The Legend of the Golden Rebar

The Legend of the Golden Rebar

Almost all of the structures in Haiti are concrete and masonry in construction.  I suppose it has to do with the tropical climate which means lots of rain and lots of bugs.  That means mold, mildew, termites and moisture, all of which are deadly to wood.  So concrete works quite well.  It reduces the complications to mold and mildew.  All the concrete buildings also have rebar in it.  Rebar is nothing more than sticks of steel, from three eights inch to three quarter inch in diameter.  It has a rough exterior so it binds well to the concrete, that is, if you used a good grade concrete.  When used properly with a good grade of concrete it increases the strength of the structure by a large factor.  When used with poor concrete, like Haitian concrete, it helps hold things together but at a lesser integrity.  When used with crushed coral, which has salt in it, it ends up giving a nice rust color to the inside of the concrete, and that’s about all.

Since the concrete world in Haiti is limited to cement, crushed coral with salt and other filler material like dirt and sand, the Haitians in their infinite understanding of structural steel figure that if a little works, a lot must work better.  It has, therefore, become expedient, in many respects, to use the jackhammer attachment on the excavator in order to separate the vast amounts of rebar from the granular glue called concrete.  I suppose the normal bucket would work in many instances but, as in the case of the church project, extra rebar thrown in for good measure was accentuated by extra concrete; not that it was any better quality, just more of it; a good two feet of it in places.





Looking out the window of my excavator. The hammer is in front of me, Francois is on the other unit.

The jackhammer attachment is very useful in the demolition project.  It makes short order in separating the weak concrete from the many, many, many sticks of tightly bound rebar.  Sometimes, though, it is a challenge to separate the smaller blobs of concrete that adhere too well.  They scoot around underneath the hammer bit and tend to challenge the focus of the operator.  Distractions add tension to that concentration and can make, even the most even keeled machinist, into a crazy man.


Looking down on the work project. Rebar encased concrete pillars lie in front of Francois

 The first thing I noticed as I pounded the concrete was the strange insurgence of Haitians nearby.  Their numbers grew exponentially with each pounding of the concrete bit.  I soon realized that the Haitians think each piece of rebar is made of gold.  They are quite willing to sacrifice their own life for the opportunity to yank a short section from the hammer bit as soon as it is set free from its concrete encasement.  I know this sounds ludicrous, but it is a reality that I experienced as I watched them dodge my two ton hammer to accomplish their goal.

The rebar cannot really be straightened out for anything useful.  Its only value is in scrap.  I suppose since it is said that there are no jobs for the nationals in Haiti that this is one viable way to earn income; obtain the rebar at any cost and resell it.  Unfortunately, that is exactly what they do.



More concrete pillars needing to be crushed. Some rebar is visible just left of center towards the bottom of the photo.



As I crushed concrete up I was swamped by Haitians running around all parts of the demo reach of the equipment.  I asked the crew to keep them away, but to no avail; there were simply too many of them, and this was gold for the taking.  I tried to move the rebar away from the work location but there was too much of the golden material to be found.  They descended on the fallen pillars like chickens to a feed bag of corn, pecking at them with small hammers, trying to beat me to the precious metal.  As I worked my way down the foundational pillars I would have to move concrete around.  As it was all tied together by rebar any movement by the excavator moved concrete forty or fifty feet away; along with anyone pounding on it.  It was dangerous for them; all the crews’ yelling, waving arms, ordering them out and trying to cordon them off proved fruitless.  Robert could only encourage me to be careful and continue working.

After understanding their desperation I came across an interesting way of getting them to work with me.  When I pulled a chunk of rebar out and moved away for a second, they would pounce on it like hungry wolves.  I would immediately return to that section and pound the hammer into the rebar pinning it to the ground.  Then I would look at them and wait.  When they finally moved away I would resume pounding on it.  If they came closer I would stop again.  When I first started this they couldn’t grasp the concept so we had a Mexican standoff for a few minutes.  I finally shut of the excavator gave them a cold stare and waited.  They finally wandered off and I continued.  When I had all the chunks off of the rebar section I would lay on the horn, grab it with the hammer and swing it out of the way behind me. 

This evening, at days’ end, I think they were finally getting the idea.  Don’t mess with the crazy guy on the excavator with blond hair.  He’ll make you wait.  But in the end, you’ll still get a little gold.

I'll be happy to share the gold, just don't mess with me