Windows, Beams And Geometry

Mr. Crane was busier this morning than I have ever seen before.

Things were so busy that it took many sets of eyes to view it all.

Columns rising out of the tabernacle means big progress inside.

At some point we will have to get used to seeing a roof up there, but not today.

Mr. Crane took in beam after beam this morning.

Often he took in several beams at a time.

It takes less than a minute for him to take beams from the upper north lot to the interior.

I could have watched him all morning.

Obviously, beams are multiplying inside.

Decking is going in on the upper level.  Some day this will be the floor of the celestial room.
Notice the beams in the wall pockets.

Mr. Crane brings in the beams, and the workmen inside guide them into place.

They have become very skilled at this, and it didn't take long for them to push the beam in the pocket while Mr. Crane held on.

The beam has to be positioned exactly right.

Please appreciate that I was standing on the second step of my yellow ladder, holding on for dear life, watching this workman fearlessly get into place.

Granted, I don't have safety clamps like he does, but even still, I gasped when he jumped down onto the beam.  His weight was enough to move it into the right spot.

These beams were delivered and put into place while I watched this morning.

You are looking at the north side of the building.

I am sure the south side beams will be put into place soon.

There is no way anyone can be in a hurry for the temple's completion.

Even so, work proceeds at a rapid pace.  The forms for the west wall of the annex look almost done.  Notice the tower foundation and also the exterior of the east annex wall, at the lower portion of the photo.

Hopefully we'll get a good look at how they build the forms to support this northeast tower.

I was able to watch the men put waterproof membrane on the wall.  The black goo is what waterproofs the wall.  It goes on hot, and you can see the steam from his applicator.  Fortunately, it was only 60 degrees this morning.  On the right you can see a heavy black mat which protects the waterproofing from damage.

Both cranes were working in this photo -- the white crane in the annex lot and the black crane in the west lot.  I was curious about some features on the west wall forms.

My guess is these are forms within forms so openings can be created in the west wall, probably for heat and air-conditioning.

More gravel was poured onto the annex slab.  This spout is attached to a conveyor belt protruding from the side of a concrete pump.  It was quite noisy.  The front end loader kept the hopper full.

The gravel will fit around the plumbing.  Dressing rooms will take up much of the space in the annex.

The gravel, which sparkled like diamonds in the morning sun, was being delivered from the south lot to the upper north lot.

When all the gravel is in place on top of the current slab, another slab will be poured.
You are looking in the window of the tabernacle, aren't you?

Here we all are, watching other people work. 

A slab has been poured under the southeast tower.

And notice that once again I caught Mr. Crane at work.

This half of the west lot is completely green with rebar.

The green coating will protect the rebar from water dripping off cars in the parking garage.  You can also see the newly completed Nu Skin building in the background.  I went into that building today.

I asked why the cam wasn't working.  There is a lot of construction in this building right now, but there is also electricity.  I'm trying to learn what the problem is, but I didn't learn anything helpful.  I share your pain, so I have put up a whole bunch of pictures in this post which I hope will help.

But I did take a look at the tabernacle from the new building.  Their construction will soon be finished and this will be a great place to watch the progress on the tabernacle.

Notice the concrete sump on the left side of this photo.  It's round and just beneath the lone tower cap.

More cylinders like those used in that sump were in the south lot.  There will be several sumps on the site.

There were other concrete shapes of various sizes.  It looked like a giant's geometry class.

Cement trucks were coming and going at the site, all working in the southwest corner.  This is the lift station next to Second South.  I don't know why they dug a hole and are now filling it with concrete, but this seems to be happening under supervision.

Pipes like these will take water from the rest of the site to this lift station.  I have seen some of the pipes being placed during other visits.

This building is beautiful in spite of the ongoing work.

But work is the going word right now.