth-highest scorer b ...

Robert Cadman Robert Cadman or Robert Kidman (1711 – 2 February 1739) was an 18th-century steeplejack and ropeslider who between 1732 and 1739 performed feats of daring, ultimately by sliding or flying down a rope from St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury to the ...

* Fred Dibnah * Israel Nathan Herstein * Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly * Rodman Law

Gallery

File:steeplejack on a chimney in 1960 arp.jpg, Laddering a

in central

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England, taken around 1960. The enlargement shows the total lack of safety precautions. File:Steeplehobo.jpg, Raising the steeple on the Hoboken Ferry Terminal Clock Tower in New Jersey File: Steeplejack rondout new york.jpg, Steeplejack with climbing rope and ascenders replacing a 200 foot steeple in The Rondout section of

Kingston, New York Kingston is the only Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grou ...

File:Beetham Tower Steeplejacks (22102421322).jpg, Steeplejacks on a modern

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations Craft occupations