ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The new Buffalo Bills stadium project is entering a new phase of construction, shifting from digging out to building up with structural steel.
"The pit," as it has become known, is finished, and giant cranes are being assembled on site to lift thousands of steel beams into place.
"Probably in about a month or a month and a half, you'll see it growing out of the ground," said Joe Byrne, project director for the Gilbane Turner partnership, which is managing the construction project.
It will take around 10 months to put in place all 25,000 tons of structural steel Byrne told 2 On Your Side.
He added that as of Friday, the project is "on time to the minute" because of the dedicated individuals working on it.
"We’ve done 137,000 hours on the job with zero reportable incidents. That is what we call best in class," Byrne said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Bills organization, and other elected leaders held a celebration Friday at Erie Community College South to mark the milestone.
All those working on the project and/or in attendance were asked to sign a steel beam that will eventually be installed in the south entrance of the finished stadium, as a lasting tribute.
"Hopefully my kids will see it when they go to the games or something like that, so yeah, it’s special," said Cleveland Wright, a heavy equipment operator.
Wright added that while there is a lot of work still to do, and the weather hasn't been easy the hundreds of people working on the project, who are trooping along as a family.
Jason Peterson, whose company Bethlehem Land Surveying is working on the project said, "You really can take a sense of pride in the fact that you’re a part of this. You left your mark out there. You can point to something you’ve actually laid out, and it’s been built."
Project director Joe Byrne laughed at the notion that two years is a long way away, adding that crews have been working seven days a week, sometimes double shifts to maintain the schedule.
But they look forward to seeing what's to come.