SAN FRANCISCO | Park Tower at Transbay | 605 FT | 43 FLOORS

[edwards]

07/14/16

[hotwheels]

Park Tower at Transbay Continues Downtown Evolution

San Francisco's downtown core is a veritable hotbed of development activity. It seems no matter where you turn, you're face to face with construction hoarding or situated below a swinging tower crane. The Transbay Transit Center and its surrounding lands are the primary recipient of the city's latest round of tallest projects, including the Salesforce Tower and 181 Fremont, which are altering the composition of the skyline with every piece of steel placed. Set to continue the urban evolution of the downtown core is the Park Tower at Transbay, a 43-storey office tower by the team of Golub & Company, The John Buck Company, and MetLife.

[pseudolus]

From the webcam, it appears that the caissons and perimeter shoring are complete and that installing the pipes for dewatering is almost done.

[iamfishhead]

Looks like they're packing up the heavy equipment. Sorry for the shaddow. I only noticed later in the day.

[pseudolus]

excavation well underway
they built a pier for the crane this weekend
what's that green stuff they spray on every day?

pic from the webcam

[SFSkyline]

Originally Posted by pseudolus

excavation well underway
they built a pier for the crane this weekend
what's that green stuff they spray on every day?

pic from the webcam

The green stuff may be for dust control.

[iamfishhead]

Looks like the foundation area is substantially excavated now and they're starting to pour concrete

[SFSkyline]

Originally Posted by iamfishhead

Looks like the foundation area is substantially excavated now and they're starting to pour concrete

I wonder if they went down to bedrock? With what's going on at Millenium, these guys have to be pissing themselves if they didn't.

[pseudolus]

Originally Posted by iamfishhead

Looks like the foundation area is substantially excavated now and they're starting to pour concrete

Not sure exactly what's up with the concrete. They don't seem nearly deep enough for two levels of parking plus the thickness of a mat foundation. They didn't put in any rebar. I'm guessing the concrete is only temporary, maybe till they install the waling and cross bracing and start going deeper. Honestly, I don't know.

[iamfishhead]

Looks like progress

[botoxic]

The concrete is likely a low-sack slurry mix to provide ground stability for the equipment to place the waler system (it appears to be a somewhat wet and sloppy site). It is easy to excavate through to go deeper once the first level of supports are in place. Thanks for the pictures from such a great vantage point!

[mt_climber13]

Who's idea was it to put the west coast's financial center in the middle of a mud pit in earthquake country?

[pseudolus]

Originally Posted by botoxic

The concrete is likely a low-sack slurry mix to provide ground stability for the equipment to place the waler system (it appears to be a somewhat wet and sloppy site). It is easy to excavate through to go deeper once the first level of supports are in place. Thanks for the pictures from such a great vantage point!

Thanks, botoxic, for that info.

[tech12]

Originally Posted by wakamesalad

Who's idea was it to put the west coast's financial center in the middle of a mud pit in earthquake country?

Yeah, people sure knew all about tectonics/seismology back in the 1800s. And when they finally learned more about it in the 20th century, they never decided to uproot a major city and relocate it somewhere else! What were they thinking????? What a bunch of morans!!!11!

[mt_climber13]

Xanax?

[fflint]

What, is the Financial District now DEAD or something?

[mt_climber13]

Some up tight forumers up in here for sure. Touchy bunch!

Now let's just relax and not take ourselves so seriously, sheesh

[pseudolus]

I actually think this is a good question.

For example, see "The Manhattan Skyline: Why are there no tall skyscrapers between Midtown and Downtown?"

https://blog.epa.gov/blog/2015/07/th...-and-downtown/

There are other locations downtown where bedrock is much closer to the surface; Rincon Hill is an obvious example. So why are the sites zoned for the tallest buildings at this spot, requiring expensive 300 foot deep caissons? Is it to sculpt the skyline to look pretty from Treasure Island? To enable wayfinding to the Transbay Terminal? To maximize revenue to the Transbay JPA?

[iamfishhead]

Originally Posted by pseudolus

I actually think this is a good question.

For example, see "The Manhattan Skyline: Why are there no tall skyscrapers between Midtown and Downtown?"

https://blog.epa.gov/blog/2015/07/th...-and-downtown/

There are other locations downtown where bedrock is much closer to the surface; Rincon Hill is an obvious example. So why are the sites zoned for the tallest buildings at this spot, requiring expensive 300 foot deep caissons? Is it to sculpt the skyline to look pretty from Treasure Island? To enable wayfinding to the Transbay Terminal? To maximize revenue to the Transbay JPA?

Probably because this area south of market was available and underused (or used to be a freeway) and is close to transit. A lot of downtown is built-out, so their options were kinda limited. Where else would you even build these buildings?

I actually have a pretty nice book on skyscraper construction (I'm sure other people here would like it too). As it so nicely points out, you can build a skyscraper almost anywhere ... if you're willing to pay for and do the foundation work required. I'd imagine they try and build on bedrock in Manhattan when they can, zoning aside, because it's probably cheaper.

[tech12]

Originally Posted by wakamesalad

Some up tight forumers up in here for sure. Touchy bunch!

Now let's just relax and not take ourselves so seriously, sheesh

Crying when someone pokes fun at your post is a great way to not take yourself seriously.

Originally Posted by fflint

What, is the Financial District now DEAD or something?

RIP downtown SF.