Today saw the main beam of the North Stand lifted into place atop the two towers at either end of the site. The lift, which could have taken anything as long as four hours or as little as two, was scheduled for this morning, but due to technical difficulties took place late this afternoon.
The stand is starting to move towards a time when fans can move back and the club has already made preparations for the large number of supporters who wish to move from the Greene King Stand to their spiritual home at the other end of the stadium. Club secretary David Rose told TWTD that the club would have some of those disposable raincoats available for fans on particularly rainy days.
The beam is 92 metres long and weighs 117 tonnes. Two cranes were required to move it from its position behind the main body of the stand. The beam was built from sections over the last few weeks and when on the ground had a noticeable camber.
20 metre piles form part of the foundations for the stand which will have 22 rows in the upper tier and 22 in the lower. The old North had 26 rows, but, although no specific plans have been laid out as yet, there shouldn't be too much of a problem fitting all the old North fans in as the new stand is wider and thus has longer rows. Having seen some of the plans it is clear that the upper tier will provide excellent sightlines and there will be none of the problems seeing the goal-line which you get at some other grounds, most notably Loftus Road.
The end sections will hold the bars and refreshment areas and these are currently being designed. A new club shop is also planned provisionally at the North-Cobbold corner of the ground.
TWTD took some photos of the lift which are now available on the site. In addition there are other shots of how the North Stand is currently looking both from inside and outside the ground. Take a look at the North Stand section at http://www.twtd.co.uk/development