When the I-10 freeway was critically damaged in an arson fire, shutting down a major thoroughfare and crippling Los Angeles, our members were called into action for this emergency. With an estimated 300,000 cars traversing that section of the 10 daily, traffic was being brought to a standstill all over the city.
As Mayor Karen Bass emphasized, our city must operate in a state of preparedness. This is ahard lesson learned from California disasters such as the Northridge Earthquake and an example of how the city modeled its response.
The Western State Carpenters are critical to that preparedness. Once the fires were put out, we were boots on the ground. Griffth Company came in and cleared the debris and then Security Paving came in to do the shoring- all at a moment’s notice. We worked 24 hours a day for just over a week with 50 Union Carpenters getting hot during the day and 25 at night and had the freeway back up and running way ahead of expectations. The city was put to the test, and the carpenters rose to the challenge. Initially estimated to take 60 days, we delivered in 8!
We got the freeway up and running again but there’s still more work to be done. We are Carpenters and when we start a job, we will be there in the end to finish it. In an emergency, Union carpenters answer the call, mobilize, and do what they do best- build from start to finish.