In the Twin Cities, we’ve all been watching and waiting as the construction of US Bank Stadium has made its way into the skyline. The new Minnesota Vikings stadium is scheduled to host the 2016 NFL season for the Vikes after two very cold seasons played at the outdoor TCF stadium. As the project comes to completion, it’s mind-blowing to learn what exactly goes into building such a huge structure.

The new stadium is slated to seat 66,000 people on a seating system capable of more. While most stadium designs require the seats to be bolted directly into the concrete, the architects of US Bank Stadium devised a rail system that will bolt to the concrete, and then the seats are then attached to the rails, allowing easy removal or replacement. This rail system will allow the installation of smaller seats to accommodate a larger crowd if need be. A costly venture, the rail system is one of the first of its kind.

11,000 tons of steel support the structure and over 100,000 cubic yards of concrete will have been used once the massive stadium is completed.  Imagine a one foot cube. Each cubic yard of concrete contains 27 cubic feet. That is an enormous amount of concrete! But, let’s put it into perspective. While 100,000 cubic yards is pretty impressive, other concrete structures in our country beat that hands down.

Once the tallest concrete dams in the world, The Hoover Dam, was built using 3.3 MILLION cubic yards of concrete! The tallest concrete skyscraper, Trump Towers and Hotel in Chicago, Illinois used an unbelievable 180,000 cubic yards of concrete of which 700 cubic yards make up the roof alone. The Nicholson Bridge in Pennsylvania, the longest concrete bridge in the country, was constructed with over 1,000 tons of steel and 167,000 cubic yards of concrete. The estimated weight of the railroad traffic bridge is 670 Million pounds.