WRAL brings the beach to Western Blvd.
As many of you head to the coast for the Fourth of July weekend, we at WRAL are bringing the beach to us. Why stay inside on these great summer days when we can be outside and still bring you the news and weather? That’s where the WRAL Sand Desk comes in. It’s a news desk made completely out of sand!
WRAL lead designer Bill Burch and local sand sculpture artist Ed Moore collaborated on the design.
The desk features two, three-foot pelicans, a “Peli-prompter,” wooden texture, waves, dolphins and a hidden shark. The desk was constructed using six tons of special sand and water. The packing part of the build, moving the sand into pre-built boxes and packing it down with water, took three men five hours.
Once the sand was packed, the boxes were removed and the carving of the sculpture took two men 18 hours over two days. The final product is totally made of sand, took 50 man-hours to make and measures about eight feet wide, three feet deep and 42 inches high. It’s expected to last up to a month.
Earlier this year, the station designed and built the WRAL Ice Desk during record breaking cold, using a local ice-carving specialist. The response was huge.
We want to know what you think of our summer celebration. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter with #WRALSandDesk. If you want to know what the Sand Desk is thinking, just check it out for yourself.
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