"The mammoth Ark Encounter project is being recognized as the world’s largest freestanding timber frame structure, with a total of 3.1 million board feet of pine timber used in its construction," the Woodworking Network says.

"A football field and a half long, the volume of the Biblically scaled Ark is the equivalent of 500 standard semi-truck trailers, and features three levels of exhibits, with a 1,600-seat restaurant being prepped on the top deck. The Ark’s maximum capacity is 10,000 people, however once it opens to the public, organizers plan to limit it to 3,000 inside at any one time.

"The $100 million project took just over one year and a half to build with the timber frame construction designed and supplied by Colorado Timberframe in Lafayette, Colorado. Just over 1.2 million board feet of square timbers were required for the timber frame itself."

"Ark Encounter is a Christian young Earth creationist (YEC) theme park that opened in Williamstown, Kentucky, United States in 2016. The centerpiece of the park is a large representation of Noah's Ark, based on the Genesis flood narrative contained in the Bible. It is 510 feet (155.4 m) long, 85 feet (25.9 m) wide, and 51 feet (15.5 m) high.

"Ark Encounter is operated by Answers in Genesis (AiG), a YEC organization that also operates the Creation Museum 45 miles (70 km) away in Petersburg, Kentucky. Australian Ken Ham, creationist and CEO of AiG, founded the park. The theme park promotes pseudoscientific young Earth creationist beliefs about the age of the universe, age of the Earth, and co-existence of humans and non-avian dinosaurs.

"After feasibility studies projected that the park would be a boon to the state's tourism industry, Ark Encounter received tax incentives from the city, county, and state to induce its construction. This drew criticism from groups concerned with the separation of church and state.[8] A dispute over AiG's hiring practices was adjudicated in U.S. federal court, which found in 2016 that the organization could require Ark Encounter employees to sign a statement of faith as a condition of their employment, prompting criticism of the park's discriminatory hiring practices." (Wikipedia)

"Ark Encounter features a full-size Noah’s Ark, built according to the dimensions given in the Bible," the official website says.

"Spanning 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high, this modern engineering marvel amazes visitors young and old. Ark Encounter is situated in beautiful Grant County in Williamstown, Kentucky, halfway between Cincinnati and Lexington and right off I-75.

"As you enter Noah’s world aboard the massive Ark, you’ll tour three decks filled with scores of world-class exhibit bays. These stunning exhibits allow you to experience what Noah’s life may have been like.

"A family-oriented, historically authentic, and environmentally friendly themed attraction, the Ark Encounter is a to-scale replica of the Biblical Noah’s Ark, which market studies suggest will see 1.2 – 2 million visitors annually," the Arch Daily says.



"Phase 1 of the Ark Encounter also has a 1,500 person seat restaurant, zip line courses, and a petting zoo. The project began nearly 7 years ago with the planning and permitting process, now the Ark Encounter officially opened on July 7th, 2016.

"The Noah’s Ark story is about a man with great faith who built a large ship to hold his family and 2 of every living animal species to spare them from a catastrophic flood. Today, the life-sized reconstruction is a design feat unlike any other structure, and is a park for all to visit. "

"With an exciting new project coming to the Ark Encounter, guests will be able to learn even more about first-century Jerusalem!

"Our artists and fabricators are working on what will be the most accurate model of first-century Jerusalem, which will also be one of the world’s largest models. It will give vital background in understanding who Jesus is, the historical accuracy of the Bible, and the importance of the gospel and the great commission," the Creation Museum says.

"This new addition to the Ark Encounter is needed for the future and for impacting future generations with the truth of God’s Word and the saving gospel. We are asking you to partner with us to get this exciting project underway."

"Lord willing, a Tower of Babel attraction that will tackle racism issues, showing how all people groups have developed from one biological race. This project is still several years out and will require much planning, design work, budgeting, fundraising, Kentucky tourism and permit approvals, etc., long before we formally announce we are moving ahead and can break ground," the Answers In Genesis says.

"On recent Saturdays, the Ark has drawn over 7,000 daily guests. As a result of excellent 2021 attendance, area hotels, restaurants, and other tourism-related businesses are booming. “An incredible number of visitors are coming to the Ark and Creation Museum and hotel occupancy in the region reflects that,” said Julie Kirkpatrick, president/CEO of the tourism group meetNKY. “Florence hotels ran close to 77% occupancy in May; the national average was 59.3% as reference.”

"In addition to the Tower of Babel attraction, Ark Encounter expansion plans include a massive indoor scale model of what Jerusalem may have looked like at the time of Christ (open likely in 2023), and a themed carousel to be enjoyed by families and children. Among other things, the huge Babel structure will help people understand how genetics research and the Bible confirm the origin of all people groups around the world (and all people belonging to one biological race) and will tackle the racism issue."

"The Noah’s Ark story is about a man with great faith who built a large ship to hold his family and two of every living animal species to spare them from a catastrophic flood," the Highline Construction LLC says. 

"Today, the life-sized reconstruction is a design feat unlike any other structure. Known as the Ark Encounter located in Williamstown, KY, the $100 million project is the largest timber-frame structure in the world.

"The finished ark is 1 ½ football fields long, 85' wide and 95' tall. Crews used about four tractor-trailers of lumber per week, roughly 200 in all, or 3 million board feet, including some massive logs 28” to 38” dia. X 48’ long."

"The Ark Encounter is a one-of-a-kind historically themed attraction. In an entertaining, educational, and immersive way, it presents a number of historical events centered on a full-size, all-wood Ark, which should become the largest timber-frame structure in the USA," the Colorado Timberframe says

"Additional future phases for the attraction include a Walled City, the Tower of Babel, a first-century Middle Eastern village, a journey in history from Abraham to the parting of the Red Sea, a walk-through aviary, an expanded large petting zoo, and so on.

"The Ark Encounter museum includes daily live mammal and bird shows, an extensive interactive children’s area, live entertainment, and many themed restaurants, creative food outposts, and shopping. It is also one of the largest “green” construction projects in the country, taking advantage of the latest environmental technologies to be good stewards of creation."

Designing The Ark

The Ark Encounter was designed to the size specified in scripture: 510 feet long, 86 feet wide, and 94 feet high. The boat was designed to hold up to 10,000 people and a 1,600-seat restaurant is to be set on the top deck of the structure. In order to meet engineering requirements and building codes, the building required over 3,000 steel connection plates to fasten the logs and timbers.

Our lead designer assigned to the project used hsbCAD software to convert the architectural design in to production shop drawings. Given the vast size and complexity of the structure, the plans needed to be broken out in to multiple files.

Building The Ark

A total of 32 bents made up of 64 round logs and 5,435 heavy timbers were used to construct the world’s largest free-standing timber frame structure.

The Ark required 3.1 million board feet of timber, and more than 1.2 million board feet of square timbers were needed for the frame itself. A majority of the material used is responsibly harvested dead standing Engelmann Spruce measuring up to 50 feet in diameter.

Fabrication took a total 14 months and was completed in March 2016. Our installation crew of 10 workers along with 75+ Amish craftsmen finished construction just in time for the grand opening to the public on July 07, 2016. (Source: Colorado Timberframe)

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