yeah that's a good point. Hadnt thought of that angle either

The East building is going to look EPIC from that view.

Where were you when you learned you were color blind? ;)

Orange, beige, taupe, whatever. The important thing is we wont have to look at it :)

Amen haha

If this indeed provides a view cap looking North on Wacker, that's a pleasant surprise.

As Wacker has stolen the glory from LaSalle, I always felt the corridor was missing something--the majesty of enclosure that LaSalle provides. This will really go a long way in making the "global business hub" look of the corridor

Wish there was something to cap the south end of Wacker as well. Since the river shifts to the east south of Van Buren, it would need to be a development on the west side of the river. The massive new post office complex and the ComEd substation pretty much assure that view corridor stays open for a long time.

Guess we can't be greedy :)

2/28/18
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4669/...db8b2b9c_b.jpg

^gravel fill in? We got to be getting close to the first mat pour. I hope someone is there with a camera when they start pouring, its going to be interesting what kind of system they came up with for lining up the trucks and getting them in and out, upper and lower.

If anyone has info on the date for the mat pour would love to check it out.

I beleive "The Mat" has already been poured - currently has the tower crane sitting on it on one end with the big bundle of rebar poking up on the other.

Feb 21







Feb 27



managers - and one tender - and two guys just waiting to get back to work.


Getting ready to climb

Pretty gravelfall..

There were only 2 mat pours, one for the tower crane which was on 1/12/18 and the other which was for the elevator core which was on 2/1/18. The foundation mainly consists of pile caps and grade beams which are just getting wrapped up, the slab on grade will come soon after all the gravel is placed.

In English? hahah

Pile caps = ties the columns into the drilled shafts (foundation elements)
Grade beam = connects the pile caps together go add more strength
Slab on grade = Slab of concrete on top of the gravel that is the basement floor

This wikipedia article may do a better job then I did :P https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_beam


:tup:

My 100 level architecture classes are all coming back to me now, lol

[seen being framed out on the lower edge here]

You guys are the best, thank you!

Kinna wish we were seeing more barge deliveries of commodities. maybe well get the concrete pumper like 150 n riverside. I love seeing the river put to work to build the broad shoulder.

Isn't the shorline too shallow at wolf point? I remember an overhead shot of that spot being very shallow. I think it has somthing to do with the current keeping the dirt pushed in that spot. That may have changed since they put in the pile system. I imagine they could dig out to get a barge closer.

3/7/2018
 

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4776/2...3f380df4_h.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4790/3...9289b89f_h.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4799/3...05f0dc69_h.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4781/3...5145b050_h.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4799/3...cb46c5eb_h.jpg

Greats pics!
Anyone know when is the mat pour?

:slob::slob::slob:

That's some solid skyscraper porn.

Thanks for the pics, Le Baron! Great vantage!

Great pics Le Baron......

Anyone know what is going on with the river frontage of the Merchandise Mart in the pictures?

^ Could it be related to the whole Art on the Mart project?

I believe it is just repairs or refurbishment of the road/wall/railing there. The did the eastern half a few months ago; once they were done everything looked more or less the same.

As I stated a few posts above in response to a similar question...

Also explained above in the thread are the definitions for pilecap/gradebeams if you don't know what those are.

:tup:

That's too bad. I've always thought that was a great space canvass to mirror the southern side of the Riverwalk with some vendors or programming. Seems a bit wasted of an opportunity.

Not every Riverfront space needs to be lined with restaurants and beer gardens.

Yeah, i concur. Wikipedia says, "This was the location of Chicago's first three taverns, its first hotel, Sauganash Hotel, its first ferry, its first drug store, its first church, and the first bridges across the Chicago River." It shouldn't be an island of corporate malaise that discourages public use. Ideally, there would be two pedestrian bridges connecting WP from the west and south and seasonal cultural programming.

They restored it to the original state, but it's FARRRR from being the same. I've walked the Franklin bridge to and from work for over 15 years and that railing and wall there were in incredibly bad shape, like just crumbling to nothing, rebar hanging out everywhere, you could see through it, much of the detailed pieces had literally fallen to the walkway and river below.

It won't look drastically different once it's done from what it was intended to be originally, but it looks amazing given it's not an embarrassing crumbling eyesore.

Would be a lot cooler if it was. :cool:

IF the space could be filled with just about any kind of venue it would be great. Sure beats a blank wall. Maybe you like concrete walls.

March 6



March 7



building the (first) climbing form


Looks like they plan on retrieving the braces - this is the bottom of one of the frames that holds the cross bracing up.

Gorgeous pics, Harry! You do us all a great service by posting these!

March 12, 2018

Great pics Solar

Now that is some real progress.

"We're in the buisness of being in buisness....and this is a buisness, so let's do some buisness"

This will look awesome from Washington Street bridge!

https://i.imgur.com/ZdXa3Eeh.jpg

March 12

The view from our new floor.


March 13



note how the new floor will be just below the whalers and rakers (support beams)


Strongly re-enforced for cars. The black things hold the rebar up so it is off the bottom (by at least one aggregate dia)

And with 110 Wacker - that will be a prime spot.

Just imagine what Wolf Point SOUTH will look like from those vantage points.

March 19, 2018

I love the reflection of the green river on 444 W Lake.

Not sure if this was ever answered but will WPE parking be connected to the the existing wolf point parking garage in any way? Also is the WPS parking planning to be above or below lobby level?

Not sure - but - I haven't noticed any ramps, so I would think it will be assimilated into the existing garage system.

It sure looks like part of the wall between the 2 garages is not perm and would eventually allow a connection.

March 22, 2018

Are they going to start pulling those support beams out? Would those be reused or somehow just sealed up into the foundation and cut up where needed/filled in?

The will be removed once the floor has cured and can provide the bracing they are providing now. Walsh seems to re-use a lot of steel, so I strongly suspect they will be used again.