The Tabernacle is an Island

Was I in for a surprise when I arrived at the temple site today!  Excavation work is progressing rapidly.
Track hoes dug away the ground around this red ladder to the point that it's no longer useful.

I'm actually not the sort of person who has watched much construction before, but I don't know why. It's amazing to see how fast these machines can work.  I counted 5 track hoes at the site today, all working their hearts out.  This track hoe seems to be making plans to go inside.

Seriously, no one can use this ladder where it is.

Mr. Track Hoe and two of his little brothers worked rapidly on the south side.  Notice that the large track hoe is working from what used to be 100 South.

Excavation is progressing on the east side, too.  The retaining wall between the tabernacle and University Avenue is being extended west, along the north of the building.

This is the excavated trench along the north face.  The track hoe on the right was waiting for a dump truck to return so he could continue working.  I later watched him use his shovel to push through the frozen edges of the trench while between trucks.

This is the north face from University Avenue.  

One of the track hoes pushed dirt against the north side of the retaining wall.

The pile driver was quiet while I was at the site, but the vertical beams in the ground behind him are new, likely the result of his handiwork.  He would have driven in the beams for the extension of the retaining wall, too.

This is a little archaeology study of the ground beneath the north entrance. 

Excavation work hasn't begun yet on the west side, but workmen were busy there.  The white truck belonged to a welder who worked on the beams below the southwest corner.

All four towers, including this southwest tower, are fully supported by I-beams.

My camera peeked into the building through the west windows to reveal interior excavation work.  Maybe the red ladder outside will find its way inside soon.

This is a detail of the interior I-beam work as seen through a western window.

Another western window peek shows more interior excavation.

This full view of the south side shows one of the tandem dump trucks in use at the site, which come and go quickly.  Unfortunately, it also shows the haze over Provo from a week-long inversion.