RAPID CITY - The 210-ton blue crane towering over Rushmore Plaza Civic Center will be joined in the next few weeks by a second similarly-sized crane in preparation for setting steel super trusses in place for the multipurpose arena under construction.

In mid-October, the cranes will be used to hoist two 230-foot super trusses so they can be secured to the facility, according to Brian Maliske, civic center general manager.

"Each super truss weighs 240,000 pounds. That's the reason you've got to have two massive cranes. When those babies go in place, they're just huge," Maliske said.

Work on the $25 million project is proceeding on schedule. Sidewalls have been poured, an interior stairwell has been removed inside the existing building and additional steel framing inside the civic center is being installed to secure the connection of the new building to the old building.

"They are on time. Everything is going well," Maliske said. "Sampson (the general contractor) has been very good to deal with, and when they've given us timelines, they've met all of them. So far, it's good."

When work on the super trusses begins next month, the cranes will lift both ends of the structures and won't release them until they are permanently fixed. Maliske said it's his understanding that the contractor will do all that work in one day because they don't want to leave the cranes connected to the trusses overnight.

"It sounds like it would be one heck of a busy day, but I guess if you've got equipment that big, I suppose they can do quite a bit of stuff," he said.

Currently, the steel and the precast seating bowl is being set into place. In addition to the large crane, a smaller, 65-ton crane is also on site.

Maliske said the contractor's goal is to have enough of the building's shell in place so they can move inside and start work on the interior of the facility by February.

"I don't know if that means that they'll actually have the place enclosed. I don't think so, but they'll have enough up so they can start working on the inside of the facility. That's the goal," he said.

When finished in December 2008, the facility will seat about 5,000 people for hockey games, 5,700 for basketball games and nearly 7,000 for concerts or other stage events.

The construction site can be viewed online through a live Web cam at www.gotmine.com

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com