Temple Square Renovation Continues Despite COVID-19

As part of the Salt Lake Temple renovation project, a tunnel is being constructed underneath North Temple to connect the Conference Center parking lot to the underground facilities and entrance to the temple. The tunnel excavation is about 80 percent complete. These photos show the steel arches that are encased in shotcrete (a form of grout) to create the initial lining of the tunnel walls. The steel arches are spaced 4 feet (1.2 meters) apart. The drilling machine is used to remove the upper portion of soil, which is then hauled away by an excavator. This also removes the lower portion of the excavation as shown in the third photo below.

The temple is now surrounded on three sides by a secant wall. The secant walls are installed as close to the bottom edge of the existing footings as possible to contain and brace them in place. The secant wall is built by drilling deep holes where alternating steel and concrete columns are installed. These overlap with each other to create the retaining wall.

The copper roof sheathing of the temple has been completely removed and replaced with a temporary roof. This is in preparation for the installation of additional steel trusses, an important part of the seismic strengthening of the temple.

The upper stones of the temple walls are being gradually removed to prepare for the structural concrete bonding beams that will brace the walls. The stones that are removed will be reinstalled in their original positions.

When workers need to access the higher levels of the towers, they use a variety of safety measures, such as mandatory harnesses, to prevent falls. Harnesses are tied to existing hooks anchored in stones.

As stones are removed from the temple for repair and cleaning, workers ensure they are properly cataloged and labeled so they can be returned to their exact original placement. In this photo, workers help the tower crane operator guide the stone to placement for transportation and storage.