NEW YORK | 432 Park Avenue (Drake Hotel dev.) | (1,396) FT / 432 M | 89 FLOORS - Page 106

marcatio · #**2101** Posted **Aug 16, 2012, 4:38 PM**

With the second largest pour to date completed on the slab on grade, workers are now using power trowels to smooth the surface of the newly poured section. Rebar has been placed on the section south of the newly poured slab, in preparation for placement of concrete.

The southwest corner is getting its treatment of fabric, after having received crushed stone.

MrSlippery519 · #**2102** Posted **Aug 16, 2012, 5:20 PM**

Do you know why they left the gap between what was poured this morning and the south footings that they seem to be preparing for pouring tomorrow?

marcatio · #**2103** Posted **Aug 16, 2012, 6:26 PM**

MrSlippery519,

My only guess for the gap between the slab section poured today, and the new section that appears ready for concrete is that the new section might be a depressed slab. Just a guess here. Without building section or foundation plan, I can only guess.

marcatio · #**2104** Posted **Aug 17, 2012, 11:32 AM**

Friday morning, another day. Concrete is being poured into the forms south of the core, via the versatile Hitachi. This area was formed, waterproofed and reinforced yesterday in preparation for today's pour. The nook at the east side of the site, where the rebar bending crew and other building materials were located, have been relocated to the new section of slab on grade that was poured yesterday. My prediction is that this area may be next for preparation for concrete.

At the street, the triple-boom Hitachi continues with truck-loading duties.

A closeup of the concrete pouring operation on the 57 St cam shows workers using a screed to level the freshly poured concrete. What looks like a vibrator to vibrate the concrete to help consolidate the concrete lies on the rebar near the bottom center of the view. The vibrator agitates the concrete to help it flow. Too much vibration, however, will cause segragation. A worker uses a power screed float, and another worker uses a manual float, which brings the fines (small particles) to the surface for a smooth finish.

Finally, a worker uses a power trowel to finish the slab.

10:48AM (EST) - It's a dissapointment that the Park Avenue cam is again out of service, as there is truck loading taking place, and the perspective of the jobsite seen from that cam adds other important information about what is taking place at street level. Hopefully that cam will return to service soon. The Hitachi at the lower level is relaying ramp material to the street level machine for removal. As this takes place, and as the ramp makes its dissapearance, soon machines may be leaving the site, which would be interesting to watch via the Park Avenue cam. The 57St. cam also needs refocusing, as the slab was cast this morning, and concrete was placed in forms adjacent to the 56St. perimeter wall, which was out of view because of the misfocused 57St. cam. Again, hopefully that cam also will be refocused.

What looked like conduit adjacent to the large 56St. footing has been covered with crushed stone, and filter fabric. That conduit had been placed yesterday. Workers are seen working in the nook to the east of the slab section just poured, preparing it for application of the waterproofing. This may be concreted next week.

photoLith · #**2105** Posted **Aug 17, 2012, 4:08 PM**

I don't recall seeing this render but was reading the Wall St Journal today and they had an article about high rise living and had this render in it. Sorry it's not oriented correctly.

marcatio · #**2106** Posted **Aug 17, 2012, 4:56 PM**

Update: 12: 51PM (EST) - Rebar is being placed at the southwest corner. This area will be concreted next. A small footing is being formed in the nook just east of the last slab section poured. The excavator at the lower level moves ramp material up for removal.

Update: 1:11PM (EST) - I believe what is a template for the base section of the tower crane is now on site, currently resting on the new poured slab. There are also four standoffs, seen just north of the 56th St. footing. These will be embedded within the footing.

TechTalkGuy · #**2107** Posted **Aug 18, 2012, 12:33 PM**

This is going to be a great tower, but I will admit that all of these technical details about "structural drawings would read as "#5 at 8" o.c. " are not interesting to me.

I'd like to contribute to the fun of construction, but it doesn't seem possible much these days.

No one cares about how I feel about the tower -- just about how an Hatachi at the lower level ramp is about to drill a hole into a slab of concrete.

Wake me up when we are talking about this tower and how cool it's going to look on the skyline.

hunser · #**2108** Posted **Aug 18, 2012, 12:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by fish

This is going to be a great tower, but I will admit that all of these technical details about "structural drawings would read as "#5 at 8" o.c. " are not interesting to me.

I'd like to contribute to the fun of construction, but it doesn't seem possible much these days.

No one cares about how I feel about the tower -- just about how an Hatachi at the lower level ramp is about to drill a hole into a slab of concrete.

Wake me up when we are talking about this tower and how cool it's going to look on the skyline.

Well for folks not interested in the technical details I would suggest you wait till the tower gets visible (exceeding street level). Then the real fun begins.

I for one just love the engineering behind a skyscraper. That's why marcatio's updates are totally awesome.

ib2010 · #**2109** Posted **Aug 18, 2012, 1:10 PM**

I'm for all the types of info. Curious abount the floorplate layout , any drawings out there. With the elevator core being pretty substantial in a relatively small square, how's that work out?

NYguy · #**2110** Posted **Aug 18, 2012, 1:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

I don't recall seeing this render but was reading the Wall St Journal today and they had an article about high rise living and had this render in it. Sorry it's not oriented correctly.

I saw that article online yesterday. Here's the rendering again, but the print version looks better...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...232347238.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by fish

Wake me up when we are talking about this tower and how cool it's going to look on the skyline.

It's all a part of the process. It's nice to have someone knowledgable about the day to day details of a project. But trust you won't be bored when those details are in the sky.

Silverfox · #**2111** Posted **Aug 18, 2012, 5:52 PM**

432 Park Ave will definitely blend in with its future neighbors.

I might just build a scale LEGO model of it sometime in the near future.

xnyr · #**2112** Posted **Aug 18, 2012, 5:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hunser

well for folks not interested in the technical details i would suggest you wait till the tower gets visible (exceeding street level). Then the real fun begins.

I for one just love the engineering behind a skyscraper. That's why marcatio's updates are totally awesome.

+1

photoLith · #**2113** Posted **Aug 18, 2012, 6:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silverfox

432 Park Ave will definitely blend in with its future neighbors.

I might just build a scale LEGO model of it sometime in the near future.

Uhm, did I miss something? What are all of those other towers?

jd3189 · #**2114** Posted **Aug 18, 2012, 6:37 PM**

They are just placeholders of a representation of what East Midtown may look like years latter after the rezoning. Those exact towers may not be built but this area will surely gain height.

TechTalkGuy · #**2115** Posted **Aug 19, 2012, 4:44 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silverfox

432 Park Ave will definitely blend in with its future neighbors.

I might just build a scale LEGO model of it sometime in the near future.

I realize that those are placeholders, but I recall many, many years ago when Philadelphia had placeholders like that, but the area never developed anything like the plan.

In other words, don't hold your breath.

reencharles · #**2116** Posted **Aug 19, 2012, 5:33 AM**

You can not compare Philadelphia to New York about construction.

Silverfox · #**2117** Posted **Aug 19, 2012, 5:48 AM**

In due time, something taller is likely to sprout nearby. I have a feeling this won't stand alone in the future, and instead of standing out it'll mix in with its surroundings well. It's good to see that this is finally raising the bar again. It's been four decades since that happened, and I have a feeling this building is going going to be the start of a new era for not just the NYC, but in other cities as well. NYC is reaching further into the sky again.

TechTalkGuy · #**2118** Posted **Aug 19, 2012, 6:06 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by reencharles

You can not compare Philadelphia to New York about construction.

You're right -- what was I thinking?

marcatio · #**2119** Posted **Aug 19, 2012, 1:40 PM**

There have been endless debates about the appearance of this tower: how it fits into the skyline, whether one likes it or not, etc, etc ad nauseum.

I have purposely stayed away from those debates, and will continue to do so. I have always been interested in the construction phase of structures in general, whether they be buildings, dams, highways, etcetera, etcetera. Having this webcam of this particular tower is terrific for me, as it is possible to view, in real time, the actual means of construction that in the normal sense would be impractical otherwise. It provides an educational opportunity for an interested viewer to see how a tower such as this is constructed. In my posts, I have tried to inform viewers what is going on, to gain an appreciation of the process of building. Once the building is done, it's done. I want to see HOW it's done. Once again, there will be differing views of the final product, but I'm interested in the NUTS AND BOLTS of the construction phase.

In our everyday world, we see and use products, whether they be small items like a sheet of paper, or large like a building. For me, the interesting questions are: how are they made?? And so it is with this tower. How does it go up??

There may be some who don't care about the process of construction: that's fine. However, there are those who do. We all have differing interests. If you aren't interested, that's fine, but there are those who want a little deeper understanding of what is going on. To those that are interested, I say thank you for the support. To those others who don't care, it is my hope that you do gain a bit of insight, not only about how this particular project is being constructed, but perhaps help broaden, in some small way, a little bit about the world around you.

TechTalkGuy · #**2120** Posted **Aug 19, 2012, 4:21 PM**

I don't mind a progress report, but what's lost in the translation is the technical language.

Here is an example of how I completely lost interest, "structural drawings would read as "#5 at 8" o.c. ".

How am I supposed to understand what that means?
How does that benefit my knowledge?