BIG REBAR

As the forms fill out, the scaffolding spreads out, the reinforcing bars space out, the scale of this courtyard and the complexity of its construction becomes more and more evident.

Here is my standard shot from the SE corner. There are piles of reinforcing bars on the right waiting to be cut, bent, and installed.

This is a new view: it is looking south from the north end of the site: the north elevation of the courtyard's north wall. The opening on the right is where Main Gate will be erected.

Two carpenters form stemwalls upon which the gate's walls will sit.

A detail of the gray plastic "feet" which are used to hold the rebar in the correct location when the shot-creet hits it. To the right is a "control joint" in the wall. Large areas of concrete and steel will move with temperature changes, and, of course, earthquakes, so, joints are intentionally formed hoping any cracking will be confined to them, not jagging across the face of the wall.

Much of the structure coming from China will be fastened to previously erected steel framing. These dark plates are inserted in the concrete to provide a place where that framing can be welded to the wall.

Meanwhile, around Songmeiting and in the holding area, there are signs of spring: the tag said "prunis mume".