Baker’s Man of Steel
 |
| Bobby Delaney Photo by Tom Fitzsimmons |
A day at the office is a little different for Bobby Delaney. As crane operator for the Baker Library construction project, he uses a combination of levers and foot pedals to swing tons of steel through the air, placing the load in just the right spot with delicate accuracy. Often he does this “blind,” with a raising-gang foreman guiding him through the process with radioed instructions. No wonder he’s not the most talkative person you’ll ever meet. The guy has a lot on his mind.
“It’s like I’ve spent my whole career in a phone booth with no one to talk to,” he says of the crane’s plexiglass cabin. “When I get out, I still don’t feel like talking.”
Some of the newer cranes are computerized, but Delaney prefers to do the job by feel — something he’s well qualified to do. “Too long,” he answers, when asked how long he’s been a crane operator, and then concedes, “Thirty-six years.” He learned the trade as a Navy Seabee.
“He looks like Robert Redford, doesn’t he?” razzes one worker passing by with a meatball sub. (It’s 9 a.m., but the shift began some two hours ago.) “If I had his money I wouldn’t be here,” Delaney laughs. “I’m still waiting for my ship to come in.”
Delaney has maneuvered 896 tons of steel beams to support the addition to Baker Library, which will house a new Academic Center and include a south-facing entrance to Allston. Workers check the integrity of every weld with an ultrasound device, smearing the seam with the same sort of jelly a doctor uses on a pregnant woman’s stomach. The first beam was put in place February 13, and the topping-off ceremony was held April 22 before an enthusiastic crowd that included Dean Kim B. Clark, faculty, staff, and students.
The next phase of the project will see exterior sheathing, masonry, and roofing activity. The library is slated to reopen in fall 2005. Meanwhile, Delaney, an employee of Marr Companies and a member of Local 4 Operators Union, will move on to an as-yet undetermined project. Even if he knew where, he probably wouldn’t say.
