Rock Scaling Like Any Other Job, Once You Get The Hang Of It

STELLA, Cowlitz County - The job pays $19.49 an hour, and you just "hang out" about half the time. Still, scaling rocks on a bluff west of Stella wouldn't be for everyone.

You have to be strong and agile. But the sine qua non is lowering yourself by rope over a cliff 290 feet above Ocean Beach highway.

"If you're scared of heights, this ain't no job for you," said Randy Martin, superintendent for One Way Construction of Sedro-Woolley, which has the state contract to eliminate the danger of rock slides about 10 miles west of Longview.

Scalers hanging from ropes and knocking down loose rock with pry bars or shovels is a big part of the $579,000 project. Work began in July and will continue until mid-September.

Both lanes of the highway have to be closed when scalers work. Rocks tumble onto the highway. Some bounce off the highway and over a concrete barrier before splashing into the Columbia River.

Scalers have to stop work and find a spot to "hang out" as the rocks are swept away and vehicles allowed through before another cycle begins.

"Traffic is the biggest problem on this job. We lose at least half a day," Martin said. "If the road was closed, we'd have been done and gone in four weeks."

The job began with cutting down trees and clearing brush to get to the rock that over time had become loose and prone to sliding. A 165-ton crane was used to lift a drill on a platform, and workers drilled as many as eighty 1 3/4-inch-diameter holes 20 feet into the hillside. Steel bars inserted into the holes will stabilize the bluff.

A helicopter helped workers to spread a wire mesh net 580 feet wide and ranging in height from 290 feet to 140 feet over the bluff to catch small rocks.

Until then, scalers are used to knock down the loose rock. Scalers are scarce, and the six on this job were nearly half of the scalers in the whole state, Martin said. The job is the most dangerous manual labor job in the construction field, and two of his friends were killed scaling, Martin said.

In one case, a sharp rock fell with enough force to slice through the scalers' steel-core rope. The other time, a rock fell and killed the scaler after he climbed down to the road.

"The most dangerous thing is the rocks coming down," said scaler Dennis Stafford, 30, of Sedro-Woolley.

Scalers shove their bar or shovel into fissures on the bluff and wedge the rocks loose. A scaler works down the hillside and a loose rock left in place can tumble down if brushed by the rope.

Another problem is cutting away a big rock and finding oneself dangling under an outcropping. "If you undermine yourself, you end up in a big mess," said scaler Tim Ashe, 26, of Concrete.

Ashe scratched the scar on his forehead when asked whether he's ever had an accident in a half-dozen years of scaling. Ashe said the scar-causing rock knocked him silly. Furthermore, Ashe insisted heights scare him witless. Still, he calls the job a "rush."

"I don't get that nervous anymore," Ashe said. "This doesn't bother me too bad. I'm more scared on a ladder."

Scalers are in high demand, according to Richard Omdahl, business manager of the Laborers International Union of North America Local No. 791 in Longview.

"A good scaler can work just about any time they want, but they have to move around," Omdahl said. "It's strenuous work. You have to be in pretty good physical shape."

Martin said One Way has never had a serious accident involving a scaler.

"We've just been extremely lucky. If you're safe, unless a fluke deal happens, you're not going to get hurt."