When gale-force Santa Ana winds recently gusted through Downtown, crane operator Michael Kraus rode them out atop the 560-foot tower crane at Kettner Boulevard and Harbor Drive. “It’s a good time to catch up on some reading,” says Kraus, “and the swaying motion is rather soothing.

“My crane can handle wind up to 43 miles an hour. But if it looks like high winds aren’t going to let up, I’ll just let the crane weather vane (swing free), tighten up my hard hat, and hold onto the ladder tight when I come down.”

Kraus runs the crane for Clark Construction, which has nearly finished the 34-story second tower of the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel. Project Superintendent Rene St. Pierre says the massive Liebherr 420 crane, which has been up for a year, stands higher than nearly all other cranes in use on the West Coast.

On the days when Kraus doesn’t have to climb to the cab, he pursues his avocation of barefoot waterskiing because, he says, “It’s physically demanding, it’s fun and there are a lifetime’s worth of challenges in it – there are so many ways to fall.”

Falling isn’t a popular topic among tower crane operators, but Kraus has an advantage working in high places because he used to “hang iron.” Ironworkers often are walking steel beams, he says, or, as on the Hyatt Hotel, attaching iron panels on the outside of skyscrapers. “Rodbusters are different from everyone else,” says Kraus. “They’re aggressive. They’re doing the most difficult and dangerous job.” He says that on this job, as with ironworkers in general, “Everything they do is fast. They want to maximize the potential of the crane, the work and themselves all the time. They’ve got it goin’ on.”

Many other kinds of workers fill a jobsite in addition to ironworkers; Kraus says that he tries to “keep them all talking the same language.” It’s critical for others to communicate clearly to him because, he says, “Most of the time, I don’t even see what’s on the hook.”

Generally, Kraus doesn’t find much he can’t handle. But, he says, “I did hear of one crane that was toppled down in a tornado. If you ever hear that we might have a tornado Downtown, please let me know and I’ll come down.”

— Anita Carol Smith