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According to the Associated Press, construction of the granite memorial began on Wednesday in Whitesvillle, near the mine in Montcoal, Raleigh County.
The funds were raised by the Upper Big Branch Memorial Group.
They are hoping the site will be completed by April 5, the second anniversary of the blast.
Group vice president Mike Gwinn told the Beckley Register Herald local newspaper that everything had gone smoothly so far.
“It seems like we have been charmed up to this point,” he said, adding that the mild weather had been an advantage as well.
“It’s exciting to break ground on the project but it’s also a bittersweet moment as we are reminded again of the loss that this memorial represents,” group president Shelia Combs added.
Gwinn and Combs told the paper that Pray Construction would manage the construction, with the first phase including a specialized based to support the granite monument.
Huntington Steel is providing the rebar to shore up the entrance and the memorial itself, which measures 48 feet in length and 9ft in height at its highest point.
The monument has been made by Vermont-based Rock of Ages and equipment and labor will be provided by an environmental crew from Alpha Natural Resources, the new owner of the operation following its takeover of Massey Energy last June.
