MINNEAPOLIS — Bigger, bolder and better, the future home of the Vikings is rising from the remnants on the site of its predecessor.

More ruins remain of the Roman Coliseum than have been erected on what will become Minnesota's largest sports facility, but standing on the field level below towering cranes causes one to envision not what happened centuries ago but what awe-inspiring moments could occur in this place for years to come.

With 650 workers currently calling the site their job location on a daily basis, the stadium's present features a vibrant buzz: the grind of machines moving forward, the beeping when they move backward to relocate to the next task, the screech of a power saw lopping off corners of cinder blocks, and even some brief moments of silence disrupted by a pleasant breeze on a sunny October Monday when media members took their first guided tour.

Arms of 13 cranes, including one of the largest crawler cranes in the world, move fluidly. The total number of cranes will increase by two when the project meets its maximum total, and the finished product will encompass 1.75 million square feet, nearly double the 900,000 square-foot Mall of America Field.

A project so large in scale demands accomplishment of multiple tasks on varying projects at once, a high level of organization and orchestration.

To help conduct this, the Minnesota-based Mortenson Company uses a four-dimensional model referred to jokingly as a "crystal ball" because it illustrates completion and projection of nearly 20,000 activities via a 3D computer model over time.

The model tracks progress by recording completion of tasks, from the lifting of the soaring ridge truss, to the placement of Hanson Structural Precast stadia that will have seats attached. It also keeps tabs on the completion of the facility's inner workings that fans are unlikely to see but appreciate during events and the stylized elements that will help make the stadium a signature event space.

The project is ahead of targeted business and workforce goals and reached 23 percent completion at the end of September.

The stadium is on schedule to open in July 2016, but fans are able to look into the future at the 7,500-square-foot New Stadium Preview Center that is adjacent to the construction site.

More than 5,000 appointments have already taken place in the largest preview center ever built by an NFL team for an interactive experience that includes a custom-filmed player tunnel experience, life-sized models of two suites and a 24-seat club arrangement, models of the stadium and city and kiosks. Click **here** for more information about the preview center, and click **here** to join the waiting list.