AUSTIN | Projects & Construction II - Page 336

Tom In Chicago · #**6701** Posted **Oct 23, 2009, 3:42 PM**

^Wow. . . now there's a view I never thought I'd see in Austin. . . nice photos Kevin. . .

priller · #**6702** Posted **Oct 23, 2009, 4:35 PM**

Nice photos, Kevin!

Unfortunately I managed to back the car over my camera bag. It contained my big Nikon D300, lenses, and laptop. The camera and lenses survived with no ill effects, but the laptop is hosed. Digital cameras aren't too useful without a computer, you know.

zx14 · #**6703** Posted **Oct 23, 2009, 9:38 PM**

now thats a view that shows how tall the Austonian really is. The glass must now be going on the 56th floor. When do you guys think the crown will be completed and lit.

Maxlikesskyscrapers · #**6704** Posted **Oct 23, 2009, 9:46 PM**

Does anyone know why the crown is taking so long?

priller · #**6705** Posted **Oct 23, 2009, 9:50 PM**

No, but the tops always seem to take a long time to finish up. They said on the Austonian blog a few months back that it would be December before all the glass is on the crown.

zx14 · #**6706** Posted **Oct 24, 2009, 12:07 AM**

True the crown will take a long time to complete. That is because there is mechanical parts and things of that nature in the crown. Some of those parts will have to be lifted into their place. So until all the guts of the crown are in place the glass will be put in at a very slow rate. Ofcourse if i am wrong please correct me.

KevinFromTexas · #**6707** Posted **Oct 24, 2009, 1:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maxlikesskyscrapers

Does anyone know why the crown is taking so long?

I'm not sure. One thing though is that this building will have a mass damper at the top. I believe this is the first one ever in Austin. It could be taking longer because of that.

StoOgE · #**6708** Posted **Oct 24, 2009, 2:07 AM**

Is the Austonian really big enough to need a Mass Damper?

I know it's kind of skinny..

Oh well, I'm not an engineer, I'm sure they have their reasons.

Jdawgboy · #**6709** Posted **Oct 24, 2009, 6:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoOgE

Is the Austonian really big enough to need a Mass Damper?

I know it's kind of skinny..

Oh well, I'm not an engineer, I'm sure they have their reasons.

From what I've heard the Austonian sways as much as the Sears (Or Willis) Tower or whatever its called now in Chicago. It is a fairly skinny tower so it does require a Mass Damper.

priller · #**6710** Posted **Oct 24, 2009, 7:51 PM**

A few quick photos from Friday night. Sun was just going down, so the lighting is a bit strange looking, I think.

From Republic Square:

From the federal courthouse site:

The W:

The courthouse site:

Mopacs · #**6711** Posted **Oct 24, 2009, 8:11 PM**

Great photos Kevin & Priller. Man, the Austonian crown is already looking VERY impressive. What a sleek building this has turned out to be.

And Kevin, this is definitely one of my all-time favorites of your collections:

OU812 · #**6712** Posted **Oct 24, 2009, 10:17 PM**

does anyone know what's going on next to the TX monthly bldg off the southbound i-35 access road? isn't it supposed to be a hotel? the area is completed excavated and and looks ready to go...

Scottolini · #**6713** Posted **Oct 24, 2009, 10:22 PM**

http://www.andaz.com/

Strayone · #**6714** Posted **Oct 24, 2009, 11:08 PM**

Lots of great photo's and stuff lately, what a gem Kevin found with the water tower. If anyone has pics of it from before and while they raised the bowl up it would be greatly appreciated. I would have loved to see how they lifted the bowl from the ground to the top, I was at the disc course near it earlier in the week and was surprised that they had that in mind.

It looks like the site prep for the Courthouse is going quickly, that new building near Tx monthly will look nice from what I can tell.

KevinFromTexas · #**6715** Posted **Oct 25, 2009, 4:44 AM**

Thanks guys. Mopacs, that one almost happened by chance. The sun was setting of course, but I was also fiddling with the settings a bit while shooting the main building. It actually wasn't quite that dark when I took the shot, just a few shades lighter. But that setting 1/2000 I believe on the shutter dial, brought out the dark colors of the sunset. I guess it could be a sort of sneaky way of faking a sunset.

I can't get over how good the crown is looking. I'd still love to see the "eyebrows" though. I'm loving the curved facade up there. Also it's becoming clear how good of a job they did on creating contrasts with the glass and metal? facade. It looks great.

Strayone, the water tower at Mueller used hydraulic jacks to lift the top of the tank up. I think they said the whole tower weighs 16 million pounds. Anyway, they used these sort of jack stands atop the shaft of the water tower. They then had cables running through those jacks which acted like pulleys to lift the entire top of the tower up the shaft. This method is pretty common in building structures with a narrow shaft topped with a dome, bowl or some other larger structure. If you can believe it, they used the same method for building the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio. They poured the concrete for the shaft of the tower, then built the "top house" - (the observation deck) on the ground around the shaft and then lifted it 550 feet up the shaft using the cables and jacks. There's some photos of the tower under construction with the top house half way up the shaft. Pretty amazing. Anyway, they used the same method here.

This page shows construction of the water tower's shaft. The crane in the photo there was used for construction of the shaft. The jacks they used to lift the top lined the rim of the shaft all the way around.
http://garreth.featuredblog.com/?p=86&inm=200809

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/writowerconstruction.htm

Photo of the construction, after the top had been added.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/speedye/4012773418/in/pool-366485@N23

Fox7 had a reporter there the weekend before they raised it and explained how they would do it. I haven't been able to find any photos or video of them actually doing it though.

I have a few more photos of it to post. I was out at the Expo Center today in East Austin and it really looms on the skyline there. I was kind of surprised how big it looks.

OU812 · #**6716** Posted **Oct 25, 2009, 6:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottolini

http://www.andaz.com/

thanks... i figured it was that.. just seems like they're having the ever-present funding issue everyone else is. that excavated hole has been dormant for quite some time now. i drive by it all the time on my way to work. no movement at all. i sure hope it doesn't get canceled.

JoninATX · #**6717** Posted **Oct 25, 2009, 8:27 AM**

they also got new rendering of hotel Andaz under www.universityparkaustin.com/living/

priller · #**6718** Posted **Oct 25, 2009, 5:25 PM**

Actually the big hole right next to the Texas Monthly building is not for the Hotel Andaz. The Andaz will be built to the west of the office building, across the street. The area adjacent to (and south of) the office building is for "The Residences at University Park".

Here's a simple map showing the layout:

http://universityparkaustin.com/leasing-plan/

Also on the page is a link to a .pdf file showing office and retail space, who's already signed up, what's available, etc.

BTW, the roads in that area are almost done. You can drive on about half of them now.

priller · #**6719** Posted **Oct 25, 2009, 6:33 PM**

Speaking of the project, here are a few shots of the area this morning:

priller · #**6720** Posted **Oct 25, 2009, 6:38 PM**