You have 48 - 500s to criss cross in 24 inches?
Good luck with that, forget neat you will be lucky to get it done at all.
Sounds like that gear was designed to have a pit or sump under it.
I hear you there Bob and I have to agree. That is a lot of wire in a little space to be working.
Don't forget the " service loop " that I see a lot of electricians put in the wire. They say it is case one of the ends burns off they have slack to cut off and put back in the lug. I tell them if it burns off there will not be a lug left. I also say if you terminate the ends properly the first time you do not need a " service loop " because they will be there until the end.
We have a 4500 amp CT service cabinet to make up this week but seems like we have about 48 inches of space to work the wire. Even at there there is still a good amount of work terminating that many wires of that size. Good luck there.