Work "on pace" for November F1 event

[NickHolt]

Injured circuit worker remains hospitalized, official says; work continues at site

 

By Dave Doolittle

 

Austin, TX (March 2, 2012) - A worker injured Tuesday at Circuit of the Americas remains hospitalized but appears to be improving, a spokeswoman for the circuit said today.

 

“Our thoughts are with him and his family,” spokeswoman Ali Putnam said in a conference call Thursday. She did not release the man’s name or who he was working for when he was critically injured by an earth-compacting machine. Investigations are taking place, she said.

 

Scott Kahler, senior superintendent for general contractor Austin Commercial, briefed reporters on construction, which he said is on pace for the circuit to be ready for the inaugural race in November.

 

Kahler said 450 to 550 workers are on the site six days a week, sometimes working odd hours, including overnight. Kahler did not say how often crews will be working into the nighttime hours.

 

About 45,000 yards of concrete have been poured, and 3 million cubic yards of dirt have been moved, Kahler said. The exterior walls and metal roof on the 40,000-square-foot media/convention building have been installed, and half of the pit building has been erected, he said. Crews anticipate to complete the rest of the pit and paddock building at the end of the month.

 

The slab for the grandstand is being poured, Kahler said, and crews expect the structural steel for the 9,000-seat structure to arrive in the next two weeks.

 

More than 80 percent of the storm and sewer lines have been installed, and track materials continue to be put in from the hairpin Turn 11 to the tunnel at the end of the back straightaway, he said.

 

Crews are preparing to spread top soil in the next week where grass will be planted, he said. He did not say what type of grass will be on the site, but that it will fulfill city and county requirements.