The Slower Road

before construction began: piles and piles of supplies were lined up in the parking lot in front of the USDF building

this past Tuesday: the exoskeleton for one of the three tent roofs, under construction

yesterday: several of the large tent roofs, sitting on low supports, before being hoisted up and provided with legs to stand on

around mid-morning today, I went out to check on the progress of the squat roof structures, and saw these enormous cranes in the parking lot; one roof structure had already been raised, and a second was about to go up, so I stayed to get some photos

first, the smaller of the two (huge!) cranes was lowered so the workers could …

… hang cables on the crane’s hook (you can get an idea of the scale of these tents from the first raised roof, behind the workers)

then the crane lifted the cables and straps back over the roof; the other (larger) crane is already ready with its cables and straps

here, a view of the raised roof and the roof about to be raised, resting on its low supports for a little while longer (for scale: those orange dots are hardhats)

yikes! that’s a big crane (there’s a person, up on the roof structure, for comparison)

attaching the straps to the roof structure, four per crane, on either side of the roof

getting ready to go up! … the cranes have pulled the straps and cables taut

starting its ascent … the roof has been (slowly) raised off its initial supports

this entire process was fascinating, but slow … I took this shot on my way back to the office … here: the raised roof, the roof being raised, and a third roof still sitting on the ground (I’m sure that all three will be up when I go back out later this afternoon)

I think this will be the hospitality tent at the driving arena

part of the roof of an “experience” tent (this will be the Alltech Experience, I believe)

and the biggie … as you may be able to see on the sign, this will be the Maker’s Mark Bourbon Village (main hospitality tent)