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Home > Visual Treasures > Daredevil Construction Workers

Daredevil Construction Workers Collection

Jaw-dropping, historic photos showing workers who risked their lives daily decades ago when rules for construction workers were a lot more lax than they are today.

Choose a picture from our Daredevil Construction Workers Collection for your Wall Art and Photo Gifts

These historical images show hardworking men who earned a reputation for being daredevils as they were moving girders, riveting, painting or even just eating lunch way up high! They worked without, or with minimal harnesses, as they walked nonchalantly along beams suspended hundreds of feet above the street and swung on cables, so one step backward would have meant eternity!

53 items

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Brooklyn Bridge Under Construction

Brooklyn Bridge Under Construction
The Brooklyn Bridge under construction. The four main cables of the bridge were made up of 5000 strands of steel wire, held by steel-link eyebars foreground

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Arch Construction

Arch Construction
A passenger steamer passes under Sydney Harbour Bridge during the construction of its arch, circa 1930. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Lunch On Site Above London

Lunch On Site Above London
A group of construction workers sitting on the framework of the building they are working on during their lunch break, high above a London street. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Brooklyn Bridge Construction Victorian Engraving, 1877

Brooklyn Bridge Construction Victorian Engraving, 1877
Beautifully Illustrated Antique Engraved Victorian Illustration of Brooklyn Bridge Construction Victorian Engraving, 1877. Source: Original edition from my own archives

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Construction Worker At Rest High Up In The Air

Construction Worker At Rest High Up In The Air
A construction worker takes a rest and ponders the view over downtown Victoria in midst of erecting a hoist elevator

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Baltic Canal Gate Construction

Baltic Canal Gate Construction
The White Sea, Baltic Canal was constructed between 1930 and 1933, largely by penal labour. From Povenets, at the northern end of Lake Onega

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Single Span Hanger

Single Span Hanger
Men at work on the steel girders of a single span hanger being built at Gravesend Airport with a main span of 130ft

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Grossmunster at Night

Grossmunster at Night
The Grossmunster ("great minster") is a Romanesque-style Protestant church in Zurich, Switzerland. Construction of the present structure commenced around 1100

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Daring Steeplejack

Daring Steeplejack
20th November 1925: An American construction worker walking blindfolded on a construction girder twenty stories high in New York City. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Construction crane silhouettes

Construction crane silhouettes
Silhouettes of two men during working on building set against sky background

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Construction Site

Construction Site
Workers preparing to lift wooden beams onto metal cranes, circa 1930. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: High Above New York - Don t Look Down

High Above New York - Don t Look Down
circa 1930: Two men working on top of a skyscraper high above New York streets. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Rather You Than Me

Rather You Than Me
circa 1930: A construction worker crouches over the end of a girder high above the streets of New York. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Renovating Spire

Renovating Spire
September 1928: Steeplejacks at work on the renovation of the spire of All Souls Church, Langham Place, London. (Photo by Walter Bellamy/London Express/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Building Bridges

Building Bridges
Full-length image of a worker pausing near the top of the George Washington Bridge during its construction, New York City, circa 1930. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Finishing The Job

Finishing The Job
October 1927: High up above Londons traffic two men are working on the demolition of the Cornhill building after its partial collapse. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: The High Life, New York

The High Life, New York
circa 1930: Builders working on the construction of a skyscraper in New York. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Construction Workers

Construction Workers
Construction workers assembling the steel frame of a building, circa 1930. (Photo by FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Rivetting Team

Rivetting Team
A rivetting team at work on the steel frame of a skyscraper, circa 1930. (Photo by FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Manhattan Construction

Manhattan Construction
A construction worker on a skyscraper site in Manhattan, New York, circa 1930. In the background is the 10 E 40th Street building (right). (Photo by FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Head For Heights

Head For Heights
A construction worker is hauled up to his place of work on a 30 storey skyscraper on New Yorks waterfront. (Photo by Henry Guttmann Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Walking The Plank

Walking The Plank
13th April 1932: Two workmen walking along a girder during the building of the Freemasons Hospital, Ravenscourt Park, London are silhouetted against the sky. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Head For Heights

Head For Heights
September 1928: A steeplejack climbs a flagstaff at Kew. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Building Delaware Memorial Suspension Bridge 1940s

Building Delaware Memorial Suspension Bridge 1940s
An anchorage saddle is lowered into position at Delaware Memorial Suspension Bridge which is the second-longest twin suspension bridge in the world

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Climbing Scaffolding

Climbing Scaffolding
A construction worker climbing up scaffolding on a building in Calcutta, India, carrying eight bricks on his head

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Bridge Construction

Bridge Construction
Workers at a bridge construction site, New York, early 20th century. (Photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Bridge Building

Bridge Building
circa 1925: Construction workers balance precariously over a river as they bolt girders together to form a bridge. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Brooklyn Bridge Construction Victorian Engraving, 1877

Brooklyn Bridge Construction Victorian Engraving, 1877
Beautifully Illustrated Antique Engraved Victorian Illustration of Brooklyn Bridge Construction Victorian Engraving, 1877. Source: Original edition from my own archives

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: New St Francis Church

New St Francis Church
St Francis Church under construction near the Great West Road at Isleworth

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Single Span Hangar

Single Span Hangar
4th December 1933: Men at work on the steel girders of a single span hangar being built at Gravesend Airport with a main span of 130ft. (Photo by Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Wheres The Ground?

Wheres The Ground?
circa 1930: Riveters at work on the 55th storey of the Cities Service Building, New York. In the background is the Woolworth Building. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: High Work

High Work
1925: Steel workers at work on the cities service building in New York, with the City Bank in the background. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Worker carrying materials, seen from below

Worker carrying materials, seen from below

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Two workers looking down over railing

Two workers looking down over railing

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Workers on building site on urban setting, (B&W), elevated view

Workers on building site on urban setting, (B&W), elevated view

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Construction site, (B&W)

Construction site, (B&W)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Wembley Spidermen

Wembley Spidermen
1924: Workmen engaged on the construction of one of the Mosques for the Wembley exhibition. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Seven Day Challenge

Seven Day Challenge
1926: Unskilled builders undertaking a challenge to break the worlds record in house building by trying to build a two storey workmens dwelling in less than seven days

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Head For Heights

Head For Heights
May 1919: Mr Post repairing the 450ft mast at Marconis transmitting station in Chelmsford.Marconi Wireless Telegraph Works, Chelmsford, Essex. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Construction Workers

Construction Workers
UNITED STATES - CIRCA 1950s: Two Men Construction Workers, Climbing Two Tall Steel Beams Girders That Are Connected By Wires Pulley. (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/Retrofile/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Construction Workers

Construction Workers
Construction workers waving to the camera as they stand on metal girders of a high rise building under construction, USA, circa 1900. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Construction Of The Waldorf-Astoria

Construction Of The Waldorf-Astoria
The foundation for the new Waldorf-Astoria Hotel is laid between the railroad tracks at the site of the New York Central Power House, New York, New York, 1930s

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Brooklyn Bridge Workers

Brooklyn Bridge Workers
Two workers silhouetted against the Manhattan skyline as they climb the steel-wire suspension cables of the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA, circa 1930

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Construction Workers

Construction Workers
Two construction workers reinforce the metal girders of a high rise building under construction, circa 1925. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Construction workers on scaffolding

Construction workers on scaffolding
UNITED STATES - CIRCA 1950s: Construction workers on scaffolding

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Eiffel Elevator

Eiffel Elevator
The elevator at the first level of the Eiffel Tower, during its construction. The elevator is still used for conveying sightseers. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Smoking On The Job

Smoking On The Job
A man smokes a pipe atop a building under construction on Broadway facing south toward Bowling Green, New York City, New York, early 1910s

Background imageDaredevil Construction Workers Collection: Construction Work In NYC

Construction Work In NYC
Construction workers on Park Avenue in New York City, USA, circa 1920. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)



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