Construction crews are going to extremes to save the ornate brick façade of the Provo (Utah) Tabernacle temple, which was ravaged by a fire in December 2010.
As part of a project that will transform the property into a temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Building Team gutted the existing structure down to its shell and then suspended the 6.8 million pound structure using 146 steel supports, according to a report by KSL 5 News' Sam Penrod.
The 90-foot-deep, nine-inch-diameter steel supports were required for the construction of a new foundation for the temple. In January, when the base reinforcement effort was completed, the construction team began excavating the ground underneath the church, eventually reaching 40 feet down. What remains is a spectacular sight: a massive brick and concrete shell floating some 40 feet off the ground.
See KSL 5's news report on the Provo Tabernacle project.
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