- Sandhog
Sandhog is the
slang term given to urbanminer s,construction worker s who work underground on a variety of excavation projects. Generally these projects involvetunnel ing, caisson excavation, road building, or some other type of underground construction ormining projects. The miners work with a variety of equipment fromTBM (tunnel boring machines) to blasting a path for the project they are building. The term is a US-Americancolloquialism .Starting with their first job in
1872 , theBrooklyn Bridge , the "hogs" have built a large part of the city ofNew York -- the subways andsewer s, Water Tunnels #1 & #2 as well as the currently under construction Water Tunnel #3, the Lincoln, Holland, Queens-Midtown, and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels to name a few, as well as the foundations for most of the bridges and many of the skyscrapers in the city. Since their work is mostly done below street level, in an unseen world of rock, sand, and earth, recognition of their achievements has been limited. Many of these workers would be Irish or Irish American.Sandhogs are diverse in backgrounds, interests, and personalities, but are generally united in their work. Sandhogging is somewhat of a tradition and is passed down through generations of families; since mining projects span decades, it is not uncommon to find multi-generations of families working together on the same job.
In the October 1997 issue of
Esquire magazine, a series of photographs byDavid Allee , with a text accompanyment byThomas Kelly , documents the life and work of the Sandhog. In 2006 at Grand Central Terminal in New York City there was a large-scale photo and video installation about the sandhogs, The Sandhog Project, created by artist Gina LeVay.External links
* [http://www.sandhogs147.org New York City Sandhogs Local Union No. 147]
* [http://www.sandhogproject.com Sandhog Project]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20050615_LENS_FEATURE/blocker.html New York Times interactive feature on Sandhogs]* [http://www.amny.com/news/local/newyork/am-tunnel-flash,0,3688796.flash amNew York Video tour of NYC's Water Tunnel No. 3]
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