Trick Or Treat

The construction site looked a tiny bit spooky tonight.

I tried to knock on the door to say trick or treat, but I couldn't find a door...

Despite the holiday, work continues.  The annex roof is zooming along.  The mechanical access tunnel has a new roof, too.

The phrase "growing up" has a new meaning when we talk about the work at the site.

The annex roof is spreading out.

I assumed the roof would happen in stages, but with forms being placed in the gap, it appears I assumed incorrectly.

At one point there was a sea of rebar in the basement.  Now there's another sea here.

A pavilion in the south lot is shown on a banner at the site.

This is intended to be a lovely Victorian waiting area for non-patron family members.

The new hole in the south lot is for the elevator shaft and other utilities which will service the pavilion.

Someday, instead of a construction site, we will see beautiful gardens surrounding the pavilion, which of course will be 20 feet up from the base we see now.

The south elevator shaft is now easily visible.  I have plans to ride every elevator in the new temple.  

Everyone must be happy with the fifth tower base, because work there seems to have slowed down. 

In the meantime, new material in the west lot is waiting for direction.

It was a gorgeous Halloween night with perfectly crisp weather.

The tabernacle tried to look Halloween-ish.  Sadly, the fire helped in that regard.

The inside looked just a little spooky.

I didn't have to try very hard to see two scary eyes and a scowl.

Haunted?

None of the downtown trick-or-treaters were scared in the slightest!

Higher And Lower

The vertical growth at the tabernacle site is impressive.

But there is still digging going on.  This man was working on the east side lift station.

A mysterious pit has appeared in the center of the south lot.  I suspect this will be associated with the pavilion which will be built in this area.

The work on the annex roof is massive.

I don't know what's going to happen next, but I'm glad we'll be able to watch.

A protective slab was poured over the waterproof membrane where the underground foyer will be.  Another layer of gravel plus the vapor layer need to be placed before the last slab is poured.

My camera peeked inside the lower level and spied this man lift near the grand staircase.

This scaffolding is in place to assist the workers building an elevator shaft on the south side.

Deliveries are a frequent occurrence at the south gate.

But this green spider got in on its own.

I was standing over the west entrance when I took this picture.  Temple patrons will drive east toward the temple and turn south to park.

This was the first picture I took today, just before I crossed University Avenue at Center.

And this was the last, directly opposite, from the post office lot.

Top Hat

All dressed up.  Nowhere to go.

It was so quiet at the site today that the pigeons could have a meaningful conversation.

The honeycombed roof of the annex stretches from east to west.

This week's work on the annex roof has been fun to watch via the construction cam.

I don't know how much rebar will be worked around the steel waffle plates before the concrete is poured.

Red ladders are essential to the construction of the new tower base, which continues to grow.

Plenty of security is provided if they are feeling a bit shaky about their jobs.

Mr. Crane dropped in a man lift to help out.

If that's not enough support, there is now scaffolding on the second level.

Supports for the ceiling of the celestial room will hang from the wagon wheel at the base of the top hat.  I am told this ceiling will be spectacular.

The only skylight in the new temple will be above the bride's room which will be near the base of the northwest tower, directly behind the staircase on the left.

The fifth tower cap will be placed on top of the steel cylinder.

In the meantime, he's waiting patiently with the other tower caps.

Two wells out of view are now in place to lower the ground water so the east side lift station can be built.

It was my lucky day when the contractor checking on the wells took the time to explain this to me.  I now have a 30 minute degree in the temple drainage system.  We saw the steel sheet pile placed on Wednesday.  These steel plates form a 16 foot square.  The two 40 foot wells were dug outside this square and are now working.

These wells keep the ground water out of the way so the concrete cylinders forming the manhole can be placed inside the steel square.  Concrete will be poured between the sheet pile and the manhole so the aquifer can't push the manhole up.  We saw this happen with the southwest manhole a month ago.  This east manhole plus the other two already on the site will each be 45 feet deep from street level.

I was stunned to learn that after the concrete is poured, the steel pile is pulled out and can be reused.  The same is true with the steel pipe on the left.  It was used in drilling the three wells in this end of the lot and the two wells on the east side of the tabernacle, and then it was pulled out.

These two steel pipes are not actually going to be part of the drainage system at all.  The specially-made pile driver seen here pounds the steel pipes and plates in at 1600 vibrations a minute and then removes them.  I know, you are impressed.

This well, near the southwest lift station, and two neighboring wells have been capped off and will ultimately be buried.  Their sole purpose was to facilitate the building of the lift station.

Three lift stations will pump groundwater through drains under the temple and the south and west lots to the Provo storm water system along Second South, seen at the upper left corner of this picture.  The third lift station is on the northwest side of the lot.

This drainage system, already complete under the tabernacle and in the north and west lots, is slowly progressing through the south lot.  Bob, my tutor, explained that when finished, the temple property will be like a boat sailing on the sea, high and dry above the remnants of ancient Lake Bonneville.

The foundation for the underground entrance has been waterproofed.  It's being prepared for another slab to protect the new membrane.  Drains were placed below the slab earlier this month. The foyer slab has recently been connected with the west lot slab.

Steel, brick, concrete and plastic, plus a lot of brain power and elbow grease, are working together to enable this beautiful building to stand for the next thousand years.

Mt. Timp isn't jealous.

Some of us are downright excited.