from the webcam, it looks like pile driving to me, but i'm no expert.

can anyone in the area today confirm?

The drill could be for soldier piles which means excavation will be next. When I zoom in, the resolution is lost.

That is definitely a sheet pile vibrator pusher thingy on the red vertical rig.

I believe work has begun on the secant pile wall. I'll post a couple of photos later. Also, two concrete trucks were on site.

December 18, 2019

That looks like they're coring something. I know when they did the transit center next door they had problems driving sheet piles and had to drill out some old concrete in order to do so.

Concrete trucks are possibly filling an old utility vault/duct.

So confused, as an amateur. Would love a YouTube video of what makes this one different, digging wise.

What size bit is this? :shrug:

Great pics solar!

There was a pedestrian tunnel from the demolished parking structure to Union Station. Possibly they are dealing with that?

Possibly part of it, but most of the pedestrian tunnel is staying and will connect into the new tower. The tunnel is also mostly located under Canal Street. Only the last ramped section was being removed and rebuilt.

This is a complex site with lots of built history. There is a freight tunnel that runs through the center of it for instance that has to be maintained, and the 'L' used to cross through it as well. I believe the piles from the demolished garage are too high for the new basement level (there might be other foundations as well). and part of the site at the southeast corner used to be part of Canal Street. I know the bus station was delayed many times while discovering previously uncharted abandoned and active utilities. Any one of these things could be involved in the current site work.

That is a secant operation - never seen it done with this kind of rig.
They will drill holes that are just about touching - filled with concrete and usually an I-Beam - then after those cure come back and drill down betwen each nearly touching hole, fill that with concrete and rebar, and walla - a wall.
Same thing that has been done at One Chicago.

Some Secant Wall shots from One Chicago, da Spire, 9 W Walton, and OMP

They're having a 'cerimonial' groundbreaking fro BMO Tower today. Mayor on hand.

https://app.oxblue.com/open/clarkcon...erconstruction

https://i.imgur.com/3w5NZg4.png

i need to get on that deck at some point for THAT view of Sears!

So BMO doesn't have the naming rights? Union Station Tower?

Larger version:


https://www.gpchicago.com/media/imag...-1600x1200.jpg

Okay this is a lot more visually interesting now. I like the faceted glass. The original renderings made it seem like it would just be flat glass all the way around.

December 23, 2019

according to the webcam, there look to be some new pieces of equipment being assembled on site this morning.

possibly caisson rigs?

Curbed.com has already added this building to their list of high-rises under construction in Chicago:

https://chicago.curbed.com/maps/high...nstruction-map

Of course, on SkyscraperPage the designation "under construction" requires caisson drilling, though the Curbed page is nonetheless fairly informative, with a useful interactive map.

Merry Christmas all! :thrasher:

via https://app.oxblue.com/open/clarkcon...erconstruction

https://i.imgur.com/T8cMroe.png

BMO Tower aka 320 S. Canal received their foundation permit on the 24th

Peanut butter jelly time?

Though the bit may literally have broken the surface, I think they're just getting everything in place today to really step on the gas on Monday. So I'm holding my emoji's till then.

Well banana emoji's at least, lol.

BMO Tower - 310 S Canal
 

Dec 20



Stuff from the past

This tower is going to stand out a lot in the Adler “postcard” view. It’s going to sit next to 311 Wacker and be a deep layer behind the Mich ave wall.

Then the Jahn tower and that poster I had from 1998 will be so out of date.

well now it 100% looks like they're assembling a classic yellow & blue Case caisson rig on-site this morning.

this project will most likely be officially U/C later this week or early next.

and that red rig now appears to be driving sheet piling into the ground.

If you zoom into the SE corner of the site via the webcam, you'll see at least two caisson sleeves in the ground, and the CASE rig actively drilling. This one is about as U/C as it gets. I'll let someone else kick off the dancing. Elaine Benes? Benes...? Benes...?

https://app.oxblue.com/open/clarkcon...erconstruction

Foggy as hell. Cant see.

^ try the #2 camera on top of the OPO.

the #1 camera on sears is indeed not terribly useful today.

Site from above. This parcel is massive on a side note.


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EMfGp-cXkAAJHNX.jpg:large
Credit: Chicago Cityscape

Hello Everyone. Long time site user decide to finally join and contribute. Happy New Year to all.

I have decent viewpoint for this one and post as much as time allow. Was happy to see drilling occure during walk to lunch today. Cheers!

-Franusch

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...65217257_b.jpg

Welcome Franusch! :friends:

Congratulations Chicago on constructing another tall office building! It's currently the second tallest office building rising in Chicago, behind 110 N Wacker.

Definitely under construction as of today. . .

. . .

:banana::banana::banana::banana:

Another building that makes the top 25 tallest in the city. It would be on the first page of the diagrams for Chicago, but no one made a diagram for this one yet.

Actually Koodoo JUST added a drawing for this - I was even going to mention it here. However it's still only listed as 'proposed' and so you'd have to select that checkbox for it to appear. However the built/construction/proposed is horribly out of date by a couple of years.

https://i.imgur.com/XmSbAgm.png

Speaking of which when you click proposed...what the hell is one grant park? That thing is ass ugly and funky looking. When did it ever get proposed, or is one of the artists just having fun?

That was added recently as another drawing for One Grant Park (now known as NEMA) - which has already been finished though is 'under construction' on the page (green).

If you click the 'all drawings' radio button (and also unselect built so you don't get 50 Willis towers) you can see the alternate/previous drawing. I am not a fan either. (of the drawing)

This is interesting to think about. After Vista, 110 North Wacker, and One Chicago are complete, this building will set at #25 once finished (I think). However, with 1000M and possibly Wolf Point South not far behind, it probably won't be there for long. After this tower, any future tower will have to be nearly 750'+ to crack the top 25. Quite impressive.

Nice. Didn't think to check the proposed items. Koodoo on the ball. :cheers:

We definitely are in a good city to be skyscraper enthusiasts. :cheers:

I would have added the drawing earlier but it wasn't actually added to the database until this week.

The Chicago diagram/database is kind of a mess at the moment. A lot of buildings are listed as U/C when they've been completed, Proposed when they're well above ground, etc. Not only that, but lots and lots of heights are incorrect as well. The height of a building can be revised so many times during planning and construction and the diagrams section can't always keep up with it.

Every once in a while I try to request corrections and new buildings, but the sheer amount of requests that would need to be sent in to fix everything is rather daunting.

Actually this will sit at #26. The height of 150 n Riverside on the diagram page is wrong. It's actually around 750 ft which would push this down one more spot.

The Rock
 

Eye Opener for me: When i started high school in '61 at CVS, One Prudential was the 2nd tallest building at 601' after the Chicago Board of Trade at 605'. Then, the treat was to go to the Top of the Rock and view the city of Big Shoulders from the sky. With the BMO startup, One Pru will drop to 55th. To see all that growth in my lifetime in my hometown is a great feeling.

Both incredible.

Two angles just up looking at 320 South Canal Street. Happy New Year.

https://app.oxblue.com/open/clarkcon...erconstruction