Vancouver House (1400 Howe St) | 151.5m | 52Fl | Completed

[Klazu]

Thank you for your replies, people in the know. That explains things well. And apologies for all the typos in my message that I wrote before 6am this morning.

[Marshal]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Thank you for your replies, people in the know. That explains things well. And apologies for all the typos in my message that I wrote before 6am this morning.

Anytime Klazu. Is it not taken for granted that, outside of business, etc., typos are always forgiven?

Speaking of communications, I am going to give my topic one more try. In whatever work you all do, are there interdisciplinary communication issues, and how do they get handled? I have had issues with jargon being understood in different ways even within a single discipline. This was simple stuff, but again there is a parallel within mathematics. I am quite curious.

[Again, off topic but I am pretty sure any discussion will be short, so not worth a new thread. However, if there is interest, it might be worth having a thread dedicated to people's questions concerning developer/design/working dwgs/construction management and construction processes. Its a broad industry and its inner workings can be fascinating.]

[mcminsen]

March 8 '16, my pics

[WarrenC12]

More steel than concrete in that foundation... awesome.

[Hot Rod]

Isn't this U/C now?

[Marshal]

Those close-ups of the steel are great. Looking at those pictures, one could mistake what they are looking at as being a large civil project, like a dam. That is going to be one heavy anchor once poured.

[Large Cat]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

March 8 '16, my pics

Thanks for the pics...I walked over that part of the bridge a few days ago and man does it give you vertigo! Combination of the tiny unprotected sidewalk, low railings, and the crazy deep pit directly under where you are walking. Makes me really respect the crane operator!

[cairnstone]

Damn thats a few tons of steel. This will be one of the larger pours in the city. Amazing they used new scaffold to support the steel. I would have thought they would have bought old stock from sky hi or aluma.

In the past i have done timber supports when they would be void formed

[Marshal]

Originally Posted by cairnstone

Damn thats a few tons of steel. This will be one of the larger pours in the city. Amazing they used new scaffold to support the steel. I would have thought they would have bought old stock from sky hi or aluma.

In the past i have done timber supports when they would be void formed

What do you mean by 'timber supports?' How did you use them? I can understand for voids, but supports?

As for new scaffold, I think the project/contractor insurer would ultimately dictate that. Just imagine the nervous breakdown the night before the pour, of the guy who decided to use old stock. Our lawyers and insurers get prickly if our specifications don't include the worn-out old clause "contractor to supply with all new material." That includes temp materials like formwork. Many times it is downright stupid, but our legal foundations require it regardless. (As an aside, specifying old timber, structural or not, can get pretty tricky.)

[osirisboy]

So the scaffolding is there to create a void, But when they do the concrete pour won't it all just fall down through the rebar into the void? Why not just use rebar to create the void instead of scaffolding? I still can't picture how it all works. Love to see them when they do the pour

[cairnstone]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

So the scaffolding is there to create a void, But when they do the concrete pour won't it all just fall down through the rebar into the void? Why not just use rebar to create the void instead of scaffolding? I still can't picture how it all works. Love to see them when they do the pour

the voided area is just for mass example like a dam. And never heard of all material to be new on a job. Formwork is used over and over again Many times the finish is better after the first pour. Scaffold shoring do get inspected regularly and before any rental. I have been on jobs where the shoring frames could easily be 20 years old. As you erect by being a journey person you inspect.

use timbers usually when building void forms as its cheap or when decommissioning tunnels

[Regina14]

Using timber to support that amount of weight (700 tons) so high off the ground (~6' & ~12') would have taken forever and just not practible on such a large scale.
Basically the scaffolding is there to hold the layers of rebar that need to be suspended off the ground. Even the layers on the ground are held a few inches up with bricks, creating the proper spacing between the rebar and the ground.

[Marshal]

Forgive me if I am over-explaining, but:
There are two kinds of voids in poured concrete construction. One where no material is required (there is no structural requirement). These can be formed in the standard way, such that when the pour is complete the void includes the wood formwork which is trapped and air, or by other methods, for example, a hard foam shape used to form the void, which is then trapped by the pour and becomes what constitutes the void. It depends on what the engineer is doing at that location, and/or what is cheaper overall (with regard to material and labour costs for construction). A second version is a tensile void. This seems to be the case with Vancouver House. They need a large mass, so they want to fill that whole area. But, there is no need for reinforcing steel in the central part of the volume. So they are using the scaffolding to support the rebar placement above the void until the concrete is added. Once the concrete is in place, the scaffolding is dumbly trapped within but serves no purpose any longer. The end product is a large volume of concrete with an 'empty' box of rebar inside it.

[Regina14]

This picture is from Feb 27th. Makes you appreciate the depth the slab will end up being.

[cairnstone]

Originally Posted by Regina14

This picture is from Feb 27th. Makes you appreciate the depth the slab will end up being.

Regina what is your trade on this project. There is a huge difference between scaffolding used for work platforms and shoring towers. What is used here is scaffolding designed for the weight of workers and limited material. Carpenters can set wood shores as fast as setting frames to support the load of the bar. Brick is always used to support bottom bar as its cheap. It's used on 6 inch slabs and 30 foot deep pours does not matter.

[mcminsen]

About another week's worth of rebar.


March 14 '16, my pics

[osirisboy]

The big pour is happening right now

[Prometheus]

This is making me think of the movie Locke.

[Otis_Van]

Got a quick shot on the way by at about 11am. This was MAJOR. Four pumps, and about ten concrete trucks standing by with more circling the block.



My photo, taken today

[mcminsen]

Some pics from between ~3:00 and 4:00 PM today.



March 19 '16, my pics