Dive Brief:

• Stewart Perry Construction is getting to see history live and up close in a renovation of the Lyric Theater in the company's hometown of Birmingham, Ala.
• Concrete in the century-old structure, which a local group raised more than $7 million to bring back into use was built with reinforcing rods that were cast square in cross section and then twisted.
• The building's girders were made from low-carbon, hot-rolled steel and put together with rivets, for which the American Institute of Steel Construction no longer has standards.

Dive Insight:

Below-grade work on the theater apparently was a case of adapting to conditions. The depth of the foundation depended on the depth to limestone bedrock on the site. If there were pinnacles of rock above the general bedrock level, those appear to have been crushed onsite, spread and covered with the thickness of aggregate needed to create a level base.