As part of the effort to construct a 204,600-gallon, wet- and dry-well sewage lift structure for the South Coast Water District Lift Station in Laguna Beach, Calif., a team of carpenters with contractor Filanc were tasked with building the ascending formwork. 

Photographer Nathan Padilla Bowen was on site with his Canon R5 camera last December to document progress and captured the shot of carpenters setting a ledger to help support and align the first lift of forms.  

“I love the fact that it’s real,” he says of the image, “as well as being both interesting and informative. Most viewers of this photo would not realize that they are targeting an accuracy of plus or minus 1/8 inch in a massive hole in the ground, which is also effectively below the adjacent water table.”

The project, slated for completion in 2026, involves replacing the existing 1950s-era sewer lift station and constructing a new intertie between the sewer lift station and Laguna Beach’s North Coast Interceptor sewer pipeline.