A Little Bit of Heaven

It’s 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and 96 degrees under the North Hollywood sun when 65 feet below, in the cool caverns that will one day house the Red Line subway, a dispute breaks out among sprinkler fitters: Whose turn is it to go up top for supplies?

On the still-unfinished platforms of what will be the end-of-the-line station, it’s a good 10 to 15 degrees cooler than at street level. A ventilation system creates a soft breeze. The sun, brutal on the backs of the station builders on the surface, can’t peek through the layers of earth and concrete, giving the tunnels the sweetest of shades.

As construction labor goes in this heat, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway is the place to be--if you can stay underground, and the crew from Local 709 of the United Assn. of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters knows it.

Forget reports of workers endangered by sinkholes, sinking storefronts and safety rule violations. These workers are glad to be where they are.

They determine, finally, that it’s Fletcher Jordan’s turn to go back to the surface, and he trudges off through the tunnel, wiping his brow in anticipation, to find a replacement part for a leaky elbow joint.

Although Jordan has lost this particular draw of the straw, his overall luck in being on the underground crew is obvious to those not so fortunate.

Up top, the heavy equipment operators and other construction laborers soak through their shirts within minutes of starting work. They get heat headaches. One stopped work Wednesday with a bloody nose, which is often caused by excessive heat.

Forecasters offer those workers little relief in the coming days, and validate the fortunes of the self-proclaimed moles working underground.

A large ridge of high pressure centered over Southern California is keeping temperatures high throughout the West and shows no signs of dissipating.

Which is why MTA subcontract worker Andy Trujillo, 53, is happy with his current assignment, applying a concrete finish on the bottoms of the subway station walls that lie closest to the tracks.

“It’s much nicer here,” Trujillo said. “When you are underground, the day goes fast.”

With the last bit of excavation work completed this week, the tasks now are finishing work: electrical, mechanical, plumbing, instrumentation and decorating. The station will complete the $1.3-billion, 6.3-mile leg of track extending the Red Line from Hollywood through the mountains to North Hollywood. It is scheduled to open in May 2000.

About two-thirds of the finishing jobs, like the ones performed by the sprinkler fitters and Trujillo, are underground, said construction manager Denise Longley. The rest, she said, shaking her head, are up top.

Rick Macias, 33, spent most of his day at the bright and sunny station entrance, building wooden forms and then pouring the concrete upon which stairs and escalators will rest.

He and the team building an escalator ramp started in the shade, near the bottom of the entry, and slowly worked up a steep incline into the blazing sun. They had the other side of the escalator to look forward to, however, because they would then work their way down, back into the shade.

“He got a bloody nose from the heat,” Macias said, gesturing at a co-worker. “I got a massive headache. The heat takes its toll.”

But with a shake of his long ponytail as he carried a wood frame from one side of the stairway to the other, Macias said he couldn’t complain too much.

“It could be worse,” he said. “It could be Palm Springs.”