Los Angeles Sixth Street Bridge Crew Gets the Job Done With a Lot of Woman Power
Date Posted: January 9, 2020
Posted In: Discussion,
From Los Angeles Times: Maria Coronado has building in her blood.
Her grandmother was a World War II riveter and her grandfather a lifelong woodworker. Coronado, who grew up learning how to bake bread as skillfully as she knew how to fix a combustion engine, was often the only woman on a site to wield a hammer when she started in construction in 1990.
Nearly 30 years later, she’s a mentor to those who’ve followed in her footsteps, answering late-night calls helping women navigate a male-dominated field. That includes a group of women rebuilding downtown Los Angeles’ 6th Street Bridge — a once iconic landmark stretching across the L.A. River that was torn down in 2016 after it was deemed an earthquake hazard.
“What I’m always telling them is to own your skills,” said Coronado, 52. “Outshine everybody.”
When Maria Coronado started in construction in the 1990s, she was often the only woman on site. Now, she advocates for and mentors other women in the field.(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
The 6th Street Bridge team of 170 includes 15 women — the most on any commercial project in Los Angeles and nearly double the Department of Labor’s participation goal of 6.9% female crew members. The $428-million project is being constructed by Swedish construction company Skanska, in a joint venture with San Francisco-based Stacy and Witbeck. Skanska includes a senior executive team that is half women.
Rosa Garcia, 37, remembers the first day she stepped onto the downtown Los Angeles site.
“There’s been jobs where there’s been 800 guys and one female — and I’ve been the only female,” the mother of four said. “This is the first project that I walked on to where I couldn’t believe how many women I saw.”