Sorry - just CASE pulling out the old sheet piles and foundation pilings. At noon today they had finished with the sheet piles and were switching to the wooden pole/pile extractor.

New sights and sounds this morning. Looks like the pile pulling is done and new shiny equipment has rolled onto site.

This morning the CASE support crane looked to be unloading rebar (left end of the picture). The rebar looked (from afar) to be both smaller hoops and longer verticals, which may be the makings of Caisson Shaft cages.

On the right side of the picture, two new CASE vehicles arrived. They look to be drill rigs. (One is on site and one is still under the Sheraton access road).

Also notice the slightly new construction trailer in the lower left hand corner. It has been there about 2 weeks, but they recently added that wood stair and platform, making it seem more permanent (or as permanent ad a temporary construction trailer can look).

I may have jumped the gun on caisson start a few weeks ago, but this looks promising!?!?

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2...25281%2529.JPG

^^
I wonder if they are renting the empty lot to the North with the trailer? I suppose that would make construction less complicated.

At a community meeting many months ago I asked the architect and developer where they proposed to do their lay down, and the developer answered that they hoped to use the land to the north (i.e. where the trailer is located), but it depended on whether that land owner was about to re-start their own project. It appears that they must have struck a deal with that land owner. Good for the logistics of this project, but that might mean that the North Parcel owner will not be building anything for many months/years.

^ Looks like this is about to get underway!

Great news

Good news and a great spot for all that glass and density.

I stayed at that Sheraton during my first trip to Chicago. The way the Sun pokes into that area in the morning is lovely, and more density will just make it better.

Update from The Chicago Architecture Blog today: http://blog.chicagoarchitecture.info...th-park-drive/


Caisson work is under way. Good to see this massive project get off the ground running... hopefully winter doesn't hit them too hard.

Time to move it to the Highrise Construction thread?

According to Crains, this project has been financed and it will be a Loews hotel

The caisson drills are on site, but I don't think anything has been drilled yet.

http://i.imgur.com/w6e6W.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Z1w9u.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/m8oh8.jpg

Dec 17
 

Mounting a caison drill..


Some serious belling bits.


Drilling underway, sump hole ?




Many more photos from 435 Park, Chicago Ill.

From Lynn Becker's blog:

• Video Link

This one is very much under construction now, can we move it out of proposals?

so this bad boy is now officially under construction.

time to move the thread. :cheers:

Pretty rad, thanks for posting. If the glass is kosher, the views from Michigan Ave will be impressive, even if the design is a bit tacky.

btw, Lynn Becker is reporting height of 590 feet.

now that it's actualy UC, is there a final tally on what is going to be in it and where? One restaurant? Any shopping? and is it officially classified mixed use?

12-26-2012
 

435 Park so far
465 Site Prep from 2007

Jan 2 & 4 - 2013
 

Progress now for the future - don't know why this makes me think of DEVO


Safety first - when did these fences become standard ?


We have struck Clay !


This is how the monsters get out ...




More 435 N Park

Mark me down as very happy to have been wrong (too skeptical) about this one! Nice way to end 2012 with this start. I have the same question someone else did recently - do we know that the official height is 635'? Only as I had also seen 590' quoted elsewhere too......

Lynn Becker has a handful more of contruction photos. Some pretty interesting night shots that do a really good job of giving a sense of scale.

I took this picture at a community meeting in March. The renderings of the building have changed slightly since that meeting, so I am not sure if the exact heights have changed, but this is at least someplace where some of these numbers may be coming from.

Here is another photo of the night construction. I am actually really surprised they are able to work so late into the evening. They are working with those big flood lights until at least 7pm if not a later every week night. Not to sound NIMBY-ish, but if I lived in one of the low rise condos and was trying to eat dinner or relax after work at 7pm and still had flood lights and drill rigs going outside, I would be kinda annoyed. Anyone have insight into this?

Oops:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C...s912/photo.JPG

^That's awesome. Maybe they're making maximum use of the mild temps?

Makes sense. I wonder what the OT pay out would be or maybe its multiple shifts (early crew/late crew)?

435 N Park and Optima Center
 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8372/8...5cb05ece_b.jpg
435 N Park site and Optima Center by YoChicago1, on Flickr

Shot earlier today. As always, larger versions at Flickr.

Jan 10
 

\
Looks are decieving - probably a dozen or more pilings(?) have been drilled/poured/and buried already.

Odd the way the lower(?) section has 3 times the bands the upper section has, and then it just stops - is this the section that is inside the belled out area at the bottom ?


Putting in the electric service - hope they don't forget about this when the sheet pile guys come around ;-)


Chocks to space the rebar - inner sleeve - and outer sleeves


You could feel the concrete as it hit bottom some 60' (?) below

This may be too much detail, but here goes...

The portion with the increased reinforcing is most likely the top. All Caissons will have at least a portion of the top of the shafts reinforced (usually a minimum of 20 feet down). This is because caisson shafts are basically big concrete columns that are in compression and need rebar to help confine the concrete as it takes the load. Caissons that are only taking gravity loads (down only, not wind) only need the confining reinforcing for part of the shaft because as they get deeper the soil can trusted to help confine the concrete.

This caisson, with the increased rebar at the top, is probably part of the buildings lateral system (i.e. wind resisting system). Because of this there is a horizontal load that is introduced into the foundation causing the shaft to not only be compressed, but also bend and shear. The bands of reinforcing, called stirrups, are probably tighter at the top because of the higher shear forces. Sometimes when a caisson is taking bending the reinforcing is extended for the entire length of the shaft for simplicity and robustness. However it is possible to calculate the location down the shaft where the bending forces are dissipated enough to rely on less reinforcing or even the unreinforced concrete alone.

Sorry for the nerd explosion...:tup:

Thank you ! that is exactly the level of nerd explanation I was looking for.

Jan 15 2013 - foundation work continues.
 

Case working North with the grid of holes - needed to move the sleeves to put in holes on that side.


Some going out


Some being re-located



465 N Park - Site prep to today

harryc, thanks for the pics. You're my hero.

That's an improvement for sure, far more engaging with the street, and even some windows? on the big northern stretch. Also, the charcoal color looks better than the Miami blue they were going with before.

It has Optima's coloring now. I hope that large LOEWS sign doesn't get added on.

The coloring isn't any different from what we have seen since the very first rendering. The only change from what is on the first page is the signage…

I doubt the large loews will end up at the top though, seems counter productive to block views for what would be the highest $ rental tiers in the building.

I think he was referring to this rendering.

I get that, what I was trying to say was that the renderings we have seen since that original have been in this different color. So, what spyguy posted wasn't a new color, just the signage is different.

The base looks decidedly darker, less-blue in this latest rendering (compared with the renderings since the original). Also, the design has changed a bit, with a new window overhanging the base and less separation between the base and tower.

Aside from the signage the only other difference I see is the superficial changes to the northern side of the podium, certainly nothing is else "less blue."

First Page
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/5468/4651e.jpg

Most Recent
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/5431/ar301199974.jpg

Oh. I was comparing it with a different rendering.

They also added a hat on the mid-rise wing. Maybe a rooftop lounge?

theWit effect?

I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being a bar. An earlier rendering shows another pool though

This design improves with every revision. You can hardly tell it is an SCB anymore...

Also, I hope they put that sign up there. Chicago doesn't have enough rooftop signs and I think it would add a nice splash to the skyline to have a bit more illuminated text at night. Plus it's not an ugly logo or anything, it's just text.

so that seems to be the restaurant on the SW corner?

^ Even better:

A pool with poolside bar in the summer, which then converts to a covered rooftop bar/lounge in the colder months.

This will have a very noticeable impact on this part of the skyline. With 435 N Park and Optima, things are definitely starting to fill in...

Much better

Does anyone know if this will be condo or rental?

^ Alas, the next condo era still seems to lie somewhat in the future.
Those must be just mechanical floors or partially parapet.