Southwest Tower Cap Is Up!

The construction cam caught the southwest tower cap in the air this morning.

I had to see for myself.

It's been lifted up before to be measured, but now it will be welded into place.  The center tower will ultimately get the ski jump spread at the base of its cap so it will look like the others.

The remaining three tower caps are waiting their turn.

Only the black crane could reach the southwest tower.  The white crane will lift the other caps into place.  And a tip in this cold weather:  Just because you can't see Mt. Timp doesn't mean you aren't looking north.  The bitter cold, 17 degrees again today, holds air particles close to the ground, obscuring our beautiful mountains.

Cinder block on the north gable continues to rise.

The west gable has been the recipient of some new concrete.

It used to look like this.

The new concrete is part of the gable repair.  Not too far in the future the brick restoration company will clean, repair and repoint the brick.  Missing bricks, for example at the top of this gable, will be replaced.

This picture from Tuesday unexpectedly revealed some gray metal in the roof structure.

I have subsequently learned that this is 1/4 inch steel plate blocking. It is being placed between the rafters as part of the structure's seismic protection.  This view is from the north, just east of the center ridge beam.

The decking on the rafters will be welded to this steel blocking.  The blocking will keep the rafters from rolling and will subdue wave action potentially caused by an earthquake.  The northeast tower is on the left.

The gap between the roof decking and the top of the brick wall on this south side is because the steel blocking hasn't yet been welded into place.  An article last month stated that the top of this south wall was pushed out when the original roof began to sag from the weight of the center spire.  The new steel roof has been built to compensate.

Steel plating on the southwest edge of the roof is all that's visible of the blocking in this area now that the decking is welded on.

These narrow steel plates along the valley beams behind the east gable are also part of the seismic protection.

In looking for steel plate blocking, I zoomed in to study the interior of the roof.  This picture from the northwest shows what is surely a work of art.  Notice the vertical steel holding the catwalk which is just out of view.  White steps lead from the catwalk to the area above the celestial room.  Red ladders enable the workmen to climb to the steeple area, but I'm pretty sure they are only temporary.

This photo from the northeast shows the catwalk and the same white steps.

The red ladder on the right is barely visible in an earlier photo.  Notice the snow shovel and broom to keep the area safe for the workmen.  You can also see the eave of the southwest tower cap.

Decking is now in place on the beams at the top of the southeast tower.  The workmen in the first picture in this post were standing on similar decking inside the southwest tower. 

The little front end loader continues to bring gravel to the east side.  A container is being built around the lift station.  One of the men is operating a machine which pounds the gravel.

The south wall of the mechanical shop is still curing after its pour on Tuesday.  Notice the gap on the right between the wall and the tabernacle shell.

A well-placed snowbank facilitated my taking of this picture.  Concrete was poured in this area yesterday.

This view from the cam shows that area from above.  Forms for the west lot roof can be seen in the lower right-hand corner of this picture.  The black rolls at the base of the southwest tower are tension cables which will be used in the construction of the west lot roof.

The level below the scaffolding around the lower part of the tabernacle will be below ground when the temple is completed.

This part of the west lot will be underground parking.

The entrance from First West is just off the right side of this picture.

Cold day.  New tower cap.  What's next?