Progress on Regina stadium puts build 86 yards from end zone

Officials say progress on the construction of a new stadium in Regina is about 22 per cent complete which — measured on a football field — puts the project about 86 yards from the end zone (assuming they started from the opposite end zone 110 yards away).

"This is a very challenging project," Sean Hamelin, a manager for the construction company PCL, said Thursday. "You don't build a stadium every day."

He said some of the structural components are complex. As well, the logistics are complicated because the design of the facility is being done just ahead of the actual build.

Despite a few very cold days in December and early January, Hamelin said the recent warmer weather has been good.

"If you ask anybody working on the site, they'll tell you they love the warm weather," he said. "It does help productivity. Things happen faster."

Hamelin said the progress of the build is line with the facility being ready for the 2017 football season. The goal is to have the building substantially complete by August of 2016.

"We're right where we want to be," he said.

Hamelin noted the following statistics on the project, since work started in June of 2014:

• 12,000 cubic metres of concrete has been poured.
• 1,200 tonnes of reinforcing steel has been used at the site.
• 190 tradespeople are currently working on the stadium each day.
• A total of 189,700 hours have been logged by the PCL construction team on the project to date.

Hamelin said foundation work in the lower bowl will start in February.

The $278-million stadium was announced in July of 2012 and is being built on the city's exhibition grounds, known as Evraz Place.