News Release

Temple Square Renovation Project Updates: November 2020

In April 2019, President Russell M. Nelson announced plans for the renovation of the Salt Lake Temple. In December 2019, the Salt Lake Temple was or closed for renovation. The following are regular updates about the progress of the Salt Lake Temple renovation, which is expected to take four years.

24 November 2020

Check out this week's update of the work on Temple Square as part of the Salt Lake Temple renovation project.

Steel shoring beams have been placed in the Conference Center garage to prepare for work on the tunnel that will connect the Conference Center garage to the main entrance of the temple.

                                                

The southeast historic steps leading to the historic doors of the temple have been shored up.

                                             

The west side of the temple has a new roadway for truck access.

                                          

Scaffolding is being installed on the south elevation of the temple. Scaffolding will eventually surround all the exterior walls and towers of the temple to repair the stones and provide access to the different floors of the temple.

                            
                           

Excavation work continues on the north side of the site in preparation for the construction of new temple facilities.

                             

6 November 2020

This week’s Salt Lake Temple construction update showcases some of the following work:

The tension rod coring continues to help strengthen the foundations of the temple—both inside and out. This process involves drilling in the existing footings of the foundation system at different angles and inserting a threaded rod in grout. The rod is then tensioned to create pressure against the stones, thus helping consolidate the footings.

                      
                     
                                    

                                                     

The foundation that was added on in the 1960s to build the sealing wing addition and strengthen the west foundations is being dismantled in preparation for future drilling work.

                                           

On the north side of the temple, work continues on the shoring wall close to North Temple Street as well as on building the secant walls. These 83-foot long (25-meter) steel columns will be inserted into the ground as part of the building of the secant wall (a retaining wall). The secant wall on the north side of the temple will extend around the temple on the east side. Each column weighs 20,000 pounds, or 9,000 kilograms. This will prepare for an excavation that will be 60 feet deep (18 meters).

   
        

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