Garden Bench Wall Pieces

The pavers and the ornamental concrete components in the gardens weigh less than 400 pounds.  The heaviest monumental step is 1,900 pounds. That weight difference requires that the Temple Concrete Studio set up two production lines. One line is equipped with concrete mixers, shaker tables, conveyors and overhead cranes to handle smaller concrete pieces such as the garden components and the pavers. A second production line provides capacity for monumental steps and large wall cladding components.

This second line has a very large concrete mixer, one ton overhead cranes, large hoppers, vacuum lifters and tilt tables to manipulate the more massive concrete units.   To help initiate the production of large monumental steps, the crew in the Temple Concrete Studio will have Quality Restoration’s master craftsmen join them in the Studio. Quality Restoration is the concrete restoration contractor that has performed the award winning repairs on the House of Worship during the last 20 years. Quality’s team will train the Studio crew in the special techniques required for the larger precast concrete units. When the weather warms up in the spring, Quality’s craftsmen will return to construction activity at the Temple site while the Studio crew continues with production of both the monumental stairs and the smaller pavers.  Erik Nelson, the master carpenter in the Baha’i National Properties Department worked at the Studio for five weeks building molds for casting the monumental steps.

Erik explained that he was a little nervous when he started at the Studio because the molds for the Temple are curved, contain unusual angles and must be exact within one thirty-second of an inch. He said that for wood construction the carpenters often joke and say their measurements do not have to be perfect because “they are not building it in concrete.” But Erik’s superb skill was clearly demonstrated when he and the precast concrete engineer checked Erik’s mold templates on the House of Worship building and everything matched perfectly.