Almost a third of the new multi-use arena in Minneapolis is already standing. First sections of the future seating bowl can already be seen in the east. 700 people are working constantly on the site.

The construction site in east downtown Minnepolis saw some major progress this passing week. Early snowfall didn’t slow down the build of New Vikings Stadium, even though concrete pouring is usually affected by cold weather. In Minneapolis that part of works is now 60% done, while more and more prefabricated slabs are arriving on site.

© Minnesota Vikings

First sections of the three-tier seating can already be seen in the east of the stadium. This is also where a major milestone was reached this week. On Wednesday a 700,000-pound (300-ton) steel truss was lifted and set atop the stadium. It will soon be connected to a similar structure in the west, creating the main support of future dome.

© Minnesota Vikings

This will enable installation of secondary steel elements. These in turn will hold the very first glass panels in early 2015, while zinc metal sheets will join in April.

This week also marked the official application of Vikings to host an MLS team at the new stadium. Minneapolis would be one of the new franchises. The 65,000-capacity arena is expected to provide an ‘intimate’ mode for smaller events, meeting the MLS requirement of around 20,000 seats.

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