MIAMI -- Eight years of planning and three months of construction is done on one of South Florida's tallest structures.

Local 10's 1,000-foot digital tower -- the tower that enabled WPLG to go digital on Friday morning -- is now fully functional.

But before the switch to digital was flipped, men were high up at work making it possible.

"We build the tallest structures in the United States. Taller than the Empire State Building. Taller than the World Trade Center," said Kevin Barber, owner of King Tower II and the man in charge of the project.

For the past three months Barber and his crew have literally hung 1,000 feet in the air as they installed hardware for the station antenna.

It's like working on a 100-story skyscraper, except this is more like a needle.

"It's not just the wind. We get the rain, the lightning, the thunder. We put up a shelter on top to ride out the bad weather," Barber told Local 10's Jonathan Vigliotti.

While you may think the hardest part about the job is just getting to the top, Barber said the real work begins once he's there.

"Our industry has been deemed the most dangerous job in the U.S. After 100 feet -- even just 50 feet -- if you fall, you're gone," Barber said, while dangling from one of the tower's beams.

Barber, who he entered this risky business in 1985, said there are only a handful of companies that do what he does. He jokingly calls it a recession-proof job.

Barber told Local 10 he has a few more digital towers to build across the country. When he's done, he will head back to his home in Texas -- leaving his mark in every state he works.

"It's a landmark," he said. "You built it. You can drive by and say 'Yep, that's some of my work.'"