1 Down, 89 To Go

You know what this is.

You know where it came from.

Just the one pier came down today.  The rest will come along later.  I feel like I did when I tried to get the training wheels off my first child's bike.  Progress, not perfection, the saying goes.

There are details in this view from the construction cam which are interesting.  Notice the base of the pier which is still standing.  Marks on the other piers indicate where they will be cut.  The cross beams are obviously being removed, too.

The concrete pump visits the site frequently.

Sometimes my personal emails contain conversations about concrete vs cement.

I'm thrilled to see continued progress on the southwest tower cap.

Mr. Drill Rig was blocking my view of the south face this afternoon.  He appears to be poised to go to work in the south lot.

I think this is deep enough, and I'm saying that with some confidence.

Lots of buddies have been working overtime on this project.

But the biggest clue is the stakes in the ground.

Missionaries are now manning an information booth at the overlook on University.  I had to edit that sentence to cut out the word, "darling."  But they are.  And they know quite a bit about the tabernacle, too.

They told me that just before I arrived this tandem dump truck had slid off the beaten path and had become stuck.  A rescue effort successfully pulled him back.  Of course, missionaries would like a story like that. 

I am puzzled by the form work on the south foundation.  There is a large gap between the forms and the tabernacle shell, indicating to me that the next lift pour won't be the final lift.  I'm pretty sure they know they can't cut off the piers on this side until that final lift is complete.

This is the gap under the southwest tower.

This is the gap beneath the ground level entrance.  If you are thinking that the entrance is blocked with concrete, remember that there will be stairs.

There are a lot of men working hard here, but not as many as yesterday.  Maybe that's a good sign.

I took a picture of the new east foundation wall.  The font will be on the other side of this wall and will be cast in place.  The oxen will be brought in later.

My camera peeked into the basement from the southeast corner.  It looks like the men aren't waiting for the next slab to be poured to build stuff.

I don't know what I'm seeing in this glimpse from the northeast corner.  At first I thought we might seeing through the lowest level to the stairwell outside, but it doesn't quite match up.

At least everyone on the site seems to know where they have been and where they are going.