Buffalo News
It is structural steel and the start of flooring on the decks of the stadium's second level.
Two months after the project's first steel was placed beneath the ground in the lower level of the huge bowl that is the foundation for the stadium, the skeleton of the structure is starting to peek over what was once just a big hole in the ground.
That work started last week. State officials had said they expected the steel to come up above the ground in April, so the project is on schedule nearly a year into the start of construction.
"I went on vacation and came back and was like, 'Holy cow. We're up on the second level here,'" said Steve Ranalli , president of the Erie County Stadium Corp. , the state entity overseeing the project. "It really was something else. I'm out here enough that I'm used to seeing the steel, but seeing it sticking up out of the air about 50 feet, it just means that everyone can now see it."
The steel now being erected above ground is at the stadium's second level — considered the "front-door" level where fans will walk into the stadium once it is completed in 2026.
More than 1,000 pieces of steel have been put into place, as of Thursday. It will take 20,000 pieces of steel to complete the first two levels of the stadium.
In total, there will be approximately 25,000 tons of steel needed to finish the entire project, which will include levels three through five.
Some of that steel is sitting around the project site for when it is needed after being fabricated offsite. State officials have said they anticipate that 60% of all the structural steel to be used in one of Western New York's largest ever construction projects will, at minimum, be fabricated in the state. Almost all of it will be manufactured in the United States .
Much of the work being done above ground on the second level is close to the north entrance of the stadium, where there will be a plaza area featuring 16-foot American bison.
On the second level, metal decking is being attached on top of the steel, allowing for the pouring of concrete floors as utility work is being done around the perimeter of the stadium.
Mechanical contractors and laborers working with rebar are getting the decks ready for flooring using their conduits. Work on masonry walls will follow.
It is one of the busiest areas on the project site.
"It's really exciting to see how much has been done in almost a year," Ranalli said. "We excavated this bowl in a few months, and a few months later, steel is out of the ground."
"It's exciting, everyday, to come out here and see the progress that's been made, and we just know we have a couple more years to get this up," he added.
There are four cranes that work the upper exterior of the stadium, while two cranes are down in the hole, all of them putting up the steel until each level is complete.
The crane operators are in constant communication so that when they are swinging around the structural steel, none run into each other. The height to the top of the tallest crane is nearly 350 feet.
The concrete for the stadium's foundation is about 90% complete, allowing for much of the steel to be placed around the bowl at the first level. New utilities have been installed all around the stadium, as well.
One of the ramps on the south side of the stadium, where contractors and their trucks come in and out, will soon be filled with concrete to finish off the foundation, and then work will begin there to erect steel. That is at the southeast corner of the stadium, where the visitors entrance has already begun to take shape.
Workers accessing the site inside the bowl will then do so from the southeast corner of the stadium, closer to where the Bills tunnel will be located.
Angled plywood is going in around the bowl of the stadium, where precast concrete stairs will be placed, helping provide a sense of where the connections will be made between levels.
Much of that work is being conducted on the east side of the stadium, which will house the Bills' locker room and a fan access area for watching the team come out onto the field.
Additionally, the auxiliary building to the south of the stadium, which is supposed to be a technology center, is also under construction. That will need to be finished a year before the stadium is completed, so that the technology inside can be thoroughly tested, Ranalli said.
Doing the work are approximately 400 people now putting in time daily on the site. That is a slight increase in manpower from when the steel first started to be erected in February.
In a few months, more than 1,000 workers — as many as 1,500 workers at the peak — will be on site at one time. Some of the additional people on the project will be working in trades work like masonry, electrical and plumbing.
As of a week ago, 84 regional companies have been contracted to work on the project, and at least half of them have been on site already. The others will have work coming up over the next few months.
The state and Erie County, which have put a combined $850,000 in public funds into the project, also continue to monitor workforce and compliance goals for minority-, women- and service disabled-owned businesses as each bid comes in for individual projects. The state also monitors onsite whether those firms are there doing the actual work they are contracted to complete.
Those numbers will next be updated when the Community Benefits Agreement Oversight Committee meets later this month. A meeting date has yet to be announced.
The Erie County Stadium Corp. provided the latest stadium construction inclusion numbers during its last meeting in March, with state officials saying goals are closer to being reached, but still fall short.
The three-year project still, at times, presents some challenges.
"The main thing is that you have to be consistent and not get complacent," said Paul Gianadda , superintendent on the project.
"We've definitely gotten into a rhythm that I think the project has fallen into, but you still have to be on your toes at all times," Ranalli added. "This is a big project and there could be safety issues at any moment."
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