The building was constructed on a truly massive scale in every respect. The 400-foot diameter of the building reaches its peak at 128 feet above the center floor. During construction a special horizontal-wheeled tractor was borrowed from missile silo work to wind 614 miles of 1/5" steel wire around the dome's edge, circling the dome 2,467 times. This placed more than 130,000 pounds per square inch of tension on the concrete, which caused it to squeeze inward and rise upwards, such that the 800,000 square feet of wooden scaffolding which had supported the concrete when it was poured was uncovered and removed. The dome today is 2 inches less than it was when it was originally poured due to this operation. Even the concourse was built on an impressive scale, with 24 bridges leading onto the quarter mile concourse, which is lit by 24 skylights. #Assembly_Hall #Athletics #Dome #University_of_Illinois #Venue
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