CHICAGO | St. Regis Chicago (Vista) | 1,191 FT | 101 FLOORS

[harryc]

Office worker - great set of closeups.
A few from Apr 12

[KWILLSKYLINE]

I know this may be pretty basic to you engineer's but how does the complication of this site compare to those going on in new york? Obviously this isnt as massive as hudson yards but how do you compare this to some of those central park projects going on? I know, random and vague question, but i was just over at the vista site this weekend for the first time and I couldnt belive how gigantic it was in person.

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ I'm not an engineer, but I'm not sure there is any way to answer that question. The best answer is: They are different.

This is a huge footprint next to a multi level roadway that will have connections through the building. Compare that to the needles they are building in NYC which have a tiny site often excavating down deep into the ground (rather than just building up from here).

So on one hand you have tons of room to maneuver on this site, but complications like roadways running through the site or cassion foundations. On the other you have extremely tight sites for extremely narrow buildings, but it's also a much smaller floorplate and there's no roadway to worry about.

So they are totally different types of complexity, but that's what engineers do: find the best solution to each project's unique requirements.

[KWILLSKYLINE]

Yeah, I kind of figured it was a silly question to ask after I posted it. Apples to oranges. haha.

[petey2428]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

^^^ I'm not an engineer, but I'm not sure there is any way to answer that question. The best answer is: They are different.

This is a huge footprint next to a multi level roadway that will have connections through the building. Compare that to the needles they are building in NYC which have a tiny site often excavating down deep into the ground (rather than just building up from here).

So on one hand you have tons of room to maneuver on this site, but complications like roadways running through the site or cassion foundations. On the other you have extremely tight sites for extremely narrow buildings, but it's also a much smaller floorplate and there's no roadway to worry about.

So they are totally different types of complexity, but that's what engineers do: find the best solution to each project's unique requirements.

I thought the bedrock is pretty high in new york, so you don't have to go down deep unless it's for rock anchors. For example, 1WTC in New York sits pretty much on bedrock. You don't have that condition in Chicago.

PT construction is the standard for high rise residential construction in Chicago. You can curve the tendons to avoid conflict with conduits/pipes/etc.

[Rocket49]

Originally Posted by KWILLSKYLINE

Yeah, I kind of figured it was a silly question to ask after I posted it. Apples to oranges. haha.

I don't think it was a silly question.

I imagine the Vista Tower was and is a harder job engineering-wise than the super tall slender towers in NYC.

The Vista is one of a kind in many ways -- how many supertalls have a surface road going through them?

Whereas once you've built one very slender super tall, building, you would find building a second more straightforward as you'd be able to learn from your mistakes.

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ Yeah, the needles in NYC are basically a giant stick made of rebar and concrete with a counterweight on top. It's really just a game of "how thick do we make the sheer walls and columns". Vista's massing is much more complicated and probably opens up an array of different wind loading or other challenges. The road, while somewhat complicating, is really not any different than a parking garage though, it's structurally the same as the garage floors around and below it. It's no more than a public passageway through a parking garage.

What I was referring to when I say they dig down in NYC is that they first have to clear down to the rock and then usually blast down into the rock a little bit to make a basement or garage.

[Skyguy_7]

On that note, here's the entrance off Lowest Wacker, taken Saturday 4/15. The existing column most likely marks the new median.

[HomrQT]

Today

[710cl]

Having all of that room at Upper Wacker for staging is a luxury you won't likely find in Manhattan as well- or any place else in the heart of an urban core, for that matter.

[KWILLSKYLINE]

Originally Posted by 710cl

Having all of that room at Upper Wacker for staging is a luxury you won't likely find in Manhattan as well- or any place else in the heart of an urban core, for that matter.

And since their not using Gems 2 for staging or deliveries anymore I would have to think that project is going to get going sooner than later. No? It would be awesome to see three cranes working in that space.

[City Wide]

I have no hardly any experience with PT work, just a basic understanding of the core principals------the cables seem to start off nice and neat and well organized, but in the 2nd to last photo above it looks like something I'd see in a third world country, groups of cables bundled together, running right against vertical conduit, irregular spacing. The whole thing just looks sloppy, is this the norm for PT work?

[chief56]

Originally Posted by petey2428

I thought the bedrock is pretty high in new york, so you don't have to go down deep unless it's for rock anchors. For example, 1WTC in New York sits pretty much on bedrock. You don't have that condition in Chicago.

PT construction is the standard for high rise residential construction in Chicago. You can curve the tendons to avoid conflict with conduits/pipes/etc.

Allows for less reinforcing in the slab, resulting in thinner slabs and the heigher floor to ceilings people want in residential buildings.

An easy way to tell where bedrock in NYC is look where all the tall buildings are. Southern end of the island and middle.

[officeworker]

Thanks Harry!

Goodbye wood under the new Upper Wacker extension



Could there be just one more floor to put up before being even with Upper Wacker...







Anyone know what the blue poles are for?

[Bombardier]

Originally Posted by officeworker

Anyone know what the blue poles are for?

Those are for the carpenters installing the decking to tie off to as a means of fall prevention. If you go there during a day they are placing decking, you will see the carpenters tie off to the poles.

[The Lurker]

[KWILLSKYLINE]

Nice shots guys!

[marothisu]

Went to my first Wanda property in Shanghai last night. Nothing much to report but damn..big. Almost all the stores in the mall portion was food. World's biggest kid's ball pit too..

[SolarWind]

April 24, 2017

[Skyisnolimit]

Originally Posted by J_M_Tungsten

Today

Is that other buiding currently in a reclad ?