49ers install first pieces of turf at Levi's Stadium [video, pictures]

The San Francisco 49ers are four months away from their first preseason game at Levi's Stadium. They took another step forward on Thursday as they began installing the first bits of turf the team will play on this fall. The roll-out began Thursday morning at 5 a.m. with six truckloads of sod. Six more truckloads are being delivered Friday morning. Above you can view some video of the turf being brought in and laid out.

The 49ers and the Stadium Authority selected West Coast Turf's Bandera Bermuda for the playing field. The team and the Authority researched various forms of turf, and conducted "side-by-side simulated turf trials". They selected Bandera Bermuda for several reasons, including environmental conservation, macro/micro-climate, frequency of additional event scheduling, and player safety. Bandera Bermuda uses up to 50% less water than the average turf varieties prevalent in this market area. It holds its green color longer and has a longer growth period than any other available bermuda. Bandera Bermuda also exhibits the quickest growth regeneration in worn areas when compared to other varieties of grass.

Along with the video above, the 49ers PR department posted a variety of pictures from the roll-out of the the turf. You can view all of them at 49ers.com. Here are a few of the pictures for your viewing pleasure. After that, I've re-posted the gallery of pictures I took when I got a stadium tour a week and a half ago. You can also go to the stadium website to check out a live stream from inside the stadium. You can literally watch grass grow!

Turf being trucked in early Thursday morning

Turf lowered onto the field

Turf being flattened down

View of the back of the end zone

Here's the gallery of stadium shots from my visit:

Grid View

• Levi's Stadium view from the train station David Fucillo
• View of the stadium from the front desk of the 49ers offices. It's pretty damn close David Fucillo
• Looking out the front door of the 49ers offices at Levi's Stadium David Fucillo
• Walking in through where the 49ers might come out for pre-game introductions David Fucillo
• These goal posts were installed about a week before the NFL decided they needed to go 5 feet higher. Whoops David Fucillo
• That suite tower is pretty massive. But with limited seats in front, it feels like you're right over the field David Fucillo
• A view of the field area from just behind the end zone. David Fucillo
• The main seating area David Fucillo
• A look at the other seating area and the monstrous scoreboard. The second scoreboard is behind me in this picture David Fucillo
• This is the main entrance. That is the end of where an escalator comes up from a pedestrian bridge. You can see the top of the bridge to the right of where that escalator is David Fucillo
• If you come up the escalator and out to the seating bowl, this is what you'll see. David Fucillo
• This picture does not do the concourse justice. You can probably fit three Candlestick Park concourses in here David Fucillo
• This is the 49ers home locker room. It's still under construction. They had some of the lockers, but I could not take pictures as they first want to unveil them to the team. They look really nice David Fucillo
• This is a second view of the 49ers locker room David Fucillo
• This is the visiting locker room. It looks quite nice. While they could have gone cheaper to give the 49ers the advantage, they needed to make it nice to get the larger events like the Super Bowl David Fucillo
• A second look at the visiting locker room David Fucillo
• This is the 49ers coaching box. It's on the 800 level of the suite tower, so pretty damn high. David Fucillo
• This is the same home coaching box with the broader view. I suspect Roman would be down the stairs in that front area David Fucillo
• This is in one of the club areas. The 49ers will come through the tunnel toward me when they walk out for pre-game warmups. They will come from the direction of that construction worker in the distnace David Fucillo
• The players will walk out these doors to the field for pre-game warmups David Fucillo
• This is the entrance to what will be the 49ers Hall of Fame. It will be a multi-level set-up David Fucillo
• This is the press box area. It's pretty huge. This is the second level, with another stretch running right in front of it David Fucillo
• This is what I believe was called the "Visa Club" David Fucillo
• Some more of the Visa Club area David Fucillo