Answering Ben's call, I declined to pump for him, initially. Ben was from out of town, he was looking for a concrete pump but he was doing some shotcrete work, which I informed him, we don't do. Shotcrete is where you attach compressed air to the concrete pump hose and forcefully blow the concrete where you need it, it has a lot of applications like vertical walls and intricate concrete formations that require next-level freehand skills, but a lot can go wrong and it can be hard on the pump. Ben was persistent and reassuring, he gently asked why I wasn't interested and he gently coaxed me into accepting the opportunity to actually try out shotcreting. Words fail me but I'll say, I am extremely grateful for Ben's softspoken demeanor and his patience with me, and for blessing us with the opportunity to experience the thrill of taking on this new challenge.
But I feel the same as Hauer's character, having pumped concrete in a multitude of unique situations. We've pumped for the DOT on bridges and under them. We've pumped concrete two stories underground inside of chemical factories where the corrosion all around was terrifying. We've pumped six foot deep by four foot wide lightning rod tower bases 50 feet up in the air atop of a blast wall inside of military ammunition factory. We've pumped the bases for Zipline courses in a National Park with 1600 foot deep canyon carved throughout. It is simply hard to explain the emotions and feelings of pumping concrete when you experience the exhilaration from the danger and stress and the challenges of a high pressure industry like pumping concrete. The scope of our work, the far places we travel to, the toil & struggles we encounter, the chaos and risks are incomprehensible, to say the least.
I have pumped up seven stories on hotel floors, I have been in military facilities where I have to have background checks. I’ve been in nuclear facilities where I had to do retinal scans at several checkpoints along the corridors and pass through security with conveyor belts for our belongings to be X-rayed and body scanning equipment like TSA at the airports with a devise that tested our skin and clothing for explosives, all just to get to into the facility to pump concrete. All of this to say, there is not much left to impress me.
I am indifferent as to your opinion of the skater subculture, but I insist that if you were to absorb the immense amount of craftsmanship that is required to create a skate park, you would be overwhelmed by the artisan quality and precision concrete finishing skills required to handshape the features at the skatepark. Having been around concrete my entire life and as a second generation concrete tradesmen, it is very hard to impress me at this point. There isn’t much that I haven’t seen or done, and frankly, it takes something very unique to raise the type of excitement that I experienced working at this skate park.
Watching Ben and his crew in action I was totally enraptured, enthralled, enchanted, caught up and transfixed in the moment, transported and getting lost in the moment was reminiscence of when I was in the second grade and an adult read to us from the "Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by CS Lewis, and I remember over 50 years later losing all sense of my soundings or my classmates and the entire room disappeared from my line of vision and magically I was inside the story, viewing only the story and losing my physical surrounding in an experience much like some sort of lucid dream. The elegance of the artisan quality craftsmanship Ben and his crew possessed was like watching a master sculptor create a masterpiece, I was mesmerized the entire time by their work, it was amazing and the most interesting and exciting job we've been a part of in a very long time. And on top of all of that, Ben was one of the most pleasant people I have worked for in a while, believe it or not there are some rough coldblooded ruthless ruffians out there pouring concrete who try to bully and push the pump guy around, not many but there are some tyrannical control freaks who like to use threats and are very demanding, complexly lacking any consideration, it comes with the territory.
I'm sure a seasoned veteran pumper who's reading this will have a good chuckle over my novice ramblings, finding it humorous as I recount being initiated into the experience of shotcreting. I just hope it rekindles the spark of joy of their introduction to doing shotcrete for their first time, after all we who pump concrete can become jaded, cynical, and critical as the years go by. Surprisingly taking on this shotcrete job, which had always greatly intimated me previously, it completely boosted my self-confidence and encouraged me immensely, shockingly it felt like I was a kid taking the training wheels off, but instead of just riding a bicycle, now I was suddenly riding a 750cc motorcycle.
I invite you to watch below, a couple videos from that job, and check out some pictures as well
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