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Scaffolder
Erects temporary structures that allow workers to safely access tall buildings during construction.
Did you know?
In Hong Kong, building bamboo scaffolds for pop-up Chinese opera theatres is officially listed as intangible cultural heritage.
How subjects help
- Mathematics: Measure heights and count tubes, boards and clamps to plan a scaffold before building it.
- Physics: Brace and tie a scaffold to the building so wind and weight can't topple it.
- Engineering: Follow design drawings for tricky scaffolds that wrap around bridges or towers.
- Physical Education: Climb, balance and carry steel tubes high above the ground while staying clipped on.
A famous name
Daniel Palmer-Jones: Called the 'grandfather of scaffolding'; co-patented the Scaffixer steel coupler and founded SGB in 1919.
Try it yourself: Make a broom-handle pulley
- Tie one end of the rope to the first broom handle, then loop it once around the second broom handle.
- Your helpers stand about a metre apart, each holding a broom and gently trying to keep them apart.
- Pull the loose end of the rope slowly and feel how hard it is to bring the brooms together. Never yank, and never put rope round anyone.
- Loop the rope around both handles again, then again, and pull each time. It gets easier, but you have to pull out more rope. Why?
Cranes and ships' winches use pulleys with many rope loops so a small pull can move a very heavy load, and crane operators know how the rope is threaded to decide what they can lift.
Adapted from TeachEngineering (University of Colorado Boulder): Powerful Pulleys.
Also try: Which roof shape handles snow?.
Known for it in
UK, Australia, Hong Kong, USA, Germany