Brief:

• The AECOM-Hunt Turner joint venture building the $2 billion NBA Intuit Dome arena for the Los Angeles Clippers topped out its concrete frame last week, just six months after its first foundation was poured, according to a Turner press release. The project broke ground in September 2021.
• Completing the concrete frame took more than 200,000 hours of work by a crew of 350 people, Turner said. The JV has placed more than 65,000 cubic yards of concrete at the project thus far, using 6,600 concrete truck deliveries. The largest foundation pour was 2,572 cubic yards and the largest deck pour was 980 cubic yards, according to the release.
• Rames Sundaram, project executive at Turner, said the first foundation was poured Jan. 12, and that the team was able to shave three months off its original schedule. “In just six short months, we have completed what normally takes nine months of work,” Sundaram said.

Insight:

When the new, 18,000-seat arena opens in 2024, the Clippers will finally have their own home court. The NBA franchise will depart the Staples Center — where it shares its home games with the Los Angeles Lakers — for the Intuit Dome.

The project’s hefty price tag would place it as the country’s third most expensive arena, according to a 2020 ranking of costly sports venues. Intuit would be behind only MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and SoFi Stadium, also in Los Angeles.

The compressed time frame on the concrete structure allowed the JV to begin steel erection on the arena on its original target date set two years ago, according to Turner Vice President Michael Marchesano.

The total amount of concrete used on the project to date would fill 19 Olympic-size swimming pools or lay enough sidewalk for a 340-mile-long walkway from the Inglewood neighborhood of Los Angeles to San Jose, California, according to the release.

This article was originally written by Joe Bousquin and appeared here.