Photos: Among New Wilshire Grand workers, a hierarchy forged of skill, daring and ego
Dense as macrame, the rebar cages can weigh up to 32,000 pounds. Manufactured and assembled off-site, the cages are lifted by a tower crane onto the top of the concrete core where Otto Solis and his crew of rod busters position and fasten them. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Jose Rodriguez, left, labor foreman for Conco, a commercial concrete contractor, guides a hose into place while pouring concrete into the core of the New Wilshire Grand. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Breaktime at the New Wilshire Grand allows Otto Solis, right, and his crew a chance to relax. In spite of the rain, the men positioned three cages before increasing winds made it too dangerous to lift the cages from the street level to the top of the core. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Ironworker Javier Jimenez guides a rebar wall into position as it hangs from a crane above. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Ironworker Paul Graham, with safety line attached, walks along a 71/2-inch steel beam. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Ironworkers Eric Ingersoll Jr., left, and Raymond Gray work on a wall of rebar. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Train wheels make up one of the piles of steel inside the scrap yard at the Rancho Cucamonga mill for Gerdau Steel. Gerdau is making the rebar used to construct the New Wilshire Grand. (For the Record: An earlier version of this caption erred in referring to train tires.) (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
The reinforcing steel is manufactured in Rancho Cucamonga by Gerdau. It begins as recycled scrap and is melted into a 20-foot, two-ton billet that is reduced into a 225-foot length of rebar. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
More than 19,000 tons of structural steel will go into the New Wilshire Grand. Welder Marvin Chapman welds clips onto a steel column at subcontractor Schuff Steel’s Arizona facility. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
A welder fabricates a steel column at Schuff Steel in Arizona. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Iron worker Adrian Ventenilla uses a straight edge to make sure everything is level while fabricating a steel box column. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
