Getting the Hang of It

On June 15th, we eagerly awaited the raising of the first half bent. We waited and waited! It seemed like it took hours for the cranes and the rigging to be lined up and secured properly to a half bent that had been assembled on the ground. Finally it was hoisted, but at the beginning rate, it seemed like we would need 120 years to get them all in place! Now, just three months later, they are averaging three full bents a week! In these photos, you can see a half bent about to be placed on the 14th pier. The very first bent to be placed was on the 18th pier and they extended to the right to the 25th pier. Now that the masonry of the center tower is complete, they can build to the left.

Now the masons are concentrating on the west tower, where they can lay block up to four feet before placing a bond beam that imparts horizontal strength to the wall. Once that is in place, they have to wait six hours before they can continue vertically. If you look closely at the last photo, you can see toward the top where the bond beams are placed every four feet.