Few people ever find themselves suspended down the side of an 88-story high-rise. To most, the idea itself is paralyzing. For Stephan Bolt (he/him), it was just another day on the job.
“I was just hanging by my chains on the outside of the building,” Bolt said, recalling an experience from the first 15 years of his career in Chicago. “I remember looking down and all the little people were just little dots, and you could barely see the cars — they were just little pinpricks. And then I oversee a two-by-four fall off the building. It went so far. It went all the way into Grant Park — the park next door, and it looked like just a little tiny toothpick, but it was 20 feet long.”
While he isn’t dangling in the air hundreds of feet above ground anymore, Bolt, who currently works as general foreman carpenter for BNBuilders on the Inglemoor High School Replacement Project, said that his days are just as exciting. Construction on Inglemoor officially broke ground on June 17, 2025 and has since been ongoing, coinciding with the 2025-2026 school year. On the job site, each day begins with a group stretching session: a time for the team to warm up their bodies for the day’s work. Following that, the team addresses tasks and areas of high risk. Each trade — people in specialized professions such as plumbing, electrical or carpentry — discusses their specific goals for the day to avoid having multiple subcontractors working in the same area, which can hinder efficiency. Kyle Byrne (he/him), general foreman for Valley Electric, said that coordination is key in this field.
“Everybody goes around the table and discusses what they’re doing specifically, and that helps with not overlapping,” Byrne said.
Tools differ from job to job and daily tasks vary. While some construction workers spend most of their day on the job site installing pipes or pouring concrete, others primarily work on computers, pre-planning months in advance for day-to-day operations or coordinating with subcontractors. However, despite extensive planning, challenges are inevitable. Jay Kendall (he/him), plumber for contractor MacDonald-Miller, emphasized the importance of communication both within and between trades.
“Certain times a year that’s cold or wet — that can be miserable,” Kendall said. “Sometimes we work with heavier materials, heavier pipes. Sometimes we’ll have to just figure out how to get a pipe from one place to another,” noting that there might be obstructions.
Safety also plays a critical role in construction work as workers operate large machinery, lift heavy materials and adapt to their changing surroundings. All processes must be planned and communicated clearly to minimize the risk of injury.
“The most important is probably safety and paying attention to your day, because at a blink of an instant — you’re killed that quick — you can fall off the building,” Bolt said. “I think the most important thing is just to pay attention and listen and think before you do anything.”
Bolt oversees concrete formwork, which involves the assembly of temporary molds to hold concrete in shape before it solidifies. Bolt said his mother encouraged him to get into construction because of his love for building things at a young age.
“I was building a lot of tree forts in the backyard, and she said, ‘you’re going to be a carpenter.’ And I said, ‘why?’” Bolt said. “She said, ‘because you have a 40-foot tree fort in my backyard.’”
Superintendent for BNBuilders Danny O’Brien (he/him) said that construction workers often face misconceptions and stereotypes that are unreflective of the work that truly goes into it. He said that construction workers are no different from any other person, even though their jobs might be looked down upon as dirty or laborious. People often have preconceived notions about a construction worker’s mannerisms.
“The other (misconception) is that construction workers swear a lot, construction is a dirty line of work, so that dirt gets on the people. They don’t have any different language there,” O’Brien said.
In Byrne’s experience, the adults around him didn’t view construction as an option after high school since it didn’t conform with the usual path of going to college. Byrne said that while many people perceive construction to be a hands-on job with tools, many careers in construction resemble office jobs.
“When you think construction, you think blue collar, kind of a ‘red-neck’ type. But more and more, the trade isn’t like that at all,” Byrne said. “You really need to be up on the IT portion of things. 95% of my job is on a computer and using virtual construction and modeling efforts and doing takeoffs and things. It really is a career, and it’s good career.”
O’Brien experienced similar prejudices as a high school student where construction was always seen as the second-best option. Now, as a superintendent, O’Brien sees firsthand how deeply construction workers identify with their craft.
“I remember always getting the feeling from teachers and from student counselors and probably from my peers, like, ‘well, you could do this or this or this and go to college…or you could do construction,’” O’Brien said, emulating their condescending tones. “I would reconsider. Most people I know in construction don’t want to leave. They love it. They absolutely love it.”
Kendall said that while many are motivated by the love for the craft, paying bills and being able to support their families also plays a role. For him, the most rewarding part of being a construction worker goes beyond the job.
“The most rewarding part isn’t actually when I come to work here, but when I have the skills to be able to help friends and family at home. If they have an issue, I get to go help them,” Kendall said. “I’m not making money doing that. It’s kind of cool to be able to help people.”
