Five new construction sites & S drill assembly! 2 November Giga Texas Construction Update (10:45AM)

Gigafactory Texas on 2 November 2022! This is where the Cyber Truck and Model Y will be built!

Heavy fog delayed my trip and flight today, but by the time I arrived, it was mostly clear and became a gorgeous day to fly. I took the opportunity to also scout out some new developments well to the north, and we see a huge drill being assembled on the south end to begin footing construction. In addition, it was unusually active across the site today, and this video is packed with many of these new developments!
Timestamps:
Bridge crane delivery discussion: 0:06 to 1:57
Detail view & discussion of three new development areas: 1:58 to 3:09
Drone flight footage & infographics: 3:14 to 28:43

In the video introduction, I discuss the arrival of another large dual bridge crane for the south end stamping extension (aka stamping 2) section of the factory under construction. This is a great sign as it shows the huge underground isolation foundation that will support the AIDA stamping press (this is NOT the IDRA Giga Casting machine, but another large stamping press), and indicates we may soon see the movement of all the AIDA components stored on the east side of the stamping machine area moved inside for assembly!

Here are some other highlights from an exceptionally active day at Giga Texas:

I counted five new earthwork and/or new project developments today! Two are located at the extreme north, farther than any previous construction sites! There is a new clearing on the east side near the WOW Yard and a steel fabrication workshop. A new clearing is being prepared just to the south of the Martin Marietta batch plant and further west of the new foundation near the battery cathode plant getting GeoPier work.
On the south end, we see assembly of a very large drill which will be used to construct deep piers in the area where all the concrete is being saw cut and removed. This is really taking on the look of a major construction project which may be related to the main factory extension mentioned by Elon Musk in June 2021. The amount of concrete removal continues at a rapid pace, including the removal of the south “road” just north of the “Cyber Pond”.
Many new Model Y’s in 4 areas around the site. This is driven by the concrete lot removal on the south end. There are Model Y’s being stored on the small remaining concrete section and the overflow lot on the south side. On the east, the smaller parking lot near the helicopter pad has been cleared of all contractor and employee vehicles and is being used for new car staging, and we see the primary east side new car staging and transportation lot busy loading up cars on transporters.

At the electrical switchyard construction site, we see one of the two large foundations for transformers has had partial concrete poured, while the other is getting rebar installed following the extraction of rainwater. Drilling for deep bores to support footing construction has resumed, in the center “Bay 2” of the electrical switchyard, while steel assembly of other sections continues. Materials for six more ‘A-frame” steel structures is already staged near where these will be assembled and installed.

At the battery cathode plant, we see the large west side concrete apron has now been poured, while GeoPier work on the new foundation shows progress. Work on the roof near the center of the building is noted, while concrete wall panel installation continues on the NW & E sides.

Travelling much farther to the north of the battery cathode plant, we see core drilling work on one of the large rectangular and flat pasture section, while on the north end of the “lone Tree” pasture has been prepared for and being used to store steel beams and other materials. Also, the large clearing north of the battery cathode plant shows continued dirt extraction.

On the south end of the roof, we see a growing expansion of solar panels being installed, filing in the space between the “L” and “A” of TESLA.

Thank you for watching and I hope this has been informative, educational, and entertaining for you. If you would like, please consider supporting me via Patreon (link is in the description of this video and in the video itself) so I can continue to make and share these incredible videos.

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Be sure to check out additional Texas Gigafactory footage on these channels:
@Jeff Roberts
@Brad Sloan
Video, photos, illustrations, and commentary on this video is by me, Joe Tegtmeyer unless otherwise annotated.

Music in this video is obtained from the YouTube free and unrestricted and royalty-free use library. Ending song is Mr. Sunny Face - Wayne Jones

Drones used are DJI Mavic Mini and Mavic Air 2.

Drone flight over Giga Texas is with permission of Tesla and CEO Elon Musk

[peterdog]

Great video today Joe! Thanks for catching all of these awesome nuggets!!

[DessieDoolan]

Thanks Joe.
Thanks for the far north views in particular. Always just been out of speculation range.
4:04. Southend trench. Pair of vaults with hinged covers installed in the trench. An intersection for conduits to disperse in other directions?
8:02. BIW, roof. Scaffold well below the roof also. The chillers must be quite tall. Or maybe on a narrow mezzanine. Gut feeling is this roof section will be left open.
8:48. Stamping 2, roof. Cables run diagonally across the roof between some frames either side of the open space. Think this might be a test run of the lighting system that is to highlight the lettering.
9:33. Southend. Augers and a small concrete pump to the left of the white shipping container.
9:45. Southend. Blue water pipe about to turn west through the road. Concrete thrust block on the elbow.
9:53. South of pond. Beams, beams, beams, some decking. No columns, not a building.
17:55. Casting, apron. White painted steel seems to be columns and beams for a small bridge crane (looking at the stops on the ends of the beams). There are small bridge cranes above each giga-press.
There’s a Liquid Carbon Dioxide hazmat sign at the large drive-though door closest to the white van.
19:22. New substation site. Transformer footing on the left. Seems there will be a containment basin around the main footing.
22:27. Cathode, west. Ground slab. Vertical rebar around the edge for a concrete, or core filled blockwork wall. Floor is lower than the main Cathode building floor.
23:43. Far north. Inset photo. Beam storage site 7.
24:38. Cathode. Tent. Porta-loo, catastrophic failure. Doesn’t bear thinking about what might have gone on there.
25:19. Cathode. York. HVAC equipment supplier.

[dmpease]

Man, never a dull moment. Things seem to be ramping up again since the main factory was going up.

[jameshoffman]

7:47 Team Roof Surgical Cuts beats Team Roof Section Replacement by several weeks.

[stephenreese]

Joe, your on-site intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) of the Austin, Texas (Tesla) car plant, is my fundamental real world insight into what Tesla is really doing. The other You Tube channels talk about finances but yours gives me a real world/tangible insight of what Tesla is accomplishing on a daily basis. Nothing is as informative as your drone flights coupled with the other channels like Good Soil, James Stephenson, Farzad Mesabi, Alexandra Merz,

[recyclethereef]

I've been watching for years. Thanks for all your work 👍😀

[trex]

Love the Tesla drone pilots "under ground network". Spotters everywhere, fantastic.

[Tommy]

I like the varied angles today, such as the cathode plant from the new electricity switch area.

[azcojpg]

Thanks again Joe for all your informative video's. I've learned so much about construction from you!!

[markclark]

Thanks for the comments. Makes it so much easier to follow all the developments.

[NotMyRealUTubeYall]

Those deliveries at cathode were york AC units by the way.

[josephhobbs]

I believe the technical term for the machine finishing the concrete slab is called a Whirling Dervish.

[MM-femz]

The white is also probably a fire protection material so definitely would be important to have the parts protected if they are in a working part of the factory

[emerybayoptics]

You’re the best Joe, thank you for the hard work rain or shine.

[arnecarlsson]

We call them cable trays. All the plants in the US I was involved in have them. Superior to metallic conduits.

[kellyoneal]

thanks again Joe I love you knowledge and narration I remember when you were just starting its just fun to watch these buildings and empty space take their shapes thanks again for all that you do!

[edgray]

I'm wondering if the new crane is for the shear/brake for cutting and bending the ss for Cybertruck. yes it is amazing how many people who really ought to now the difference between the IDRA molding presses that form the inner chassis and the stamping presses that form the body panels for the Model 3 and Y. The people at Teslarati screw this up with regularity, recently suggesting that the new IDRA press will be making the exoskeleton. A true exoskeleton would be the exterior ss panels. I'm not exactly sure what Elon is planning for the "exoskeleton" of the Cybertruck but I am quite certain that they will not be injection molding exterior body panels from ss.

[larryparrish]

the transformer foundations will have berms around the edge to prevent spillage to the soil of the oil used to cool the transformers. all transformers must have a berm to be licensed. sp expect short walls to rise from the poured concrete floor

[jonathanlanglois]

26:37 There's a triangular section that was used for a while by the warehouse on wheels that is aligned with this new site. My speculation is that this is where they are going to build the road going north. Assuming that's correct, it looks like that are going to realign the existing road on that triangular section and rebuild the intersection. Whatever the case might be, theses 2 sections on either side of the road definitely feel like they are part of the same project.

[BlackMambaFan]

Thanks for the video Joe! Always excited to watch!