Afternoon Block Walk

I walked around the block today.  I started at the north entrance to the construction site on Center Street.  You can see two of the four tower caps.  The other two are off to the left of this picture.  The crane in the center of the picture is in the west lot.

I walked to Second West, also called Freedom Boulevard.  From this view I can see the west end of the tabernacle, but I can also see a megalith on the Nu Skin campus which a blog reader asked about.  We have learned it's going to be part of an elevator tower.

I had to do a little zigging and zagging to get to this point, which is in the middle of the block between Freedom and First West.  The entrance to the underground parking is straight across the bottom portion of this photo, behind the green dumpster.

This is a view of that entrance from the south, looking north.  Center Street is on the other side of the Nu Skin buildings.  You can see the megalith on the far left.

My camera peeked through the fence along where First South used to be. The slab on the left has now been covered with the waterproof membrane.  It will likely get another slab of concrete soon, and that slab is solely to protect the membrane.  The slab on the right is a little farther along, but they will connect and ultimately be part of the underground parking system.

I am currently very interested in the final level of the foundation.  I learned today that during all the foundation pours, an electric stirrer, called a concrete vibrator, shakes the concrete and eliminates any air pockets.  This will also be the case during the final lift pours.

The form work for the final lift is labor intensive.  Each of the form seams will be sealed because this last pour is completed under pressure.  Vertical rebar from the shotcrete around the inside of the tabernacle shell is already in place and matches exactly with the forms going underneath the shell.  Pressurized concrete, stabilized with an additive to prevent any shrinkage, will fit right up against the base of tabernacle and the new foundation will bear the weight of the 6.8 million pounds of the shell.

From this view on the west side I can see that the exterior concrete wall around the south porch has been covered with protective membrane.

Excavation of the south lot continues.  The dump truck in the upper right corner is entering the site from Second South.

This is the new entrance at Second South.  The tin shack at the left is on the post office lot.

I took this picture from the former Second South entrance.  Deeper and deeper is all I can say.

After turning the corner at University Avenue, I headed north but then turned around to take this picture of the south lot.  The Jersey barrier in the center of the photo has been in the middle of the excavation for a week or so.  I have no explanation.

I got a better view of the moat around the south foundation.  I suspect this area will soon receive a pour of flowable fill which seems to be ongoing on the north and east sides.

I always do my best to peek into the basement from the southeast corner.  I caught a glimpse of Mr. Ladder being carried to a shady spot by one of his peeps.

Form work for the final lift progresses on the north side.  The work belts the men carry weigh 40 pounds.  It reached 93 in downtown today.  Of course no one is afraid of heights, either.

It's becoming easier to see that the west porch is actually an access to the mechanical tunnel, which is on the right side of this picture.  

The last column in the north lot annex was poured this morning.

If you haven't already noticed, the construction cam has a new look.  This 10 am clip caught the Lego men in action at the top of the column form.

Restoration work continues on the tower caps.  It's easy to differentiate between the original wood and the new.

There is one more construction entrance on University Avenue, just past the annex area.  Around the corner and to the left is where I started.  Lovely day for a walk, for sure.