According to Honda Indiana officials, this is a project which has to be seen to be believed. Here are just a few of the details.
* The amount of concrete used in construction totals 63,200 cubic yards. If each cubic yard was stacked side-by-side, it would form a concrete sidewalk three feet high and three feet wide that would stretch from the project site in Greensburg to the Indianapolis beltway.
* Construction crews will move more than 8 million cubic feet of earth. If each cubic yard was stacked side-by-side, it would form an earthen berm three feet high and three feet wide that would stretch from the east coast of Virginia to the west coast of California and halfway back again.
* More than 100,000 linear feet of steel pilings have been driven into the ground to anchor the building. If stacked end-to-end, the total length of the pilings would be equal the height of 80 Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other.
* The 13,000 tons of steel used in construction weighs more than 86 blue whales.
On Monday, a list of invited dignitaries that includes: Gov. Mitch Daniels, Congressman Mike Pence (R-Indiana) and Koichi Kondo, President and CEO, American Honda Motor Co. Inc., will be joined by invited city, county and state officials at Honda's official groundbreaking.
"We will be excited to host key representatives of the community and others directly involved in the project," said Honda spokesman David Iida.
However, due to the fast-paced construction schedule, which is already well underway, Honda officials are disappointed the event will not be structured to handle all who would like to attend.
"Our groundbreaking ceremony is taking place in an active site, where land has already been cleared for plant construction. As a result, we unfortunately cannot accommodate as many members of the community as we were able to host for our announcement event last June," said Iida. "Safety is our first priority, as it will be once our plant begins operations, thus we have to limit the number of people who can attend our groundbreaking. However next year, once the plant is operational, we look forward to holding an open house for the community."
The Greensburg facility will be Honda's seventh auto plant and one of 17 major Honda plants overall in North America. When completed, the facility will have a production capacity of 200,000 vehicles and employ 2,000 associates. Capital investment in the facility will total more than $550 million. Major production processes performed will include stamping, welding, painting, plastic injection molding, sub-assembly and final assembly operations. The Honda vehicles produced in Indiana will feature fuel-efficient four-cylinder engines manufactured in Anna, Ohio.