6 thoughts on “Roof Trusses, Salt Lake Tabernacle”

1. The arches were inspired by bridge trusses. Henry Grow was a convert who knew how to build long bridges, and he was hired as one of the architects of the Tabernacle. When Brigham Young asked him how big a space could be built, he reportedly said, “150 feet wide and as long as is wanted.”
   It’s a myth that no nails were used in the arches’ construction. There are lots of nails, along with the wood pegs.
   I learned a lot about the construction of these amazing trusses from this article: “Design and Construction of the Great Tabernacle Arches” by Robinson and Dixon. It’s available here for 99 cents:
   https://byustudies.byu.edu/showtitle.aspx?title=9227
   It’s a chapter in the book “Gathering as One.”

2. Cool picture! Do you know when it was taken? I recently took a behind the scenes tour at the Kirtland temple and I was surprised how much I enjoyed seeing the basement and the crawl spaces. The construction of the curved ceiling looked similar to this photo.

   Also, I like to read your Notes from the Field but the link to “Protecting newborns . . .” sends me to the bagpipe cake.

3. I love it when readers can add informed ideas — thanks, Jennifer.

   Melanie, this was taken before the more-or-less recent remodeling, but I don’t know just when it was taken. It’s hard to tell on a timeless image like this.

   Thanks for alerting me to the mess in the Notes links. I’ll try to find the article about the newborn protection again and correct that.

   [Later: Found it (thanks, Google). The link should work now.]

4. It must have been taken more recently; there is a steel angle in the bottom left (which might be there to support the fire suppression system).

5. …check that, I meant right corner!!

6. Eagle Eye P J DLM!

Comments are closed.