GW Bridge Painter: Dangerous Jobs

so how's this for an occupational hazard spending a day suspended hundreds of feet from the ground above 14 lanes of legendary rush-hour traffic at least it beats any corner office view and ABC's own Bob Woodruff gave it a whirl it is a crown atop the New York City skyline made of cables and steel beams the busiest bridge in the world almost a mile long towering more than 600 feet high suspended over the Hudson River the George Washington Bridge is painted by workers balancing and walking sometimes sliding down the beam it takes them more than a year and a half just to finish the job hardly any journalists have ever been allowed to the top of the bridge but we were it is a rare look at life atop this marvel of American engineering so rare and exclusive potential bridge painters need to ace a series of tests this is the final exam a large portion of them when they get to this height determine is another way for them better way for them to make a living that's the bridge painter test right there that beam that's up there 90% of them fail that some people fail that halfway out the rest of the fill from box to the next section to go any further we had to take the test and prove we wouldn't panic this is certainly not for the faint of heart but is it once upon a time mountain climber I did feel so much safe success but the real danger is out here with the barrels the bridge or round and sloping and there is no net between us and the 14 lanes of traffic whizzing below the workers told me none of their colleagues have ever died and it's been nine times that I've actually been scared but obviously up here you have to be conscious of where you are you say oh you know you're crazy you know you know you feel it's a snap but as soon as you lose the fear of being up here that's when you're in trouble there have been some close calls you ever fallen never did you ever slip yes oh but Gonzales has painted three other bridges this is his first time on this one what's the best moment up here best gnome is probably in the morning when it's quietest just up here by yourself it's cool occasionally a helicopter go by you know the traffic guys there have never been any women on this job they teased my producer Lana Zack that she was the first female to scale these barrels but Gonzales has a daughter who might be a future candidate she tells everybody what I do and all she really gets a kick out of VB and openers could show one of the pictures painting the silver or painting the gray the epoxy doesn't matter what do your kids say about this you up here my son my son and every time I take a picture up in first thing it looks for is my lanyard make sure that there's a smart kid yeah look at this place it is just stunningly beautiful right down there he says Statue of Liberty from here if you look oh oh almost up to West Point for all the beauty there are real safety concerns everyone wears two harnesses everything is securely attached anything that falls could cause a traffic accident below because we're never trapped down here actually these guys had a major hurricane go through and it was a serious situation on Chanukah when that severe wind barreled through several years ago the painters were right here on the rig twister sorta came close enough that it grabbed the rake brought it up in the air and it slammed it down despite those dangers it is a beautiful place up here a rare view for all of us I'm Bob Woodruff for Nightline on top of the George Washington Bridge

Channel: ABC News

Views: 7,656,477

Keywords: George, Washington, Bridge, Painter, Dangerous, Job, Bob Woodruff, Nightline, ABC, ABCNews, News, US

Id: Vx0LwtLl4-M

Length: 3min 48sec (228 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 20 2012