With almost two feet of snow surrounding them - and more in the forecast for that night - construction workers continued the Bridgeforth Stadium expansion project at James Madison on Tuesday.

The near-record snowfall that has hit the Shenandoah Valley this winter hasn't had a major effect on the project, JMU spokesperson Don Egle said Tuesday.

"I wouldn't necessarily suggest that it's on schedule," Egle said. "What I've been told is things continue to move forward at a pretty good pace."

According to Egle, the project reached a major milestone on time last Thursday, when workers started raising the steel skeleton for the stadium's new west bleachers.

But then 18 inches of snow fell on Harrisonburg last weekend.

"Obviously, anytime you have that much snow, sure. It's a bit of a setback," Egle said. "But these guys have been terrific. They're moving forward, and I haven't heard anybody say otherwise."

The project began with the demolition of the old west bleachers almost immediately after JMU's season finale against Towson in late November.

According to the school's website, the latest timeline for the project includes construction of masonry walls beginning in March, then installation of the new bleacher system in late April.

Egle says there are contingencies within the schedule for incidents like inclement weather.

"I'm not sure anybody could have seen all of this coming," he said.

"But they're used to it. They've seen this before. It's not necessarily something shocking and new," Egle added, referring to the construction crews. "It's just unfortunate, but they've worked through it. And they've made actually good progress since Thursday with the steel."