The feminine presence on the predominantly male work sites is Saint Barbara, the patron saint of tunnelers, miners, artillerymen and others who work with explosives. Carlton Ray said Saint Barbara has been on every tunneling project he’s worked on in 35 years in the water utility business. Workers and Saint Barbara statues are blessed by a priest or minister at the outset of D.C. Water tunneling projects, he said. Purple Line construction workers have placed a Saint Barbara statue in an elevator shaft under construction in Bethesda. Chief safety engineer Piotr Grabon stands next a painting of Saint Barbara, the patron saint of coal miners, underground at the KWK Pniowek mine on Nov. 30 in Pawlowice, Poland.

Source: Washington Post December 30, 2018 00:00 UTC