Jack and Jill

I visited the site this morning after a beautiful snowfall during the night.

I saw men working on the tension cables.  My camera is looking from the north at the gap between the far western construction wall on the right and the edge of the roof for the underground parking on the left.  The gap is deeper than this picture indicates.  The workman you see on the right is standing on a plywood support.  

The newly poured concrete is under warm concrete blankets while it cures. The ends of the tension cables we saw were laid east and west, between the tabernacle and the construction barrier my camera is now looking over.

This man is operating the hydraulic jack which is pulling the cables, one by one.  I thought the jack was the box with the meters.  When I got home, my engineer-husband kindly explained that the jack is the object I have barely captured in the bottom center of the photo.  This man is measuring the tension on the cables.

This picture is from the south.  I asked Mr. Engineer-husband if putting tension on the cables was like pulling a thread to gather fabric.  He said the cables aren't actually moving very much, but this action greatly increases the durability of the concrete.

The men working on the cables are on the far left.  Perhaps I'll get another chance to understand this better.  You can see the coiled, orange cables which go north and south.  

There are more orange cables waiting in the south lot, on the left, next to the elevator base for pavilion.

So far, only half the roof for the west underground parking garage has been poured.

Forms are rapidly being placed for the second half.  Interfering snow was swept out of the way.

The emergency stairwell for the west parking garage is in the center of this photo.  Its roof is being covered with forms for concrete.  This picture was taken at the south side of the west lot.

Here is a north view of that south edge.  A concrete wall is slowly covering that side.

There was so much going on at the site that I watched for quite awhile, even though it was 27 degrees.

A curved stairwell from the surface will reach this part of the south underground parking garage.  Pumps for a fountain will also be in this area.

One of the banners on the construction barrier showed this rendering of the fountain.

Black rebar walls for concrete forms are rising.

The walls are being built on the ground before being moved into place.  The long rectangular-shaped box in the center of this picture was moved here from a newly poured pillar.

Another pillar, to the right and below the shadow, was uncovered while I watched.

The men in a vertical row are assembling the scaffolding on the east side.  The white sheeting on the north is to keep some warmth in so the new grout for the bricks can cure properly.

The original grout is still being removed.

Some of the pictures I took were cloudy with the dust from the grout removal and I couldn't use them.  The color of the brick is from the grout dust and is only temporary.

The fire damaged quite a bit of brick under the north gable.  I sighed when I saw this.

Maybe the tabernacle looks too much like a hospital while these repairs are going on.

I spied these two men shoveling snow away from micropiles in the south lot.  You remember that micropiles have been drilled throughout the south lot.  During the fall, dirt was moved all over the lot, covering them.  Now someone with the treasure map is finding them again.

Plywood was being delivered for the south gable.  I am always in awe of these workmen.  While it was definitely a beautiful morning, I still have two words:  27 degrees.

I noticed scaffolding being erected around the northeast tower roof.  Perhaps shingles are next. 

I had a fun morning at the site, but right now it's snowing again.