Portland Aerial Tram | Complete - Page 18

Dougall5505 · #**341** Posted **Sep 18, 2006, 1:24 AM**

the first tram wire is all the way up!

Dougall5505 · #**342** Posted **Sep 20, 2006, 11:49 PM**

the tram shows its sensetive side on 9/11

dkealoha · #**343** Posted **Sep 21, 2006, 2:45 PM**

Does anyone know if that is how low the cable is going to stay or if they are going to tighten it later on? I can see it right outside my office window and it seems extremely low...

zilfondel · #**344** Posted **Sep 21, 2006, 6:09 PM**

Yea, they miscalculated - the trams are pretty heavy too, so they'll only skim the ground by about 4 feet.

MarkDaMan · #**345** Posted **Sep 21, 2006, 7:27 PM**

I think the rope tightening process takes a few weeks?

Dougall5505 · #**346** Posted **Sep 21, 2006, 10:19 PM**

thats right at least two weeks there was a nice graphic in the metro section a week or so ago

dkealoha · #**347** Posted **Sep 22, 2006, 12:43 AM**

FYI - the channel 12 news crew was setting up on corbett/gibbs as i left work today. They might have a story on the tram (probably nothing that hasn't already been reported on here already).

Dougall5505 · #**348** Posted **Sep 23, 2006, 1:08 AM**

nice little guide thingy on how the rope pulling process goes down:
http://www.portlandonline.com/shared....cfm?id=131796

Dougall5505 · #**349** Posted **Sep 23, 2006, 2:21 AM**

from today focus is bad on some oh well

OutrageousJ · #**350** Posted **Oct 21, 2006, 4:19 PM**

This guy has a great Flickr albulm on how the workers are installing the cable for the tram... pretty cool.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theonet...7594290208963/

Dougall5505 · #**351** Posted **Oct 21, 2006, 7:13 PM**

^very cool
looks like cladding has started on the lower station

PacificNW · #**352** Posted **Oct 24, 2006, 12:02 AM**

Construction workers ascend a temporary stairway underneath the OHSU tram lines Friday morning 10-20-06.

The Oregonian

pdxstreetcar · #**353** Posted **Oct 24, 2006, 5:23 AM**

Does anyone know when the cars will be installed? Apparently they arrived about a week ago (10/18) and theres supposed to be about a month left until it opens to OHSU employees (assuming its still on schedule for a Dec 1 opening).

tworivers · #**354** Posted **Oct 24, 2006, 5:39 AM**

The ship the cars were on was diverted north for some reason, thus they will not be arriving until the 30th. That little piece of info was under the picture that PacNW posted from today's paper.

Dougall5505 · #**355** Posted **Oct 24, 2006, 3:52 PM**

this is a old progress report (10/1/06) but it was just posted recently. interesting they would have installed the cars yesterday if they had arrived
Lower Station
Structural steel complete.
Work continuing on installation of finish work.
Installation of irrigation and landscaping to follow.
Tower
Erection of tower complete.
Installation of saddles at top of tower by Doppelmayr complete.
Installation of irrigation and landscaping to follow.
Upper Station
Elevator/stair core topped out.
Structural steel erection at 7th and 9th floors complete.
Installation of roof at upper station complete.
Concrete floor at 7th level complete.
Wall and ceiling framing at 7th level started.
Sky bridge between the upper station and OHSU’s Peter Kohler Pavilion installed.
Concrete floor at sky bridge and cantilevered stair complete.
Concrete floor at 9th level to be poured after ropes fully tensioned.
Doppelmayr
Fabrication and installation of structural, mechanical and hydraulic components complete.
Fabrication and installation of electrical control systems by Frey complete.
Track rope installation and tensioning to 50% compete this week.
Track rope tensioning to 100% complete early next week.
Haul rope installation complete by October 20, 2006.
Fabrication of cabins by Gangloff complete.
Cabins will arrive in Portland on October 18, 2006
Installation of tram cars the week of October 23, 2006.
Installation of electrical control systems at upper station to follow.
Doppelmayr and Kiewit Contracts
76% of the revised Kiewit and Doppelmayr contracts have been billed.
$34.6 million billed to date for both contracts.

tworivers · #**356** Posted **Oct 24, 2006, 5:21 PM**

Portland tram cars delayed in Canada

07:27 PM PDT on Monday, October 23, 2006

By Drew Mikkelsen, kgw.com Staff

Portlanders have to wait another week to see the tram cars that are expected to change the city’s South Waterfront.

The cars were expected in Portland last week. The Project Manager told kgw.com, the cars are now expected to arrive October 30.

The Swiss-made carriages are now in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“It’s a little bit frustrating,” said Rob Barnard, Project Manager.

“The ship that they were on did not have a lot of freight for the Portland area,” said Barnard, “It was running late, so they diverted to Canada where the majority of their shipment was.”

The shipping delay is not expected to affect the tram’s mid-December opening. The Project Manager said construction is ninety-percent complete.

pdxstreetcar · #**357** Posted **Oct 25, 2006, 4:14 AM**

Damn Vancouver, BC stole our trams!!!!!

After reading the article and the 10/01 update, it seems like really the only thing left to do with the tram is install the cabins and few minor jobs. Then probably a month of testing. I can't wait.

Whoever this new project manager is seems to have done a phenomenal job keeping this project on track since the problems were worked out... it was certainly a tight schedule for a difficult and complex project.

pdxman · #**358** Posted **Oct 25, 2006, 5:58 AM**

When was the last time portland forumers had a meet? Maybe the tram opening would be a good spot to do one...??? What are your guys' thoughts?

tworivers · #**359** Posted **Oct 25, 2006, 10:35 PM**

From this week's WW:

Pole Position

An up-and-down story of power lines under the tram.

BY CHRISTIAN GASTON | 503 243-2122
[October 25th, 2006] When PacifiCorp erected two 70-foot black power poles at the intersection of Southwest Gibbs Street and Corbett Avenue in late June, residents were incensed.

The skyline of their Lair Hill neighborhood had already been filled with wires and cables they didn't want, thanks to the aerial tram.

But they took some small comfort that these poles would transmit a short stretch of the 115-kilowatt power line along Corbett underground instead of with overhead power lines.

Then, last week, PacifiCorp pulled up the poles after four months and installed the power line overhead again, with a shorter wooden pole at a cost of $66,500 to the city. Huh?

City officials responsible for the tram project say that decision came in response to neighbors' concerns about the aesthetics of the 70-foot poles. But resident Larry Beck and other neighbors say that's ridiculous because assistant tram-project manager Art Pearce told them last month that PacifiCorp had put those poles too close together, and that the configuration wouldn't allow the tram to safely pass.

Pearce says he doesn't remember telling residents the configuration was unsafe. He and tram manager Rob Barnard, Pearce's boss, insist the old configuration was safe but that the new above-ground line will increase clearance between the tram and the power line from 5 feet to 20 feet, improving safety during worst-case conditions such as high winds.

'We're working hard to mitigate the impacts of the tram on the neighborhood,' Barnard said.

Counters Beck: 'It's easy for them to say it was because of neighborhood opposition, but I don't think that passes the straight-face test.'

The tram's path from South Waterfront to OHSU crosses over two high-power lines that feed downtown with electricity. One is at Southwest Barbur Boulevard, the other at the intersection of Gibbs and Corbett. In order for crews to raise the tram cables into the air, they would have needed to disable the power running through both lines. Since that would have shut off power to downtown, the city asked PacifiCorp to put the line underground while the tram cables were installed.

Barnard says the city couldn't force PacifiCorp to do the work because the utility paid for the underground line and met its obligation by moving the line once at the city's request. PacifiCorp spokesman Bernie Bottomly says undergrounding the line last June cost 'north of $500,000.'

Now that the tram cables are in the air and ready when the tram opens for public use in January, Barnard says the black poles can be brought down and replaced with one wooden pole similar to others on Corbett.

But don't expect residents like Stephen Leflar, who lives on Gibbs, to be placated.

'Our neighborhood is full of war-wisened veterans because of a cynical view of development,' Leflar says. 'For 50 years we've been screwed over by the city.'

pdxstreetcar · #**360** Posted **Oct 27, 2006, 4:59 AM**

New Construction Photos 10/23/06

I'm wondering when a new website will go online about the trams actual operation, hours, price per trip and more, especially about its grand opening. www.portlandtram.com hasnt been updated for many months and most of it is about planning for the tram.