Ups and downs of scaffolding

Over the last few months, scaffolder and rigger John Tognolini and ABC Radio National's Radio-eye show have made what is probably the first radio documentary about scaffolding.

In The Up and Downs of the Scaff Game, Tognolini, Brent Clough and John Jacobs recreate the sound of 2000 tonnes of concrete and steel going down 180 feet. “Why did we do that?”, says Tognolini. “So that people nearly 30 years later would know about the Westgate Bridge disaster which killed 30 construction workers in October 1970.”

Tognolini interviews two survivors of that tragedy, Pat Preston and Paddy Hanopy, and uses ABC Radio archives to describe what happened.

The show is also about the present day lives of scaffolders and riggers: working in chemical plants during shutdowns and putting up new buildings in central business districts during the booms and busts of the Australian economy.

The Ups and Downs of the Scaff Game will be broadcast on Radio National on January 11 at 8.30pm and February 21 at 3.30pm.

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