Monday, 25 August

New Feature: On selected photos, look for the "green i" info icon . Clicking on the icon will take you to an annotated version of the current photo, describing building numbers, directions, and other features. View a sample.

Although no buildings have come crashing down, the last week was filled with progress on many "little" things. The north tunnel was filled and graded, many truckloads of dirt were hauled away, and power and tubing lines were connected to a new central container/building. Here are a few pictures. View the slide show or examine individual pictures below:

Click on a picture to see a larger image:

A wide shot looking SW from near the bus stop at Lakewood & Carson:
 

Date 23 Aug 2003. Sizes 1428x270 (124 KB) 4762x900 (632 KB)  Annotated Version Available

We try to take a basic panorama every month, just to gauge the progress. Here is the offering for August 2003. For perspective, see the panorama page. Generally speaking, the larger the picture the better the clarity (no kidding!). If you have a high-speed internet connection, try the QTVR version. It allows you to pan and zoom, adding a little fun to your viewing. If you don't have QuickTime yet, you can get it here free.

Date 23 Aug 2003. Sizes 1742x332 (152 KB) 4356x832 (472 KB) QuickTime VR (2.1 MB)  Annotated Version Available

Wednesday, 20 August

Local homeowners are organizing a campaign against the residential component of the proposed PacifiCenter development, according to an article in LBReport.com.

Monday, 18 August

This July 29th panorama dispels the myth that it never rains in southern California, at least not in the summer. It wasn't much, but you can clearly see the puddles and general wetness. Also, this is the first panorama posted with Bldg 5 is completely gone. To see a comparison over time, visit the panorama page. Thanks to contributor "M.S.S." for this picture!

Date 29 July 2003. Sizes 1329x185 (68 KB) 2651x369 (240 KB) Composite photo by M.S.S.

The north tunnel has been removed. The portion of the tunnel to the west of Lakewood Blvd. is just a big dirt hole now. The concrete walls and road were dug up and crushed, leaving only soil behind. View the slide show or examine individual pictures below.

Click on a picture to see a larger image:

Friday, 15 August

South of Bldg 35 the pace of work seems to be picking up. Bulldozers and other equipment have created a huge mound of dirt and spend time pushing dirt around former parking lots. The access road, though, remains open to give access to the "Boeing enclave".

Reader M.S.S. sent in a photo of the daily gathering of trucks back at the main work site. Thanks! View the slide show or examine individual pictures below:

Click on a picture to see a larger image:

Thursday, 14 August

Work on the north tunnel seems to be picking up. Excavators started tearing out the concrete walls of the tunnel on Wednesday afternoon. This follows several days where a truck would drive down (probably under Lakewood Blvd) into the tunnel out of sight every morning. View the slide show or examine individual pictures below:

Click on a picture to see a larger image:

Wednesday, 13 August

This composite picture was taken to compare with previous versions. Obviously, Bldg 5 is gone and only Bldg 6 is seen in the distance. Nothing left but blue sky. Compare this image with previous versions.

Date 12 August 2003. Sizes 1352x400  (108 KB) 2800x600 (324 KB) Base Photos (not yet avail)

Tuesday, 12 August

Regarding this July 10 photo (and the Bldg 5 demolition in general), reader Charley Austin, who worked on the design, construction and start up of new Bldg 5 from 1986-1989 wrote in to give a background on the tanks we see in the Bldg 5 pictures:

The image closest to Carson Street is Tank DC-05. It was the worlds largest Aluminum Chemical Milling Tank, holding 104,400 gallons of chemical milling solution.

It was really cool, it had gull wing type lids on top of it and was 12ft wide by 75 feet long by 15.5ft deep. Specifically designed for chemical milling of the C-17 fuselage sections which drove the width of the tank because they were almost 11ft wide. The C-17 floor beams at the time were one piece machined extrusions that were 68 ft. long.

The weird thing about the picture is (if I remember correctly) I believe that was the first tank we installed and it looks like it was the last to come out. We started putting the chem mill tanks in on the North and worked our way South to the anodize line.

Many thanks go out to Charley for sharing his expert insight!

Monday, 11 August

The DC-2 display on "717 Day" at the Long Beach plant was fun to tour. Here are a few pictures, along with the requisite demolition update. We apologize for the long break since the last update, but everyone needs a vacation now and then! View the slide show or examine individual pictures below:

Click on a picture to see a larger image: