Hoover Dam High Scaler - Boulder City, NV - Occupational Monuments on Waymarking.com

Before construction could begin on Hoover Dam, loose rock had to be removed. Special men were required for the job, men called "high-scalers." Their job was to climb down the canyon walls on ropes. Here they worked with jackhammers and dynamite to strip away the loose rock. It was hard and dangerous work, perhaps the most physically demanding work on the entire project. Laden with tools and water bags, the men would descend the canyon walls. Jackhammer drills were lowered to them, and powder holes were drilled into the rock. The jackhammers weighed 44 lbs. and had to be maneuvered into position by hand Once the holes had been drilled into the rock, they were loaded with dynamite. After the shot, broken rocks sometimes had to be levered free using crowbars.

Moving about on the cliffs was difficult and dangerous. Live air hoses, electrical lines, bundles of drill steel festooned the cliffs. The scalers had to carefully pick their way through the resulting maze. The danger from falling rocks and dropped tools was extreme. The most common cause of death during the building of the dam was being hit by falling objects.

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Monument information:
The man depicted on this monument is performing one of the most dangerous yet essential jobs in the construction of the (Boulder) Hoover Dam. Sitting in a bosun’s chair, hundreds of feet in the air, his job was to set charges and clear the loose rock from the face of the canyon walls.

This statue depicts Joe Kine, who performed the work of a high scaler at Boulder Dam. Glen Canyon Dam and other reclamation projects in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Joe was given the first artist’s proof several years before his death in 1998.

This monument is dedicated to all of the men who labored to build Hoover Dam, 98 of whom lost their lives during various phases of the project. J.G. Tierney, a U.S.B.R. employee, was the final fatality.

Steven Liguori, the artist of the High Scaler, was commissioned to do the original bronze statue by Bert Hansen. This statue was made possible through donations to the Nevada Business Enterprise Program for the Blind.

Sector of the workforce: High scaler construction Created or Donated by which group: Steven Liguori ; Nevada Business Enterprise Program for the Blind

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