![[stadium]](/editions/1998/10/10/pbstadium_250x132.jpg)
As work progresses, the oval shape of Paul Brown Stadium is beginning to emerge.
(Glenn Hartong photo)
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Stadium construction workers on Friday prepared a steel form for the first steel column to be poured for the Bengals new Paul Brown Stadium.
It's the first of about 500 columns that will support the main concourse level of the massive structure. Each column will be about 21 feet high, the height of an average two-story building.
Work crews poured the first "on-grade slab" Thursday for the stadium. The slab -- between 6,000 and 7,000 square feet big -- is the first piece of the floor of the stadium's service level. In all, 1.8 million square feet of concrete will be poured.
The work marks another milestone in the stadium project, which is scheduled for completion in August 2000.
Work on the $404 million stadium complex started with demolition in January and is on schedule, said Brooke Hill, a spokeswoman for the project.
"We've gone into a new phase where we're now going to start seeing the stadium take shape since all the important site work is finishing up," she said. "We're starting the superstructure."
![[stadium]](/editions/1998/10/10/pbstadium_600x316.jpg)