On March 21, 2022 the site on Brownsboro Road beside the Watterson Expressway was graded dirt. Four years later it is the new Louisville VA Medical Center: the hospital, a 1,300-car garage, a central utility plant and a blue water tower with VA on the side.
I have flown it for Walsh Construction the whole way, every month since January 2023, and since June 2024 every visit has also produced a measurable orthomosaic map of the whole site. This is the long version of that story: the maps lined up month by month, the film of the steel year, the topping out, the day the water tower went up, the helicopter lift and the finished campus.
27 maps, one frame
Every monthly map is stitched from hundreds of overhead photos, so no two come out exactly the same size or position. For this story I lined all 27 up on each other, so the frame holds still and only the construction moves. Press play to watch two years go by, or drag to any month.
The steel year, on film
2023 was the year the hospital’s structure went up. I cut that year into one film for Walsh: the site from the air, the cranes, the steel frame climbing floor by floor and the topping out.
Short, silent clips from the film and the flights after it:
Where it started
The first flight was on March 21, 2022, over the graded site. In March 2023 I photographed it from a helicopter as well, which shows the whole campus against the interchange and the neighborhoods around it.
Steel and cranes
Through 2023 the crawler cranes worked across the site as the structural steel went up.
Topping out
On November 30, 2023 the crews signed the final beam and it went up with an American flag. I was there on the ground and in the air for it.
Flags on the building
In August 2024 a large American flag went up on the steel of the new front of the hospital, and on September 11, 2024 the crews gathered in front of it.
The water tower goes up
On October 8, 2024 a crawler crane lifted the blue VA water tower tank off the ground and set it on its column beside the interstate. It has its own story: the VA water tower installation, from the ground to the top of the column.
The helicopter lift
On September 20, 2025 a helicopter lifted equipment onto the roof of the hospital while the crews watched from the ground.
The campus in 2026
By the summer of 2026 the hospital, garage, pond and water tower were all in place, with the roads and roundabout finished around them.
The new Louisville VA Medical Center at a glance
From public project information from the VA and the builders:
- A new medical center of about 910,000 square feet on about 34 acres at Brownsboro Road and the Watterson Expressway
- A 1,300-car parking structure and a central utility plant
- Built by the Walsh-Turner joint venture
- Ground broken on Veterans Day 2021, replacing the Robley Rex VA Medical Center on Zorn Avenue
Why builders order maps monthly
- A dated, zoomable record of the whole site for owners and project teams
- Laydown, staging and access planning on a current image instead of an old satellite view
- Quick distance and area checks without sending anyone into an active work zone
- Fewer misunderstandings: everyone marks up the same picture
My mapping deliverables are visual planning and documentation tools, not boundary or legal land surveys, which must be prepared by a Kentucky licensed professional land surveyor.
Planning a long build?
I document construction projects across Louisville, Kentucky and Southern Indiana with monthly photos, video and maps. See how aerial mapping and construction progress photography work, or call or text (502) 387-1142. For two more full builds, see 264 Commerce Center and LRZC for Kelley Construction.
Need monthly maps on your project?
I fly monthly and milestone progress for contractors, developers and owners across Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Send the site and the schedule and I will put together a plan and a quote.
