Height: 1,389 ft
Floor count: 96
Location: North Wabash and East Kinzie
Construction end: 2008
Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Developer: The Trump Organization

Website (http://www.trumpchicago.com/noFlash.htm)

http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/8690/trump12tx.jpg
http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/1318/trump29na.jpg

I thought I would post a new thread for the trump tower construction as the last was up to about 700 posts which is way above the 500 limit. Here is a link to the old thread:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=21044

EDIT: Could a mod close the old thread please.

Here are some renderings and the latest construction photos (thanks to BVictor for the construction pics):
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/trump10np.bmp

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/trump30tu.bmp

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/trump54ki.bmp

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/trump80yl.bmp

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/trump26uq.jpg


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/366425.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/366424.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/366423.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/366422.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/366421.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/366419.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/366418.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/366414.jpg

Post Away!

How is this coming along? Anyone got some recent update pics?

Well now I guess we HAVE to use this thread :(
I can't carry over all the content from those nearly 800 posts, but I did take some of the helpful bits. Maybe the topic creator could copy and paste this in his first post in the beginning for visitors/new members to see from the start (others add things to it as well please) and then I can delete this?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trump International Hotel & Tower (2008)
Roof 343m, 1125ft
Spire 415m, 1360ft
92 floors

http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/8690/trump12tx.jpg
http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/1318/trump29na.jpg

Emporis construction photos:
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/cs/?id=102119

Nice, somewhat-updated webcam of the construction scene as well as videos/sounds/images:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-trump-flash,1,4337691.flash?coll=chi-site-nav
http://www.trumptoweronline.com

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/500/2404trumpbase2.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Get13/trump%20tower%20chicago/new%20pics/trump80yl.bmp
http://img159.echo.cx/img159/7063/trump10np.png

http://www.som.com/resources/projects/4/9/4/trump_lakeview_113003_494.jpg

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/graphic/2005-03/16887267.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This thread needs to be closed. There is no need for 2 Trump Tower threads....

point me in the direction of the other one then please, I only bumped this because it was the first one I could find.

---

Well now I guess we HAVE to use this thread :(



NO, ACTUALLY WE REALLY DONT!!!!!!!

guys, i closed the other thread because it was over the 500 post limit. i think the rule is a bit steange myself, but it's the rule on this forum, so we have to comply, for better or for worse. the old thread has now beeen moved to the archive forum.

wasn't it 1362 ft now not 1360ft. (A really big difference, the gap between the 2 Intl Finance Centre in Hong Kong)

I never thought I'd see the day that the Trump thread slipped to page 2. At any rate... the Wabash deck is really starting to take shape and the first concrete pour for the tower has occurred.

http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/9313/trump010wa.jpg

http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/739/trump028nk.jpg

http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/8761/trump032wp.jpg

http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/3663/trump044zt.jpg

http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/1515/trump053pg.jpg

http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/9313/trump060bd.jpg

And on a somewhat-related note... I caught a glimpse of Bill Rancic driving down Ontario today. Sorry for the shitty pic, but, you can make out the TW (for Trump Winner) on the license plate.

http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/758/trump075aq.jpg

A Bill Ranic sighting is worth an eProp :) Was that the car he won on the Apprentice?

I'm also surprised that this project's interest has dropped, even though it's actually being built.

I've been waiting for ages for some more construction pics, if this was being built in London there'd be updates every day! Not necessarily a good thing but it does mean it stays near the top of the thread listings.

What are you guys in Chicago doing all day that you can't go out and take the occasional photo?

To punish Trump for his childish behavior. Really, I'm not sure. Maybe vacation, work, too hot outside.

If you have a craving for these updates there are a lot of options in case no one here has any new shots. Just look at my first post for many different links (two of which are webcams and one of Emporis construction shots by month).

I've been waiting for ages for some more construction pics, if this was being built in London there'd be updates every day! Not necessarily a good thing but it does mean it stays near the top of the thread listings.

What are you guys in Chicago doing all day that you can't go out and take the occasional photo?

They are still doing cassion work. The site look more or less the same as it did a couple months ago.

The viaduct adjacent to Trump is being rebuilt as well. Lots of progress there but it technically isn't part of Trump proper.

You can see live updates of the site here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/trump/chi-trump-html,1,5949233.htmlstory?coll=chi-homepagebiz-utl

The Trump thread over here has been lacking photo updates. This was posted by Jaroslaw on SSP: A historic day. Caisson drilling is finished. This afternoon (Wednesday) the last foundation crane was dismantled. Our photographer was on the scene.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/Chgo83/1708052.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/Chgo83/1708053.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/Chgo83/1708054.jpg

Some pics today from Pandemonious - 08-19-05

As you can see, the hole is growing fast and getting enormous.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/Chgo83/DSCF2133.jpg

I want to operate that thing :( I'd do it for free, at least for one day..
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/Chgo83/DSCF2131.jpg

The tops of the caissons clearly visible, with the rebar that will tie into the mat foundation.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/Chgo83/DSCF2132.jpg

Is a crane maybe going to go in that square hole down there?
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/Chgo83/DSCF2134.jpg

Thanks for updating this page...

great photos... but there isnt any big news until this building is nearly finish

I'm working on a paper model of TTC, and as a part of that I build a virtual model. Here's what I have, I does not and will not hae every ####ing detail, so don't comment on that, but how does the massing look?

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/1606/ttccomp8af.jpg

BTW I threw in that last image just because no one has seen one like it yet.

Looks great (aside from the spire thing :) ). The last one thew me off for a bit. Thought it was a claw or something.

Since I make spires/antennae out of painted toothpicks, there's no need to model it.

I love the last one. It gives a great heads-up as to what it'll look at from pedestrian level. Absolutely soaring! :)

^ That massing model is pretty cool. Tell me, though, what software did you use to build it? Straight ACAD or something fancy schwanky?

^3D Studio Max, keep in mind that this is far from he final product. I'm currently in the process of drawing and applying textures and the final product will be a physical model 100% to scale with 20+ other buildings in Chicago and around the world.

BTW Isn't the angle from the northeast and southwest really cool? The tower becomes extremely narrow and distorted-looking.

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/1606/ttccomp8af.jpg

http://images.snapfish.com/3447%3B49523232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A59%3C34359ot1lsi
Concrete pump
http://images.snapfish.com/3447%3B49523232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A59%3C34362ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3447%3B49523232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A59%3C3436%3Bot1lsi
Worker dropping the concrete from the pump into framework for a sheerwall within the garage below the Wabash Avenue viaduct
http://images.snapfish.com/3447%3B49523232%7Ffp3%3Enu%3D3253%3E95%3A%3E5%3B7%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3B4%3A%3B43459nu0mrj
http://images.snapfish.com/3447%3B49523232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A59%3C34376ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3447%3B49523232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A59%3C3437%3Bot1lsi
Driving down sheet piles to expand the excavtion hole for the tower

^ Damn, this is one complicated ass project! :cheers:

http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/6977/3t8ds.jpg

It's a beauty!

http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/6977/3t8ds.jpg
If only those buildings really were grouped together like that. :eek:

^Yeah, it'd totally ruin the 90th floor view someone paid so much for.

^ :rofl:

I know this is 'neither here nor there' but given that Trump, Jr is in charge here, how do they involve Bill Rancic in this project, or do they?

I read an article on the Apprentice winners a while back. Apparently most of their time is spent at public appearences (and the like) promoting the "Trump" brand and show. I'd be very surprised if Bill Rancic had a serious role in building the project. Its not like the guy had a real estate/construction/developer background when they chose him to "lead" this project.

Trump Jr on the other hand grew up in this business and I'm sure is being groomed for the top job. Besides who better than your son to be the hands on guy for this?

I'm no good at these updates compared to some of the other forumers, but I'll do my best from time to time.

Anyway, I walked past the site again today. I no longer work in the IBM building, so its been a few days since I strolled through whats left of the plaza there. Got a chance to talk with a couple of the guys working on the roadway, which, as you can imagine from the pictures, isn't difficult anymore, since the roadway is less than 8 inches below plaza level. Two weeks was the best guess they all floated for the road to be joined to the bridge proper.

I know less than anything about the construction of major viaducts, and there's only about a foot of space between the exisiting road structure and the bridge, but at least construction is on pace for the November 1st reopening of Wabash Avenue.

In other news: the hole keeps on a growing.

And they're making some great progress at the Vietnam War Memorial, though it might be a bit much to expect them to complete it by veteran's day.

just anouther artical about the trump tower --------------

REAL ESTATE

Giant born among towers

By By Stephanie Murphy, Daily News Business and Real Estate Writer

Sunday, September 04, 2005



CHICAGO — For well over a century, the city and especially the Chicago River captivated the imagination of the world's leading architects, who designed one edifice after another, lining the cradle of the modern skyscraper with now-vintage landmarks.

Under construction since March, the $750 million Trump International Hotel & Tower will be the tallest building in the United States since the Sears Tower was finished in 1974. Designed by Adrian Smith, a partner with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it also will be the city's first megatower in three decades. Based in the city, the international firm also designed the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Tower in the 1960s.

Also called Trump Tower Chicago, the 95-story skyscraper is being built where the seven-story Chicago Sun-Times building once stood. Earlier this summer, crews began digging 125 feet to bedrock at the site, which flanks the Chicago River at its heavily trafficked Michigan Avenue Bridge.

Some regret that the squat, boxy newspaper building was demolished, but far more say it had outlived a perch at the city's visual hub. The reflective glass and stepped facade of developer Donald Trump's tower was chosen to showcase historic buildings in the vicinity, its designers say, creating a mirrored panorama for the throngs who stroll across the bridge.

"Where Trump is putting his building is the most sensational location," said Marilee Wehman of Palm Beach and Chicago. "That bridge is the absolute center of the city."

Last October, Trump sealed the deal for the parcel. He invested $73 million in prime riverfront land, where neighbors include the historic Wrigley Building, the Chicago Tribune tower and Mies van der Rohe's IBM Building.

The negotiation for that parcel "wasn't easy," Trump said Thursday. "I owned 50 percent and then bought out [the Sun-Times]."

Developing in Chicago is "a much faster, saner process than New York," Trump said. "There's much less bureaucracy, and it's a very positive thing."

The location "has always been the best site in Chicago," he said. "It's a very special building because of the size and the location. But I love 'em all."

The idea of a Trump tower initially drew scepticism among some Chicago architecture critics who expected "glitz" based on the developer's casinos, Smith said. That tension evaporated, especially after Mayor Richard M. Daley won the final round relating to the tower's spire, Smith said.

At the outset, the tower was to be much taller, about 2,000 feet. On Sept. 11, 2001, Smith was preparing to show some ideas to Trump's associates when they heard reports about a plane crash at the World Trade Center. Two weeks later, Smith's revision was 1,362 feet, including a double spire.

"Trump didn't like it. He asked for a stronger spire. Two years went by, and he said he liked it better without the spire. Daley said, 'No,' he wanted the spire. The mayor won, because the plans had been approved with the spire," Smith said. "Donald Trump has his own taste and vision. But he is a pragmatist, also a romantic, to some degree. I found working with him pretty delightful. He listens, and in most cases, he agrees."

Configured at a bend in the river, the tower lines up with the locks to the east, which control the flow of water from Lake Michigan. The building's silhouette also repeats the outline of piers that frame the lock system.

Trump Tower will be a mixed-use building of luxury condominium residences and hotel rooms, shopping boutiques, restaurants, a health club, ballrooms and conference center, indoor parking and a 1.2-acre park with 500 feet of riverfront promenade.

There will be 472 condominiums, and 70 percent of the building has been sold. The project has logged $700 million in sales already, at prices from a $500,000 studio to "as big a check as you can write," said native Chicagoan Bill Rancic, the first winner of Trump's reality TV show, The Apprentice. Rancic's job is coordinating the tower project, and this year he signed on for another year with Trump "because I've learned more in the last year than I would have in the next 20 years." Rancic said the project is "great for Chicago, creating so many jobs." Completion in early 2008 is "very realistic," he said.

The curvilinear, multi-tiered building is on a long, narrow site, rectangular but irregular. "The building is all concrete, one of the heaviest buildings in Chicago," Smith said. The tower's setbacks give specific nods to neighboring structures. The one on its east side corresponds to the cornice line of the Wrigley Building.

"The stepping says to the Wrigley, 'I see you, and I'm pulling back my facade to not overwhelm you.' The second one relates to a residential tower on the north," Smith said. The tallest setback reflects the neighboring IBM Building.

The curtain-wall facade combines light silver reflective glass and a latticework mullion system of outset vertical and horizontal tubes made of stainless steel and anodized aluminum.

Public access to Chicago's waterfront is a right protected by mayoral edict requiring buildings next to the water to have setbacks. Trump Tower accommodates with a three-tier landscaped promenade which lifts its mass by 40 feet. The terraced levels descend to the riverfront, and Trump Tower residents will have their own dog-run in the park.

Lower floors will have retail, restaurants and lobbies, topped with nine floors of parking. The mezzanine level and 60,000-square-foot health club is on the 14th floor, just below ballrooms, conference center and the hotel restaurant. Floors 17-27 will be for hotel-condo use, with 286 guestrooms and one- and two-bedroom suites; floors 29-89 will be residential condo units from studio size to three-bedrooms, plus three-story penthouses with up to seven bedrooms. There will be 1,000 indoor parking spaces with a deeded section for residents.

Historians say the city is defined by its waterways, and Trump Tower will have views of both the river and Lake Michigan. Chicagoans take their architecture very seriously, and Trump Tower has drawn its share of mixed and rave reviews. When Skidmore, Owings & Merrill showed the city its first sketches, some thought it was too wide. Smith's revision fared better, although some thought it borrowed too much from the stacked-box system of the Sears Tower. Smith softened the silhouette with curves, which evokes "a sense of a steaming ship of commerce plowing through the city," according to Glass Steel and Stone.

A bright blue banner across the construction site proclaims the coming of Trump International Hotel & Tower.

"Actually, the sign is kind of small, considering whose name is on it," quips a river-tour docent as she points to crews at work, noting "those machines are not going up, they're digging down." They were setting the tower's caissons, or concrete columns sleeved with steel, which transfer the tower structure's load down to bedrock.

Someday, Rancic might be part of changing the Chicago skyline on his own, maybe collaborating with Trump. As he said, "My goal is to take what I've learned and go out on my own. It's not out of the realm to do a project with him."

another article in todays Trib.




Hello, y | Subscribers: Get the Advantage | log out Search:







chicagotribune.com >> Leisure >> Tempo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TEMPO UPDATE: THE TRUMP TOWER SITE

A SPECTACLE IN PROGRESS
Little things make construction site a home

By Mike Conklin
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 5, 2005


It's 7:59 a.m. on a Tuesday. In one minute, when work starts in this Chicago location -- and not a minute sooner due to noise ordinances -- 500-horsepower engines roar, trucks belching clouds of exhaust pour through gates and hammers, drills and saws add more, piercing sounds to the blue-collar symphony.

This is how an average weekday at the Trump Tower construction site jumps to life. Thousands of pedestrians subsequently stream by, giving the busy, noisy project cursory glances from the IBM Plaza and the specially built walkway over the 400 block of North Wabash Avenue.

There's much more than meets the eye, however. This is a workplace for hundreds of trades people, who, just like the passersby on their way to offices and shops, make it their home away from home.

Barely obvious: It's not as apparent to observers, but the project enjoys a special relationship with the adjacent Chicago River. "This is the best location I've been on," said Debbie Kehle, a caisson laborer. "I worked at McCormick Place before this, but it doesn't compare. The river makes this more fun."

Boaters and early morning kayakers occasionally pull up alongside the retaining wall for closer looks and, before 8 a.m., chats with those on the job. Late on one, hot Friday afternoon, a yacht full of partyers motored by and several women on the top deck mooned the stunned workers.

Table for four, please: Every workday at 7 a.m., 10 a.m., and noon, the canteen truck from Triple-A Services -- affectionately called the "roach coach"-- pulls up on Kinzie Avenue's lower level for those who didn't bring food. The workers get 30 minutes for lunch, plus two 15-minute breaks, and most prefer not to waste time standing in lines in nearby fast-food restaurants.

The truck has assorted baked goods, egg sandwiches and coffee available for breakfast. Lunch offerings include Chinese and Mexican food in addition to sandwiches, barbecued shish kebab chips, Hostess cakes, yogurt and cold drinks.

Pizza, at $2.25 a slice, is the most popular item, according to Rafael Mondragon, who has worked the Trump site from the start. "These guys can be big eaters," he said. "I've seen some spend $15 for lunch."

Thomas Donnell, 38, has been in construction 20 years. While he hasn't spent his entire career operating the huge cranes that dominate the Trump site's skyline, every once in a while it must seem that way.

Donnell has worked 12- to 13-hour shifts almost since the project's start, with only a few days off for bad weather. "In this business, you get in as many hours as you can, when you can," he said.

Sitting at the controls of one of these big monsters, Donnell has to remain perfectly focused operating a set of gears, joysticks, and levers that allow him to pick up and drop -- seemingly on a dime -- heavy items attached to the 30- to 40-foot cables dangling from an equally long boom.

This is precise stuff. He lines up loads -- metal caissons used in the foundation, mostly -- so the boxlike structures can be fitted perfectly into pre-measured holes. He's spent most of the summer on the site in sweltering conditions in his cab, where only a small overhead fan provides circulation. "You get used to it," he said.

As it turns out, Donnell spends a lot more time than this operating a vehicle every workday. He lives in Joliet, a commute of about 100 miles he makes daily by car. "I leave at 5 [a.m.]," he said. "It's not so bad. I've got air conditioning."

California dreamin': While many workers live in distant suburbs such as Plainfield and Grayslake and get to their jobs on the train or in cars like most Loop employees, others, including Bovis Lend Lease (the general contractor) supervisor Archie Smith, travel even longer distances. Smith commutes from Southern California for the few months he's been on the Trump project.

The company puts him up in one of the River North condos leased for such specialists. Every few weekends, he flies to San Diego on Friday night to be with his family, and he returns on Sunday. "My wife and daughters came here for Father's Day," he said. "It was a nice surprise. There's a lot in downtown Chicago to do."

White Sox fans only? Look closely at one of the tallest cranes on the site, and there is a Sox logo painted on a block attached halfway down its long, dangling cable. Workers insist there are Cubs fans in the ranks -- the insignia, they explain, is merely a sign of support for the city's most successful team. Earlier in the year, when the University of Illinois basketball team was making its run in the NCAA basketball playoffs, a Fighting Illini logo adorned this same spot. "Maybe we'll get to paint a Bears logo there this season," said one laborer.

His name is Dave Morse, but everyone calls him "Crazy Dave." A New Hampshire native, he once had his own computer business but now has been in construction for six years.

On this project, Morse, 53, a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, is doing caisson work. He serves as an extra set of eyes for the crane operator, perching just outside the cab to make sure nothing collides with the heavy, swaying loads lifted in and out of the holes.

He commutes by bus from his apartment on Marine Drive, which, as it turns out, is an appropriate address for him: Few workers seem to get as big a kick out of the site's closeness to the Chicago River.

"It's amazing the amount of traffic that goes back and forth on the water," said Morse. "Sometimes we can hear the tour boats telling their passengers all about us. That's a kick. Once in a while, when the big sailboats are waiting for the [Michigan Avenue] Bridge to go up, they'll come up next to us for a closer look."
While other workers may appreciate the adjacent river, once in a while Morse takes it a step farther: He has been known to toss a fishing line into the water to see what's biting. "So far, I've pulled out three carp and two catfish," he said.

Chain of command: Tucked from public view are two important command centers. One is in a nondescript, seven-story building a few doors north of the site on North Wabash Avenue where Bovis Lend Lease rents an entire floor. That's where the project's top brass -- general supervisors, vice presidents -- work in offices and conference rooms, and that's where Donald Trump comes to get progress reports.

The other post is in an air-conditioned trailer on the project's east edge. The inside looks like a cluttered, battlefront war room, its walls posted with blueprints and maps.

This is the domain of Bovis Lend Lease administrative assistant Mary Ellen Hyde, who handles ground-level paperwork, relays orders and is a liaison with City of Chicago agencies for unforeseen hang-ups. "I have to anticipate a lot of little things that might not be that obvious," she said. "My husband's a Chicago police officer, so this is up my alley."

How will Dan Bien, a project manager on the Trump effort, spend his Labor Day holiday? At home, "demolishing our master bathroom," he said.

Bien works for Case Foundation Co., a sub-contractor. He's one of the managers you might see carrying a clipboard on the site. It's his job to "communicate with the schedule," make sure the right materials are on hand for each task, track quantities and, in general, serve as a liaison with the general superintendent.

"This is like any corporation, really," said Bien, 31, who lives in Grayslake with wife Carey and their four kids. "You have ambitions. You want to work your way up the ladder."

A graduate of Marquette University, where he earned a degree in civil engineering, and Illinois Institute of Technology, where he earned an MBA, Bien has been interested in architecture and engineering ever since his high school days at Downers Grove North.

"Some day, after the Trump Tower's finished, it'll be very cool to walk by and know you had a role with one of the world's tallest buildings," he said. "I thought it was great when I knew I'd be on it. I brought my 10-year old son down here one day just to show him."

Tree Grows in Brooklyn Dept.: At one corner of the project, near the Bovis Lend Lease trailer, grows a small patch of tomatoes. This is the effort of Giuliano Alciomani, an engineer who's using special seeds imported from Italy. But he's disappointed in the results.

"The plants aren't doing so well," he said. "I think all the vibrations in the ground disturb them."

----------

mconklin@tribune.com

excellent article - gives the whole construction industry a little more of a human face. Am off to NYC in two weeks for a long weekend, but planning to visit Chicago next year to see how its come on since my last visit in 1998. My Dad lived in Arlington Heights for a year in the late 1980s, so my time there combined with memories of Ferris Bueller's Day Off has given me one hell of an affection for Chicago.

1998? You won't even recognize it :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/krzycho/chicago6/PC280063.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/krzycho/chicago6/PC280064.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/krzycho/chicago6/PC280065.jpg

Nice work.

The hole is getting massive, and should be wrapping up work within the next three weeks as these crews are moving fast. Over half of the soil required for excavation has been removed from the site. After excavation is finished, the concrete mat will be poured and our baby will start to rise.

http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376855ot1lsi
Twisting rebar together on the viaduct

http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376856ot1lsi
gap between the viaduct and the drawbridge

http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376857ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376858ot1lsi
Parking garage levels below the Wabash Avenue viaduct

http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376859ot1lsi
notice how far below the water level the pit is now.

http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A9537685%3Aot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376863ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376864ot1lsi

Next 3 from from the top of the adjacent Kinze-State-Wabash Self Park Garage.
http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376866ot1lsi
The last big gap in the viaduct has been caped and is covered in rebar.

http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376867ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376869ot1lsi
Looking east, with Regatta rising in the background

And now the TRENCH a la TRUMP...
http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376874ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376875ot1lsi
tops of the caissons unearthed
http://images.snapfish.com/3449456323232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A95376877ot1lsi

cool pics man !keep em comming!

Thanks Chicago Shawn for the nice survey of the worksite; very helpful update. The many open vantage points make this a case study in skyscraper construction.

Are my eyes deceiving me or is that a ramp leading down from upper Wabash into the garage? (sixth picture from the bottom)

^No, a glass enclosed spiral ramp will be placed on the north end of the site, right by the River Plaza Condominum. The bottom of the dip in the viaduct stays level in elevation, and my guess is that it is going to be a massive planter box.

http://www.trumpchicago.com/graphics/trump_map.jpg



This is what the viaduct will look like once completed.

The viaduct, which was originally constructed in 1930, will be completely demolished and rebuilt as part of the Trump Tower Chicago development. The $8 million project includes a total deck replacement, street resurfacing and new sidewalks. The project also includes the installation of ornamental streetlights, irrigated landscaped medians and a new traffic signal on Wabash, just north of the bridge. The improvements will benefit motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists who use this roadway.
http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_EDITORIAL/fnl_wabash.jpg

^^Quite cool.

I'm not convinced that we're talking about the same thing Shawn.

Anyway, here's a view down Wabash from my place looking @ the Trump site.

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/2996/trump3aa.jpg

what is the roof height of this building? i have seen 1171,1131 and 1125

^The Roof height is 1131 feet at the main roof, and 1171 feet at the top of the mechanical screen which surrounds the bottom of the spire, so visually the building will rise to just over 1200 feet from the level of the river, and 1171 feet from Upper Wabash. The 1125 figure is old, just remember the 1131, 1171 and 1362 (spire) figures, all of which are from blue prints read at the site.

Pics from 09-12-2005...
http://images.snapfish.com/3449963923232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A8%3B%3B%3B367ot1lsi
The last major gap in the Wabash roadway deck has been poured.
http://images.snapfish.com/3449963923232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A8%3B%3B%3B369ot1lsi
The trench has gotten bigger....
http://images.snapfish.com/3449963923232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A8%3B%3B%3B374ot1lsi
...And as you can see, a concrete slab has been poured at the bottom of the trench between the tops of the caissons.
http://images.snapfish.com/3449963923232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A8%3B%3B%3B375ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3449963923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A8%3B%3B%3B36%3Bot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3449963923232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A8%3B%3B%3B378ot1lsi
Truck begining its reverse decent into the pit.
http://images.snapfish.com/3449963923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A8%3B%3B%3B379ot1lsi
4 levels of work at the site
http://images.snapfish.com/3449963923232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A8%3B%3B%3B382ot1lsi
Excavation of the lower trench almost finished.
http://images.snapfish.com/3449963923232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A8%3B%3B%3B384ot1lsi

Great update

How is this project coming in terms of being "on schedule"?

Awesome update... The viaduct looks awesome...

I'm not sure if anyone else has seen this before (probably), but I was watching FOX News in the Morning, oh, Tuesday I believe and Dr. J was looking at Trump Chicago. Even though 70% of the building was sold, there were still a lot of units left. And then he did a price breakdown: something like $500,000+ for a ~500 sq. ft. studio. Either a penthouse or 3/4 bedroom went at a starting price of $3 million. But then randomly they showed this awesome video clip of the building being constructed (3D rendering obviously). It's going to be so nice to take pictures of as it begins to rise. Anyone know of this video clip and where I can find it?

A few Pics from thursday..

http://images.snapfish.com/3449%3B58323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3B57%3B8%3B%3A%3Bot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3449%3B58323232%7Ffp45%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3B57%3B8%3B%3B2ot1lsi
Begining to frame up the rebar for the foundation mat
http://images.snapfish.com/3449%3B58323232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3B57%3B8%3B%3B5ot1lsi

And one from today, looking down from the 36th floor of IBM Plaza...
http://images.snapfish.com/3449%3B58323232%7Ffp7%3Enu%3D3253%3E95%3A%3E5%3B7%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3B%3A66%3C7%3C%3A9nu0mrj
You can really see the rows of caissons here. :cool:

Here are a few shots that I took myself:

Workers smoothing freshly poured concrete for the Wabash Avenue viaduct - 2005-9-12
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/396706.jpg

Workers beginning to erect the steel rebar cage of the foundation mat - 2005-9-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/396725.jpg

A view to the northeast across the excavation site - 2005-9-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/396727.jpg

A view into the excavation pit with caisson tops and steel rebar visible - 2005-9-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/396730.jpg

Nice.

As Trump tower rises, setbacks pile up
Building battles challenges of nature, markets

By Susan Diesenhouse
Tribune Staff Reporter
Published September 18, 2005

In July, three months after construction began on the foundation of the 92-story Trump International Tower and Hotel, water began leaking into the building site from the Chicago River.

With the foundation being laid next to and below the level of the river, it always was a possibility that the old sea wall wouldn't hold. It did, but water began seeping through seams in a corner where the wall meets the Wabash Avenue bridge.

The construction of any building is not just the grand achievement of architects and engineers. It is the culmination of a million tiny tasks, and the triumph of overcoming a million tiny problems--any of which could become a crisis.

The difficulties in building the biggest building in a generation in Chicago go beyond just bricks and mortar. They started with the job of finding the site, creating the design and raising the money. They continue with putting the building up and keeping costs down.

In fact, there are bigger issues than seeping water or worries about dropping a 140-foot beam on the roof of the IBM building's garage next door. One is preventing the project from buckling under the rising costs of construction materials.

"What I really worry about is all the trades I haven't bought," said Paul James, using construction industry jargon for the millions of dollars of materials he has yet to purchase for the interior of the building. James is overseeing the project for the construction manager Bovis Lend Lease Inc. of London.

From the outside, none of this is visible. Passersby who peer down into the construction site from a temporary pedestrian walkway see a modest-size pit along the Chicago River.

"But it's much more," said Donald Trump Jr., vice president of development and acquisition for the company whose chief executive is his flamboyant father.

Since last fall, Trump Corp. has demolished the Chicago Sun-Times building that stood on the 2-acre site and completed some of the project's most difficult spadework, which is key to the structural integrity of the 2.7 million-square-foot tower.

The ear-shattering percussion of pounding 241 supports, called caissons, deep into the earth may have jangled neighbors' nerves. But to the New York-based developer it is essential to laying the foundation for the approximately $800 million building.

It had to drive 57 of the caissons 110 feet into limestone bedrock, a feat reserved for construction of the tallest towers here.

"The Trump edge is understanding construction," Trump, 27, said on one of his weekly visits to the site.

The rest of the foundation system and basements are being built on the caissons, which will support the weight of the entire tower, equivalent to 240,000 cars.

In October, workers will pour the high-strength concrete for the steel-reinforced mat that will unite and secure the caissons. Upon the mat--which will be 240 feet long, 60 feet wide and 10 feet deep--will rest the tower's core walls.

By next year, the core walls will start to rise. By fall 2007, portions of the building are expected to be ready for occupancy. The tower, which will house 758 private and hotel condominiums as well as retail space, is expected to be finished in 2009, Trump Jr. said.

In part, the Trump construction formula is about selective cost-cutting, which Trump Jr. said he learned at his father's elbow, following him around building sites just as his father trailed after his grandfather.

To keep costs down, he said, "We don't let architects build every feature." But it's also about simplifying the process.

So far, the construction work completed is worth near $30 million, or 5 percent of Trump's $600 million construction budget. Another $200 million will be spent on other aspects of the development. But no matter how smoothly construction goes, erecting a 1,362-foot-tall tower is a complex undertaking.

"Tall buildings are more demanding as an engineering solution," said architect Richard Tomlinson, a partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP. His firm designed the Trump project as well as the Sears and Hancock towers in Chicago.

The Trump tower will stack retail, parking, a hotel and condominiums on top of each other. This change of uses changes the design of the interior space.

A three-bedroom residential condominium will have bathrooms in different locations than a hotel suite. Therefore, plumbing can't descend directly down the tower but must at times be routed horizontally, which makes the system more costly and its operation more difficult to fine tune.

The same is true of load-bearing columns. The 14 million pounds that each column carries must be transferred horizontally via huge girders. "As the tallest tower to be built post-9/11, it's a celebrated project," said John Fish, chief executive of Boston-based Suffolk Construction Co., a major East Coast builder who is watching the project's progress. "But it poses special construction challenges."

With the price of construction materials up sharply in the last two years, cost containment on such a mammoth project is a chore, Fish said.

For instance, the average nationwide price of concrete, the material being used for the foundation and frame, increased 14.5 percent during the last year, according to Engineering News Record, a trade publication. Last fall, after an 18-month debate, Trump decided on an all-concrete frame, in part to eliminate the expense of using structural steel, a commodity whose price had doubled since summer 2003.

Still, James is concerned about materials required to build out the interior because they have not yet been purchased, and prices could rise as a result of rebuilding efforts in the nation's storm-damaged areas.

Further, such a large project requires so much construction material that it can pinch supplies, raising prices throughout the marketplace, said Ron Klemencic, chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

In April, Trump Corp. started to build the foundation system below the Chicago River; in August, contractors started to excavate for the basements.

"This is probably the trickiest part of the construction process," said Stephen Fort, general manager of the Chicago office for Turner Construction Co., which is not involved in the project but, like most in the industry, is watching with interest.

"When you're in the hole, there are so many unknowns, you don't control your own destiny," he said.

In the spring, Trump Corp. sealed an old freight tunnel and removed dock pilings from the site. But in July water started seeping in and the builders had a problem. They sent divers into the murky river to see whether the leak could be sealed from the water side. That failed, as did several other attempts to correct the problem. Finally, they came upon a solution.

"We drove a steel plate next to the gap, dug out the space between and filled it with concrete," James said. "That worked. In a big project like this there are lots of opportunities to have major things go wrong. This wasn't one of them."

Most of the tower's caissons descend into hard clay about 75 feet down, but others were drilled an extra 35 feet, including 6 feet into bedrock.

"That's a long way, made tougher by managing the water in the hole," Klemencic said.

Meanwhile, a concrete pump for the project is being custom-made in Germany. Every hour its 630-horsepower engine will be able to pump 100 cubic yards of concrete and send it as high as 1,700 feet.

"Previously, we could only get up to 700 feet vertical," James noted.

Still, the old Sun-Times building that Trump purchased for $74 million, including the land, has proven to be an unexpected boon, Trump Jr. said.

During site preparation last fall, the company encountered less ground pollution from the printing plant than anticipated because in the 1970s the newspaper switched from petroleum-based to soy-based ink. Trump therefore avoided some costly site cleanup.

Finally, the company saved at least $1 million by reusing the Sun-Times' old sea wall.

"In the 1950s, the Sun-Times built it to withstand another sort of terrorism: the Cold War," Trump Jr. said. "It was as thick as a bomb shelter."

Trump's tower

HEIGHT: 92 stories, or 1,362 feet, the tallest skyscraper to go up in the U.S. since the 1992 completion of the Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta.

ARCHITECT: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, which designed the Sears Tower, at 1,450 feet, the nation's tallest building, and the John Hancock building, at 1,127 feet.

COST: approximately $800 million

COMPLETION: 2009

DETAILS: 472 condominiums, 286 hotel condominiums, 100,000 square feet of retail, parking for 1,000 cars and a three-tiered riverfront park.

PRE-SOLD: 572 resi-dences valued at approximately $700 million.

FINANCING: $640 million construction loan from Deutsche Bank AG.

Source: Trump Corp., Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

----------

sdiesenhouse@tribune.co

FRONT AND CENTER
Trump Jr. builds on roots
Working for father, he's in Chicago regularly to check progress on hotel/condo tower

SUSAN DIESENHOUSE
Published September 18, 2005

Donald Trump Jr., vice president of development and acquisition for New York-based Trump Corp., visits Chicago nearly every Tuesday to check progress on the 92-story skyscraper the firm is building on the former site of the Chicago Sun-Times building. The 27-year-old executive shared some of his thoughts about the project and Chicago in an interview with Tribune reporter Susan Diesenhouse.

Q. What's your impression of Chicago?

A. It's a financial capital like New York, our bread and butter. Chicago is similar to New York minus some of the pretension. People mix better. It's a breath of fresh air. New York can be a little cliquey. Chicago is a great architectural city; the best in the country. Our building is designed by an architectural legend [Adrian Smith, a partner at Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP]; that makes it easier for us.

Q. What have been the most challenging aspects of this project so far?

A. Financing a building of this cost and size was incredibly difficult. Not too many people will write a check for $640 million; not too many bankers wanted to finance the largest condominium project in the U.S. With offices, we could say, "We have a long-term lease." With apartment sales at these crazy numbers, it was hard to get them to understand the asset we were sitting on. This is something new, and bankers don't necessarily want to break the mold. They have investors to answer to.

Also marketing the hotel condos. People didn't understand them. An individual buys a unit, puts it into a rental pool. When the owner isn't there, they rent it out and have cash flow. It's an interesting way to own real estate; having it carry itself when you're not in it. We went six weeks without selling one so we went back to the brokers. Now they're selling well, maybe better than the condos.

Q. What was the genesis of this project?

A. The first talks were in 1999. By 2000, 2001 the plan was to build the world's tallest building--all commercial. After 9/11, that was scrapped as not the greatest idea because the Chicago office market wasn't hot. By the end of 2003, we started sales with 500,000 square feet of commercial space. A year later, condo sales were so phenomenal we eliminated the offices.

Q. At this point, what aspects of construction have been most captivating for you?

A. What's fascinating for me as a developer is digging this deep to do caissons (supports for the building). Also, it's really interesting that we couldn't have built this 15 years ago in all concrete. It wasn't strong enough back then.

Q. Did 9-/11 change any of your construction plans?

A. We've always been good about building safety systems into our buildings; our name is on every one. So, post-9/11, we see that we've been doing everything right all along.

Q. Have you decided if you're going to add a spire to the top?

A. We don't have to decide yet, but it doesn't look like we'll have an architectural spire that brings it to the tallest building.

Q. Where else is Trump building?

A. Las Vegas, Ft. Lauderdale, Sunny Isles, Phoenix, New York, L.A., Palm Beach. Some cities will do anything to have Trump come in. It means they've arrived. We get great locations and we aren't known for overpaying.

Q. Who do you answer to on this project?

A. I report to my father. He's the ultimate decision-maker. I've been in my current position for one year. I've been working on the project since 2001, a year after I graduated form Wharton. I understand the numbers side and started as a grunt analyst.

Q. And Bill from the television show, "The Apprentice," what's he doing?

A. He's largely sales and marketing. He'll be with us for another year.

Q. What do you worry about? What keeps you up at night?

A. What don't I worry about? I want to see Chicago real estate thrive. We've made money for every other developer in Chicago by re-establishing the center. It's very exciting to see the Sun-Times go down and this go up.

----------

sdiesenhouse@tribune.com

Thanks for the article! One question: who will be the hotel operator? Surely, it is not HoJo, Super 8, or Red Roof that will run the hotel portion of TTC.

^^What do you mean? This is Trump International Hotel and Tower.

editted

On further inspection, why does Jr. make it sound like there isn't going to be a spire? There is going to be a spire. Daley said so. Period.

If there isn't I suggest we harass him on his weekly visits :wink:

i think he was just saying its not going to be a spire that would bring the hight of the building higher than the sears like they had once brought to the table as an option . but this is old news that they scraped that idea for a more modest spire.

Wasn't it agree since last spring that the spire would be 1360-1363 feet, not over 1450 feet?

^Yes it was.

I like the fact that Chicago is continuing it's tradition of legitimate height achievements and not following the example of New York with all their disproportionatly long spired buildings being proposed lately. It makes me sick that a city with such a proud reputation would allow developers to resort to such vain tactics.

just a tid bit:

Ah, Sugah . . .



Sneed hears a new Trump has hit town.




Ivanka Trump, daughter of The Donald and ex-wife Ivana, has joined her brother, Donald Jr., in overseeing the construction of Trump Tower in Chicago. (Both were spotted dining with delicious society scrivener Sugar Rautbord at the Four Seasons Tuesday.)

*The Trumpette is a lithe former model who, like her brother, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School . . . and decided it was much more rewarding to make money in real estate than on the runway.

"The Trumpette is a lithe former model who, like her brother, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School . . . and decided it was much more rewarding to make money in real estate than on the runway."

That is an intelligent statement made by an heiress! Ivanka should have a reality show, an antidote against Paris.

Lucky that she grew out of what must have been a horrible childhood.

^Yes it was.

I like the fact that Chicago is continuing it's tradition of legitimate height achievements and not following the example of New York with all their disproportionatly long spired buildings being proposed lately. It makes me sick that a city with such a proud reputation would allow developers to resort to such vain tactics.

ahem.....Fordham Spire.....cough cough...

Wasn't it agree since last spring that the spire would be 1360-1363 feet, not over 1450 feet?
Yes, but I doubt Trump will listen! :runaway:

A few, VERY recent photos by Pandemonious:

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/9186/dscf02308qx.jpg
http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/9549/dscf02251dp.jpg

http://images.snapfish.com/344%3A662323232%7Ffp7%3Enu%3D3253%3E95%3A%3E5%3B7%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3B%3B535%3B549nu0mrj
Schlacking tar across the viaduct and prepping it for the final pouring of the roadway

http://images.snapfish.com/344%3A662323232%7Ffp7%3Enu%3D3253%3E95%3A%3E5%3B7%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3B%3B535%3B54%3Anu0mrj
http://images.snapfish.com/344%3A662323232%7Ffp7%3Enu%3D3253%3E95%3A%3E5%3B7%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3B%3B535%3B54%3Bnu0mrj
Rebar getting twisted together for the mat foundation pour. I can not believe how fast that was done.

Two updates. Nice.

And damn, that went by fast.

Wow, nice update.

Very interesting...

ahem.....Fordham Spire.....cough cough...
Yes I know, but at least the roof is actually topping the sears tower. It is not the spire that is taking the title technically. Plus the spire is part of the buildings aesthetics and not just something that was strapped on for a vain height title.

Some of you may be interested in attending a lecture with Adrian Smith and William Baker from SOM. They will be talking about TTC and Burj Dubai. This lecture is being sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Foundation...cost is $20 and it is at 6pm Tuesday Sept. 27. I for one will be there.

more info:
www.architecture.org
(312)922-3432X266

Went by the site today. Damn!!!! They're moving fast on the rebar cage. From what I understand, the pouring of the concrete mat might begin this Friday, and I believe that it would be a continuous pour; meaning that it would last into Saturday.


A view to the southwest across the construction site - 2005-9-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/401724.jpg

A view to the northeast into the construction site - 2005-9-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/401714.jpg

Construction workers relocating a large piece of steel rebar - 2005-9-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/401715.jpg

A bundle of rebar being delivered for installation - 2005-9-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/401716.jpg

A construction worker using hot tar to help seal the Wabash Avenue viaduct - 2005-9-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/401721.jpg

Wow, they're moving so fast. If they do pour Friday, we should setup a webcam!

McHugh Providing Concrete Services for Trump Tower
Wednesday September 28, 12:05 pm ET


CHICAGO, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- James McHugh Construction Co. has been awarded the $130 million task of providing the concrete structure of Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, McHugh officials announced.
ADVERTISEMENT


Working with construction manager Bovis Lend Lease, McHugh will pour more than 180,000 cubic yards of concrete as concrete subcontractor for the 92-story Trump Tower, which will be the tallest concrete building in the United States. Trump Tower will rise to 1,145 feet, with a spire atop the building bringing its height to 1,362 feet.

At 2.6 million square feet, the building will house 472 condominiums, a 286-unit condominium hotel, a 1,000-space parking garage, and retail space.

The building will rise on the north bank of the Chicago River, bounded by Wabash Avenue, Rush and Kinzie streets, with completion slated for 2009. Trump Tower Chicago is being developed by The Trump Organization, with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLC the architect and structural engineer.

The sheer size and height of Trump -- the tallest skyscraper to be built in the U.S. since 1992 -- will drive many of the project's unusual features, said Dave Alexander, McHugh senior vice president of concrete services. To handle the volume of concrete, McHugh has acquired a concrete pump from Germany custom-built for the tower. It will be able to pump up to 230 cubic yards of concrete per hour, and 100 cubic yards per hour up to 1,700 feet high.

Wind and weather will also pose challenges, Alexander added, with a potential 30-degree temperature difference between street level and the upper floors. To combat the elements, McHugh will install a hydraulically jacked, three-story high windscreen around the perimeter of the building to protect workers and equipment, the first such system in the United States.

Despite the project's scope and complexity, Alexander said McHugh's solid relationship with Bovis, along with its experience delivering innovative concrete structures, ensures a positive experience. McHugh enjoys a long history as a leader in concrete structures. Three previous record holders for world's tallest concrete building -- Two Prudential Plaza, Water Tower Place and Marina City -- had their concrete shells built by McHugh.

Founded in 1897, McHugh is one of Chicago's oldest and largest construction firms. More information is available at http://www.mchughconstruction.com .

Wow, they're moving so fast. If they do pour Friday, we should setup a webcam!

There is one. Follow this link: Click to Watch (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/broadband/chi-multimedia-html,1,7447432.htmlstory?coll=chi-navrailhome-nav)

I know, but it's just not the same :) There's a second webcam too. I think I posted it on the first page of this thread.

^I agree that it's not the same. You don't really get a good sense of whats going on down there. It's the only thing I have, being here in Omaha/Lincoln and being obsessed with this building. I'll take a look on the first page. Thanks.

If concrete does start to pour tomorrow or Saturday, will someone be sure to go out and take MANY pics?

I did just happen to take a few snaps today. You can't really tell that much has been done even though I'm sure that has.

Looking into the excavation site with steel rebar being placed for the mat foundation - 2005-9-29
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/402368.jpg

View to the southwest over the construction site - 2005-9-29
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/402369.jpg

A section of the Wabash viaduct ready for its final layer of concrete - 2005-9-29
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/402365.jpg

Quote by STR


Quote by 2PRUROCKS!
Some of you may be interested in attending a lecture with Adrian Smith and William Baker from SOM. They will be talking about TTC and Burj Dubai. This lecture is being sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Foundation...cost is $20 and it is at 6pm Tuesday Sept. 27. I for one will be there.

more info:
www.architecture.org
(312)922-3432X266




I'd go, but I can't make it; ####ing math class.

If they allow you to ask questions, make sure to pester them on the height of da Burj.




Well there wasn't a whole lot of new info at the meeting but it was still really good.

They can't say the height of Burj, only that it is over 2000ft and 160-169 stories.

They also talked about Nanjing (sp?) Finincial Tower in China that they have designed. It will be taller than TTC (458 M I thought they mentioned with spire). It has a theme of 2 interlocking dragons so there are 2 main sections of the tower with scale like windows that angle out at different directions.

A. Smith kept refering to TTC as being 95 stories (92 occupied and 3 mechanical). I got a much better idea of what the river walk and plaza area will look like. It will be 3 levels, the lowest 5ft above the river with shops, resturants, and landscaped to the tilt with tons of lush vegetation. The colums that rise from the base will be round and covered in stainlees steel. They will rise exposed about 60ft off the ground before being covered by the glass curtain wall. I asked about the lighting scheme of TTC at night and A. Smith said there wouldn't be much. They didn't want to disturb neighbors or the residents of TTC itself and other buildings (e.g., Wrigely) would help light it. I think he thought I was asking if it would be lit up like Wrigely but I was wondering more about the top and spire. I still think the top and spire must be lit up in some fashion. If not if would have to be one of the tallest buildings not to have decorative lighting at the top.

Somebody asked if A. Smith thought Fordham Spire would be built. Smith was doubtful based on the price points need for units for such a tall and complex design. He said he thought it might eventually be built but shorter or with a less complex design.

Hope the plaza will be as nice as they say it is. And the lighting scheme puzzles me. I don't care too much for the lower half, but the top and spire definitely need something. That little curved part is meant for some kind of light :) Trump and Waterview should keep in the tradition of having festive lights on a few days at least.

Well, they started pouring the mat foundation today at around 12. They will be pouring all night until they are finished. I was told several different figures, but they are pretty much in the same ballpark. They will be pouring between 5000 and 5500 cubic yards of concrete which will arrive in roughly 550 to 600 different trucks. I'm not sure what the exact figures are at the moment, but I will keep digging to get something more acurate. I did take a few photos, and I will try to post them later on if possible.

I'm off the the sales center for 600 North Fairbanks.

^^ 550 to 600 different trucks! Holy hell. That sounds like a logistics nightmare. The more I follow this project, the more respect I have for the guys doing construction administration. Massive.

Well, they started pouring the mat foundation today at around 12. They will be pouring all night until they are finished. I was told several different figures, but they are pretty much in the same ballpark. They will be pouring between 5000 and 5500 cubic yards of concrete which will arrive in roughly 550 to 600 different trucks. I'm not sure what the exact figures are at the moment, but I will keep digging to get something more acurate. I did take a few photos, and I will try to post them later on if possible.

I'm off the the sales center for 600 North Fairbanks.

Please take some pictures...

I have been thinking the same thing... 600 Trucks!!! Traffic mmust be horrible.

Oh. My. Goodness.

600 trucks? What a nightmare that must be. They deserve every penny they get if they pull it off without a mess.

OK, so I'm a little hung up on the truck count. I leave the office late tonight and the first thing I see is a concrete truck. It's around 8:00pm, so a little strange for concrete trucks. Then another right behind it. Then two more while I'm waiting for the light to change. Chicago Avenue was like a freaking concrete truck parade. Full trucks going east and then turning on Clark and empty trucks beating it back west. By time I ducked into the subway at State, at least 15 or 20 had motored by.

I so wanted to take a stroll over to the site and see this event first hand, but it's five years with my boy tonight, and seeing as I was already late, I thought that would be a really bad idea.

Nonetheless, not another person on the street gave it a second notice, but I thought it was damn cool.

Parade of trucks. I would love to see that myself ...

I'm pretty in the bag but am debating heading down to the site...

Okay, here are some images of the concrete pour that I took today. I will go past the site once again tomorrow so that I can take images of the final product. It was extreme interesting to watch.

View to the northwest (mat pour A) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402573.jpg

One of the concrete pumps at work (mat pour B) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402575.jpg

A view to the northeast with 2 concrete pumps at work (mat pour C) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402576.jpg

A parade of concrete trucks ready to deliver their load (mat pour D) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402578.jpg

View to the southwest (mat pour E) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402579.jpg

A concrete pump delivering material (mat pour F) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402581.jpg

Concrete trucks under the Wabash Avenue viaduct (mat pour G) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402583.jpg

View over the excavation site with 3 concrete pumps now at work (mat pour H) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402584.jpg

Many concrete trucks ready to deliver their load (mat pour I) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402585.jpg

View to the northwest (mat pour J) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402587.jpg

I'm happy you took such good shots.

^^3 pump trucks? That's awesome!

Awesome...

so 9/30 marks the concrete in the TTC.

The concrete pour continues......

I just came from the site and they aren't finished yet. WOW!!!!!!!

They started around noon yesterday and it's 8:30am now.

I just want to make sure you all know what equipment they are using. Those are not concrete pumps, they are conveyors. Same intake mechanism, but instead of sucking the concrete into a piston and pushing it through the pipe, the concrete just travels along a belt. The conveyor can extend and retract, move left to right, and up and down. It works the same as a pump, just a little clumsier. Wait till you see the stationary pump they ordered from Germany. That thing will have some horsepower. It is very hard to push concrete 40 stories, let alone 92... or so. The vertical sections of the pipe will get clogged and many a pour will be delayed or slow due the height. It still is faster than crane and bucket though when you get all the way to the top.

Having 600 trucks is not as much a logistical nightmare as you may think. The concrete is ordered and I'm sure Prairie has told the rest of their customers to hold off for the weekend. They have probably dedicated their whole fleet out of yard 32 to this pour plus some. There are trucks in reserve and the drivers may be on some sort of a break schedule as well. This should go fairly well, there is no chance of a blowout because they are pouring all the way up to the sheet piling and the laborers and finishers will be there to grade the top and smooth it out later.

I just want to make sure you all know what equipment they are using. Those are not concrete pumps, they are conveyors. Same intake mechanism, but instead of sucking the concrete into a piston and pushing it through the pipe, the concrete just travels along a belt. The conveyor can extend and retract, move left to right, and up and down. It works the same as a pump, just a little clumsier. Wait till you see the stationary pump they ordered from Germany. That thing will have some horsepower. It is very hard to push concrete 40 stories, let alone 92... or so. The vertical sections of the pipe will get clogged and many a pour will be delayed or slow due the height. It still is faster than crane and bucket though when you get all the way to the top.

Having 600 trucks is not as much a logistical nightmare as you may think. The concrete is ordered and I'm sure Prairie has told the rest of their customers to hold off for the weekend. They have probably dedicated their whole fleet out of yard 32 to this pour plus some. There are trucks in reserve and the drivers may be on some sort of a break schedule as well. This should go fairly well, there is no chance of a blowout because they are pouring all the way up to the sheet piling and the laborers and finishers will be there to grade the top and smooth it out later.


I don't know why I used the word "pump". I guess that I am just used to them pumping concrete. This morning they were putting foam insulation on top of the northeast 1/3 of the mat.

Sweet.

This should go fairly well, there is no chance of a blowout because they are pouring all the way up to the sheet piling and the laborers and finishers will be there to grade the top and smooth it out later.
Great explanation of what's going on down there, but what does this sentence mean? What exactly is a blowout?

Wow, more pictures, this time from Pandemonious at 9:15 AM:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b276/Pandemonious/Construction/DSCF0347.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b276/Pandemonious/Construction/DSCF0348.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b276/Pandemonious/Construction/DSCF0354.jpg

So how long until it actually starts to to move upwards and we see the crane installed?

Is the construction on schedule, behind, or ahead?

Ahead I think. I remember hearing one month ahead even. But don't take my word for it.

richardson... we were supposed to expect to see the tower back up street-level around February. I'm not sure where we are in terms of the schedule, but, I would guess that figure to be somewhat accurate (give or take).

Great explanation of what's going on down there, but what does this sentence mean? What exactly is a blowout?

A blowout occurs when the pressure of "fluid" concrete being placed in the forms is greater than what the formwork can handle. The hardware being used to connect the forwork together cannot handle the load, so it fails and the formwork splits open and makes a big mess in all the places you don't want it to. If I remember correctly, concrete should only be placed at a rate of 3 ft lifts per hour. However, nobody follows this rule because every construction company would lose money doing so. McHugh is pouring the mat slab all the way up to the edges of the sheet piling, which leaves no chance of a blowout.

If that is the base of the elevator core they just poured, the next step is to bring in the self-rising forms for the elevator core. The tower crane will also start being erected shortly.

TEMPO UPDATE
Trump's Big Pour
It took 30 trucks 600 trips to make concrete history

By Mike Conklin
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 3, 2005

Builders of the Trump Tower, which will be the world's tallest concrete-reinforced building when it's completed in 2009, got serious over the weekend about their concrete.

Really serious.

In what contractors called the "big pour," trucks worked round-the-clock for nearly 24 hours to bring 5,000 cubic yards of concrete to the site and dump it into a single hole called the mat. This steel-reinforced opening that measures 200 feet long, 66 feet wide and 10 feet deep will be a below-ground level anchor for the 92-story building.

Unlike the Sears Tower, Aon Center and Hancock Building, which are all steel-reinforced, the Trump Tower is using concrete because there is less room available on the site for the foundation. Without the concrete mat, say architects, the structure could never climb as high and still stay as thin.

"This mat is the heart of the building," said McHugh Construction's Dale Hendrix, a 45-year senior vice president -- and veteran in concrete -- who coordinated the pour. "This was a really unique challenge, something you're going to look back on some day and be proud of. I love this."

The Trump Tower has a $600 million construction budget, and the concrete-only portion handled by McHugh will be an estimated $130 million of that total. The building is expected to require 180,000 cubic yards of concrete when it is completed, but at no point, said Hendrix, will anything be as complex as the weekend's big pour.

Highly anticipated by everyone on the Trump project, the big pour kicked off Friday at 12:10 p.m., a few minutes early. As pedestrians above walked by mostly unaware, workers scrambled to witness the convoy's first ready-mix truck -- its huge drum turning -- rumble onto the Lower North Wabash Avenue site.

This was the first of 30 green, orange and white concrete trucks used non-stop by Prairie Material Sales Inc., the Bridgeview-based supplier. Before this marathon of mixing ended late Saturday morning, the fleet would make 600 trips between the company's sprawling distribution site at Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street and the mat. An observer clocked the last delivery at 10:45 a.m.

Prairie, the largest privately owned ready-mix company in the U.S., used two shifts of drivers, and each truck carried up to 9 cubic yards, or slightly more than 1,800 gallons.

"We've had projects where maybe we've taken more concrete to one location -- O'Hare for one, but never with all the specifications like this," said Gerry Krozec, a Prairie vice president. "This [pour] involved things that have never been done in this business."

The sunny yet cool weather was perfect for the pour, which required a special formula for the cement -- the powderlike material mixed with sand, gravel or crushed stone, and water -- to create the concrete. Because this was the first time the formula has been used, chemists were on hand to test the concrete's consistency and temperature throughout the pour in a makeshift laboratory.

Conventional concrete is made to sustain weight at 7,000 pounds, or less, per square inch (psi). For the Trump Tower mat, where it will have to support the building's 360,000-ton bulk, it was specially mixed for 10,000 pounds psi, according to Krozec. This was done by making a concrete mix that was cooler and thicker than normal.

High-powered, portable lights ringed the pour as it continued through the night. McHugh and Prairie workers used suites booked at the Hotel 71, just across the Chicago River from the site, to catch a few winks during the long hours of work.

The fleet of Prairie trucks assembled four hours before their scheduled 12:30 p.m. site arrival at Prairie's distribution center, where they were gassed, warmed up and filled with concrete.

Their route, a five-mile round trip, took them east on Chicago Avenue past the old Montgomery Ward headquarters, under elevated tracks, past Moody Bible Institute and south on Clark Street, where they turned east on Kinzie Street to continue eastward into the street's lower level and onto the site.

On the return, Hendrix was careful to have the trucks go east on Kinzie to Lower Michigan Avenue, where they turned north and worked their way back to the Prairie premises to reload via Grand Avenue and Dearborn Street.

"It would've been closer, and probably easier to maneuver, if they'd used Rush Street instead of Lower Michigan," he said, "but that would've taken them within a few feet of an outdoor restaurant [Phil Stefani's 437 Rush] while everyone was eating. That's a trick you learn in this business."

When the Prairie drivers arrived at the Trump site, they proceeded to one of two points ringing the mat. They dumped the concrete on conveyor belts that could carry as much as 170 yards per hour.

Then McHugh workers spread the material across the mat opening and, when the pour was complete, covered it with protective sheets of Styrofoam and plywood purchased for this one-time use. They will remain in place for at least a month.

There still is plenty to be poured -- 5,000 yards of concrete is a small percentage of the 180,000 total to be used in the project. But now that the mat is complete, the concrete will flow on a floor-by-floor basis. It will take a custom-built pump imported from Germany to handle the job on the high-rise's uppermost levels.

"Some of our pumps would have to struggle to get it that high," said Hendrix. "That won't be a problem with this new one."

According to Emporis, a construction research database service, the tallest concrete building in the world now is CITIC Plaza in Guangzhou, China, which is 80 floors.

Chicago has seen its share of record-holders: the 64-story Two Prudential Plaza, completed in 1990, was the world's tallest reinforced concrete building until it was supplanted by the 65-story building at 311 South Wacker Drive completed the same year.

Decades earlier, Marina City, just a block from Trump Tower, held the title as the world's tallest concrete-reinforced structure. The two distinctive 60-story towers were a four-year project completed in 1964 -- and Marina City was the first job Hendrix worked in construction.

- - -

By the numbers

5,000 cubic yards of concrete poured for the mat

180,000 cubic yards of concrete to be used in total

30 trucks carried the concrete to the site

7,000 pounds per square inch is the strength of conventional concrete

10,000 pounds per square inch is the strength of the concrete for this mat


Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune

Neat article.
No mention of Water Tower Place, WTRCB 1975-1990. The building get no respect at all.

I had heard it rumored that the columns and walls supporting the extreme lowest floors will consist of 18,000 psi concrete. This would have been a primary reason for obtaining a special pump that could handle that type of job. The higher the strength of concrete the thicker and less "fluid" the mix, which leads to more clogs in the vertical pipe that brings it up the building on its way to the placing boom above the core. So, a stronger pump moves the concrete faster and with more force, allowing it to travel all the way to the top.

Great article that summarized quite a bit.

The fresh mat pour hasn't slowed construction down at all. I took these this afternoon.

Steel rebar rising for the eventual formation of columns - 2005-10-3
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/403826.jpg

Formwork being positioned on the recently completed mat foundation - 2005-10-3
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/403827.jpg

Lowering a steel rebar cage into place that will eventually become part of a column - 2005-10-3
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/403828.jpg

Thanks again for the pics. I used to build these things and I get nostalgic everytime these pics are posted.

The Tribune's web cam currently shows a pump truck pumping concrete for what I assume are the columns. Can anyone snap some pics on their lunch hour today?

Please! More Pics! More Pics! More Pics!

I will be in town by December so I hope a lot of progress is made by then. It might be worth hauling my luggage all the way to the Michigan Avenue bridge from Union Station just to see this. You got two months guys! Chop chop!

Looking good....

Please! More Pics! More Pics! More Pics!

Okay, okay, geezzzzzz.......Aren't we demanding?

I took these yesterday (10/11/05)

Pouring concrete that will help to form the walls of the core - 2005-10-11
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407383.jpg

View into the construction site - 2005-10-1
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407386.jpg

Excavating dirt, clay and other debris from the site - 2005-10-11
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407395.jpg

Iron workers installing and tying steel rebar - 2005-10-11
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407398.jpg

Excavators digging out more of the site - 2005-10-11
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407409.jpg

Workers spreading recently delivered gravel - 2005-10-11
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407416.jpg

sweet! thanx Butler!

Thanks for the update bvic! Quick question... is the pedestrian walkway gone yet? It looks, from up here, like something's a bit different down there, but, I can't put my finger on it and I simply haven't had time this week to get down there and check it out.

Thanks.

Thanks for the update bvic! Quick question... is the pedestrian walkway gone yet? It looks, from up here, like something's a bit different down there, but, I can't put my finger on it and I simply haven't had time this week to get down there and check it out.

Thanks.


Yes, the walkway was dismantled this past weekend. The sidewalk is now open.

Thanks for the new pics. Boy they are busy little beavers down there. A lot of work was done. Must be having great weather in Chicago.
This is the most interesting phase of the project. Once they get going on the floors it will be the same thing over and over for a while until one of the setbacks.

I just noticed this today when i was at the construction site with Shawn and Urban Politician. A piece of one of the tower cranes has been delivered to the construction site.

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/2029/p10103856wn.jpg

They will probably start to erect the crane within the next several weeks.

BADA BING! That was fun to see today. Can't wait to see that erected and swinging around. Its going to be sweet, just imagine both of Trump's two cranes 1150 feet up when this thing is topping out. :cool:

Thx for the speedy answer bvic! Are they still planning on having the viaduct reopened to traffic in November?

Thx for the speedy answer bvic! Are they still planning on having the viaduct reopened to traffic in November?

yes, before thanksgiving.

http://www.midwestconstructionmag.com/features/archive/0510_cover.asp

Cover Story - October 2005


Trump's Tower
Digging The Donald's Chicago Condominium

by Craig Barner

The $750 million Trump International Hotel & Tower is already an important project in Chicago even though it has yet to emerge from the ground.


When it is finished in three years, the 92-story tower will reach 1,360 ft., said Paul James, senior vice president in Chicago of New York-based Bovis Lend Lease, the construction manager. As a result, it will be the Second City's second-tallest building after only the 1,450-ft.-tall Sears Tower.

Moreover, the Trump will probably be the 12th tallest building in the world, assuming each announced project taller than it is constructed according to plan. Ironically, Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLC, the architect, also configured the Burj Dubai tower under construction but not topped out in the United Arab Emirates. Burj is expected to be the world's tallest building even though its height remains a secret to prevent the announcement of a taller project.

Back in Chicago, Trump will have a major impact on the city's skyline due to its height and location on the Chicago River on the former site of the Chicago Sun-Times. Last fall the newspaper departed the North Wabash Avenue location it had called home for 50 years for the nearby Chicago Apparel Center building, and demolition of its former barge-shaped office was completed in the spring.

Thousands will see the Trump daily because of its location next to the river and landmark Wrigley Building and due to its proximity to the Magnificent Mile district. The celebrity of flamboyant developer Donald Trump is stirring further interest.

The project will contribute greatly to the residential flavor of the Michigan Avenue area, a street that is being increasingly compared to New York's Park Avenue due to the large number of upscale high-rise residential projects that have accelerated since Millennium Park opened in 2004.

Tere Proctor, director of sales in Chicago for the New York-based The Trump Organization, said the Trump will hold 758 units - 472 condominiums and 286 hotel-condominiums.

"Sales are ahead of schedule," she added. Indeed, the tower is 70 percent sold even though construction is expected to last through 2008.


A Bedrock Project

The building expected to make a splash on the Chicago skyline is already having a big impact below grade.

Robert Schock, vice president of Roselle-based foundation contractor Case Foundation Co., said the structure's bearing pressure, 250 tons per sq. ft., is reportedly the highest ever in Chicago.

"The city code normally allows only 200 tons per sq. ft. as the maximum value," he said. "They allow that to be increased with a full-scale load test, which we did here."

Because of the structure's 2.6 million-sq.-ft. size, the foundations are partly seated in bedrock to prevent the differential settlement due to pressure from the huge building.

Schock said 57 rock caissons are to be installed to support the tower's core area. In addition, about 160 of the traditional belled caissons are to be set.

Seating the rock caissons requires drilling shafts to a depth of about 110 ft. where the bedrock starts. About 12 ft. of the bedrock is augered to create sockets that hold the foundations' tips.

A carefully choreographed drilling sequence was implemented to install the casings that form the foundations.

After a drill penetrates the earth, 13-ft.-diameter, 20-ft.-long temporary casings are installed. The bit is inserted through each of the temporary casing, and through them, 12-ft.-diameter, 40-ft.-long second temporary casings are inserted.
The shaft is flooded with water and polymer slurry for thickening.

"Once we penetrate below the hard pan layer into the boulder area [atop the bedrock], that's water-bearing and under pressure," Schock said. "If we were to penetrate that in a dry shaft, it would blow in a hurry." Danger would arise because adjacent structures supported on belled caissons could be undermined by the sudden change in earth pressure.

As a result, water stays in the shaft as the drill is inserted to lengthen the shaft for the installation of the 10-ft.-diameter, 80-ft.-long permanent casings with jagged-tooth bottoms.

Once reaching the bedrock, the down-hole hammers use bits that operate like jackhammers, Schock said. They shatter the rock into gravel-size pieces that are sucked to the surface and collected in canisters for emptying.

"This new application of the down-hole hammer has saved us a lot of time," he added.
Grout is inserted between the rock and casing to eliminate voids and allowed to set and form a seal.

"Now we have a tight, safe hole that's fully sealed," Schock said. "We take the water out of the hold and drill the rock sockets."

The 9.5-ft.-diameter, 12-ft.-deep sockets are drilled, and high-strength, 10,000-pound-psi concrete is poured the full length of the shafts.

A 10-Ft.-Thick Mat
Once the foundations are complete, the remaining key sitework elements include excavating about 35 ft. - where the tops of the caissons are - installing earth retention and pouring a 10-ft.-thick concrete slab. The building's concrete columns will rise from the mat.

"The mat is about 4,500 cu. yds of concrete, so it is good-sized," Bovis' James added.

The building will have a two-level partial basement, and earth retention in the form of sheeting with raker beams will be installed to form it.

Once the sitework is done, the building will start emerging, and two tower cranes will be used, James said. Because of the building's size, about 185,000 cu. yds. of concrete will be poured over the course of the project.


$28 Million Penthouses

There will be a range of prices and unit sizes in the building, and the asking prices for the penthouses are an eye-popping $28 million.

The Trump Organization's Proctor said there are 23 layouts that range from 580-sq.-ft. studios to 6,850-sq.-ft. penthouses, and the units will be located on floors 29 through 89. The studios are $500,000.

The hotel-condominium units on levels 16 through 27 range from $815,000 for a studio to $3 million for a two-bedroom unit, she said. Seventeen layouts range from 526 sq. ft. to 2,245 sq. ft. of space.

Parking will hold 1,000 cars, and amenities include a 60,000-sq.-ft. health club, five-star restaurant, ballroom, conference and meeting rooms, Proctor said. The building base will have additional restaurants and retail spaces of an upscale nature.

A 1.2-acre park will be surround the building base, and the park's three tiers will face a walkway on the river.

Why a Viaduct?

Another key element in the project's early going has been the demolition and reconstruction of the Wabash Avenue viaduct. The Wabash bridge was rebuilt during the reconstruction of Wacker Drive in 2002.

Because the original viaduct dated to the 1930s, the Chicago Department of Transportation had planned to demolish it within a decade, said Bovis' James. The Trump Organization learned about the replacement while it was planning the tower.

"To enhance their property and to ensure the viaduct was replaced in time for their opening, [the Trump Organization] agreed to replace the viaduct at Trump expense but to CDOT standards," he added.

About 400 ft. was demolished in January to avoid disrupting holiday shoppers the previous month. A pedestrian bridge was erected between North Wabash Avenue and the IBM Plaza.

James said 120 belled caissons and columns support the viaduct, and the existing network of streets below will be maintained, including Lower Wabash Avenue, Lower Kinzie Street and Lower East North Water Street.


SIDEBAR ONE

The Trump's Timeframe

The schedule might have been among the biggest issues for the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.

The foundation work started in February and was completed at the end of August, said Robert Schock, vice president of foundation contractor Case Foundation Co. of Roselle.

"We were signed to a pretty aggressive completion schedule," he added.

Case is using three of its largest drill rigs to accelerate the work, and normally the company would have used two rigs. A crew of 25 people is on the project; and a typical employee count would have been 15.

And, the newest drilling tools, such as down-hole hammers, are being used also to keep work going.

Even with these measures, progress is hampered a bit, said Paul James, senior vice president in Chicago of New York-based Bovis Lend Lease, the construction manager. The site's location in the Loop means it falls under noise reduction ordinances that restrict work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"There are some exceptions, but generally speaking we're working long days," he added. "They often use Saturdays to service cranes and make up a lost day to bad weather."

SIDEBAR ONE

Safety First

Safety is a primary concern. "We pay for a sheriff's deputy to be assigned 24 hours per day, six days a week [whenever crews are working]," Manthey said. "If something happens on the site, everyone knows to contact this deputy." No major problems have occurred.

The project's budget also includes funds for expansion of the WisDOT traffic operations center's hours. The normal operational hours of 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. have been expanded to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Collins said 95 percent of the project's work is going on behind temporary barriers. A lengthy closure of the southbound lanes of I-43, with southbound traffic routed to share the northbound lanes, has also helped to provide a safe work environment. When the northbound lanes go under construction, traffic will share the southbound lanes.

"We will always have two lanes open in each direction," he said. He added that some system ramps may go out of service during off-peak hours, requiring motorists to make surface-street detours for connections.

Perhaps the greatest safety feature of the project is WisDOT's community outreach program. Using the Internet and frequently updated brochures, WisDOT describes current work and scheduled closures and offers alternate routes to reduce congestion.

SIDEBAR TWO

Removing Obstacles

Below-grade obstructions "were pretty significant" on the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, said Robert Schock, vice president of the Roselle-based foundation contractor Case Foundation Co.

It was necessary to remove them to clear paths for the drill rigs to install the rock caissons.

The Chicago Sun-Times was the previous tenant, and "the Sun-Times had a pretty heavy foundation because of the weight of the presses and for paper storage," Schock said. "There were extremely thick slabs and mats with piles underneath."
Chicago-based Brandenburg Industrial Service Co. removed most near-grade obstructions. Hydraulic machinery was used to crunch obstacles, and spoils were pulverized for quick removal.

The belled caissons that had supported the Sun-Times had been dug and set by hand in a long-ago construction era. They were about 6 ft. in diameter with flared bottoms up to 15 ft. in diameter. Some were densely packed at about a depth of 80 ft. and could not be avoided during drilling even though a goal in planning the Trump's columns had been to miss obstructions.

About a dozen existing caissons were cored through to create the space for the caisson shafts.

Another obstruction was the boulder layer at a depth of about 100 ft., and it was cleared with the drill rigs.

Yeah, now having seen this construction site alongside Shawn and Victor, I am quite impressed. This is a gargantuous undertaking and I wish I could drop by more often to watch it

Hey UP, how long are you in town for?

^ I just left today.

I wish I could have met more of you guys.

We'll have to make a meet of it some time--perhaps I'll try to arrange something next time I come to town

Trouble in Trump deal? Condo sales pace slips

October 19, 2005

BY DAVID ROEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

Condo sales have gotten harder to come by in Trumpville, that big old tract at 401 N. Wabash where Donald Trump is putting up a 92-story building.

Since spring of 2004, Trump and his local sales force have put out an unchanging estimate of the proportion of units in the building that have been sold. It's been stuck at 70 percent, and many in Chicago real estate are wondering what's happening. A few local developers still hope The Donald will stub some toes on a project they insisted he could never complete.

Tere Proctor, who's in charge of sales for Trump, said business has slackened over the last 12 months. Proctor said that was because there was no sales office near the property. The Trump Organization had a showroom in the old Sun-Times building on the site. But after the building was closed for teardown about a year ago, Proctor had to make do with a windowless office at 900 N. Michigan.

Now, the sales staff is on the 20th floor of the IBM building across the street, with a commanding view of the construction site. Proctor, sales associate at Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate, said that helps sell the project and that she's executing contracts on about five units a week. She also noted that units were added to the building in early 2004 when Trump scratched plans to provide office space.

The building's 758 units include 286 hotel-room condos. Proctor said the residential and the hotel condos are selling at about the same rate and that no one is backing out of contracts, which would require them to forfeit earnest money.

Trump talked about completing the building in late 2007, a schedule some thought was unrealistic. Proctor now says residential buyers are being told not to expect delivery until 2008 or maybe early 2009 for the top floors. The hotel units, which are on the lower floors, are still due in late 2007, she said.

Yeah, that article is very stupid. Almost not worth posting even :)

^ Spyguy, is that wishful thinking? Trump has some serious competition now with 50 East Chestnut, Fordham, etc. So there are about 230 units (condos and hotel condos) left for sale. At 5 a week, they'll be out by this time next year, but I wouldn't write this story off so easily. Might there be good reasons why the real estate community is skeptical of Trump? I wonder whether the higher priced units are better sellers or not....

I'm not saying that this article is completely off. I'm sure sales have cooled off a bit, but considering that he DOES have 70% with such fierce competition with no backouts is quite impressive. So he has to sell roughly 30% of the building in 3 years and is selling about 5 a week. That isn't as much of a disaster as the article makes it seem like.

I'm not saying that this article is completely off. I'm sure sales have cooled off a bit, but considering that he DOES have 70% with such fierce competition with no backouts is quite impressive. So he has to sell roughly 30% of the building in 3 years and is selling about 5 a week. That isn't as much of a disaster as the article makes it seem like.

^I would agree. The important thing is that Trump has already received financing and it will still be another 2 years before the tower is completed. So there's plenty of time to sell those units.

Trump is the last of my worries. My bigger concern is for the well-being of the Waterview Tower, MoMo, and Fordham Spire projects

^ I would agree -- I 'm not too worried about Trump. I'm not concerned with MoMo, because I think the city is simply giving them a hard time to try to push them back into negotiations with Joffrey. I'm a bit more concerned about what this story says about the demand available for other high-end buildings.

Trump must have been pissed off about this story. Even if it isn't true, the story has the power to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. As soon as there's some doubt about a project, potential buyers might reconsider as they don't want to make a commitment to something that might not happen. So Carley and others have to create enough hype to create as much of a self-fulfilling prophecy in the direction of more sales. It is impossible to be a developer of such a major project and not project absolute confidence. I'm glad there's a niche for the super-sized egos in society where they can better it!

Okay, okay, geezzzzzz.......Aren't we demanding?

I took these yesterday (10/11/05)

Pouring concrete that will help to form the walls of the core - 2005-10-11
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407383.jpg

View into the construction site - 2005-10-1
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407386.jpg

Excavating dirt, clay and other debris from the site - 2005-10-11
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407395.jpg

Iron workers installing and tying steel rebar - 2005-10-11
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407398.jpg

Excavators digging out more of the site - 2005-10-11
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407409.jpg

Workers spreading recently delivered gravel - 2005-10-11
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/407416.jpg
WOW! This thing is growing fast! :)

^ I would agree -- I 'm not too worried about Trump. I'm not concerned with MoMo, because I think the city is simply giving them a hard time to try to push them back into negotiations with Joffrey. I'm a bit more concerned about what this story says about the demand available for other high-end buildings.

Trump must have been pissed off about this story. Even if it isn't true, the story has the power to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. As soon as there's some doubt about a project, potential buyers might reconsider as they don't want to make a commitment to something that might not happen. So Carley and others have to create enough hype to create as much of a self-fulfilling prophecy in the direction of more sales. It is impossible to be a developer of such a major project and not project absolute confidence. I'm glad there's a niche for the super-sized egos in society where they can better it!

Good point, Shawn. It seems like that author of that article really should shut the fuck up and not try to ruin a good thing. But 5 purchases a week doesn't sound bad to me

Don't I remember seeing somewhere a while back that the cost of the building had already been covered by the units that were sold? That's all we should be concerned about. As long as all the loans get repaid... the building will be completed; the Donald can worry about selling remaining units, and reaping some profit, after completion.

:) Looking great TT! Thanks for lots of construction shots guys! It sure is nice to know that trump tower is ahead of schedule! Probabily had something to do with the good weather so far! Keep it up folks!

Fabulous Tower :okay:
I think it's better 2w8 a little while, befor planning A Trip 2 Chicago.

Fabulous Tower :okay:
I think it's better 2w8 a little while, befor planning A Trip 2 Chicago.

^Why? There is plenty of other stuff to look at.

Chicago Shawn's unique update:


Thursday 10-20-2005:

http://images.snapfish.com/3453596323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3B89523%3A56ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3453596323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3B89523%3A52ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3453596323232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3B89523%3A5%3Aot1lsi

From the 36th floor of IBM Plaza, Friday 10-21-2005:
http://images.snapfish.com/3453596323232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3B89523%3A63ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3453596323232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3B89523%3A66ot1lsi
Water chiller intakes:
http://images.snapfish.com/3453596323232%7Ffp45%3Dot%3E2344%3D%3A4%3B%3D6%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3B89523%3A69ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3453596323232%7Ffp7%3Enu%3D3253%3E95%3A%3E5%3B7%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3C7%3A432%3B63nu0mrj

Bonus, how can anyone in IBM Plaza get any work done with views like these:
http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/9946/lbigjohnfrompw102120054go.jpg
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/7724/laonfrompw102120057py.jpg

^
Damn!

^^ I love those views!

The cover of the October edition of Midwest Construction magazine.

http://www.midwestconstructionmag.com/images/0510_cover.jpg


Also, from what I understand the first tower crane will be erected within the next week to 10 days.

Also, I heard that the (If I'm remembering the right location of the site) northwest corner of the site will lag begind a little because the sheeting that was driven in is about 2' off, and they will have to dtive new sheeting in and then excavate that corner.

Is IBM Plaza the Mies (I assume) building in black north of Trump?

It's more west than north, but, yes.

Is IBM Plaza the Mies (I assume) building in black north of Trump?
It was Mies' last project; I caught sight of a few times leaving his trailer. One of his "less is more" principles consisted in almost imperceptibly reducing floor heights; this required less material and reduced the foundation load. The aesthetic payoff is a visual one. This design was cost effective and corrects for the human eye's tendency to make lengthy vertical lines appear convex, an illusion that makes tall buildings seem to swell near their tops. The human eye makes lengthy horizontal lines appear concave. Bottom line, Mies' design technique presents a skyscraper whose geometry appears nearly perfect. The ancient Greeks used various techniques to correct for such optical illusions resulting in temple buildings whose proportions appear perect. The IBM building is a classic Mies.

Thanks for the info. Very fascinating. And yes amazing views.

Mr A. , your still the same as i remember you 10+ years ago haha thats awsome!

can somone post some pics of the construction site as of current? i need my trump fix lol

can somone post some pics of the construction site as of current? i need my trump fix lol

Keep an eye on this thread too:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=178966&goto=lastpost

The same pictures are posted. The link you posted is for people that don't frequent the chicago threads.

I posted this earlier on SSP and thought you guys would be interested too :) .

The Tower Crane is Rising!!!!!!!!
:dance: :dance:
:dance: :dance:

I posted this earlier on SSP and thought you guys would be interested too :) .

The Tower Crane is Rising!!!!!!!!
:dance: :dance:
:dance: :dance:


I was just about to post the below information when I saw your post. I'm going to have to go and snap some shots.

Application Status

401 N WABASH AVE

Description: TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION TOWER CRANE MODEL LIEBHERR 420 EC-H

Total Records: 4

Discipline
Status

ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW
APPROVED

FINAL DATA REVIEW
APPROVED

STRUCTURAL REVIEW
APPROVED

ZONING REVIEW
APPROVED

The owners of this address received a permit on 10/28/05

Hooray

I will just post the pics I took tomorrow. It was really cool watching the process. There were trucking in 2 more sections of tower 15 minutes ago, which I'm sure they'll wait to install tomorrow.

We are going to have to wait a while for the second crane. At least that's what I was told today by a McHugh worker.

The images below were posted by Chicago3rd in the SSP forums.
http://wilthe3rd.smugmug.com/photos/43702776-M.jpg

http://wilthe3rd.smugmug.com/photos/43702785-M.jpg

http://wilthe3rd.smugmug.com/photos/43702791-L.jpg

Anyone is going down to see Donald Trump?

But anyways, the construction is going good!

Trump won't be at his tower, he's being paid big bucks by the learning Annex to give a pep talk to a bunch of schmucks who don't know any better.

Here are a few shots that I took myself the other day.

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/414871.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/414931.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/414932.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/414875.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/414796.jpg

- edit

Sunday, 13 Nov:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y150/wjcordier/Trump2005-11-13-2.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y150/wjcordier/Trump2005-11-13-4.jpg

Very nice

BVictor1, thanks for that article, very nice!

Viaduct done; Wabash to reopen

Published November 18, 2005


With the completion of a viaduct reconstruction project, Wabash Avenue between Kinzie Street and Wacker Drive will reopen to traffic before the evening rush hour on Friday, city officials said.

However, northbound traffic on Wabash from Wacker to Kinzie will be reduced to one lane through fall 2007 to accommodate ongoing construction of Trump Tower Chicago, officials said.

Southbound traffic on Wabash will not be affected.

The viaduct reconstruction project is part of the Trump Tower development.

The $8 million improvement includes a deck replacement, street resurfacing, new sidewalks and ornamental streetlights, officials said.










does anyone have pics of the finnished product?

I've walked past it everday for close to 26 months. Gotta say I'm completely underwhelmed by the product as of this point: Looks like there's some touch up left to do, including an additional layer of pavement. I know its only a road, but after the build up with promises of a landscaped median and ornamental lighting, the final product fails to overwhelm. Keeping my fingers crossed for a last minute improvement.

I've walked past it everday for close to 26 months. Gotta say I'm completely underwhelmed by the product as of this point: Looks like there's some touch up left to do, including an additional layer of pavement. I know its only a road, but after the build up with promises of a landscaped median and ornamental lighting, the final product fails to overwhelm. Keeping my fingers crossed for a last minute improvement.

^And you never even taken a picture. :bash: :jk:

As for another layer of pavement, didn't they already add like 4 on the top...how many do they need? Did they plant the plants in the median yet? If they did then give them some time to grow. I'm sure it will look just fine when everything is said and done (tower and everything else).

I heard that the second tower crane would be erected within the next 3 weeks or so.

Interesting

I've walked past it everday for close to 26 months. Gotta say I'm completely underwhelmed by the product as of this point: Looks like there's some touch up left to do, including an additional layer of pavement. I know its only a road, but after the build up with promises of a landscaped median and ornamental lighting, the final product fails to overwhelm. Keeping my fingers crossed for a last minute improvement.

Time will tell, give it some more time I guess.

I demand pictures. :) :runaway:

By the way, for those of you who are interested... Wabash avenue is OPEN at this point and is once again proving it's the fastest way from the Old Coast to the loop on any day of the week!

I demand pictures. :) :runaway:

Ok Fine, here are two from last Thursday:
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/417854.jpg
From the southwest

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/417856.jpg
Wabash viaduct one week before opening.


I couldn't get close enough to the site for some pics viewing into the pit, because work crews were staged on the bridge. The lighting was bad anyway. But, hope they tide you over for now...

I took this picture yestreday. I believe that this if for the second tower crane.

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/418413.jpg

Very nice

I just came from the site, and upon closer inspection and from talking with several people at the site. I believe that this just might be an extension for the crane that is currently on site. The legs just don't seem thick enough to ensure me that this is indeed the base for the second crane.

But I did find out from the city website that they have received the permit to erect the second tower crane, so that's good news.

ERECT A TEMPORARY TOWER CRANE MODEL LIEBHERR 420 EC-H CRANE

Total Records: 6

Discipline
Status

ADMIN REVIEW
APPROVED

ARCH
APPROVED

CONSTRUCTION EQUIP
APPROVED

FINAL REVIEW
APPROVED

STRUCTURAL
APPROVED

ZONING
APPROVED


The owners of this address received a permit on 11/16/05

^^ good news.

Is the construction going to be paused because of the snow? (It better not :) )

A question BVictor:

Actually Chad brought this up, but I'm curious as well. Is the spire going to be metal or glass? From the renderings it looks like it could be either.

I know I'm not bvic... but, I think I can assure you that the spire is going to be metal.

A question BVictor:

Actually Chad brought this up, but I'm curious as well. Is the spire going to be metal or glass? From the renderings it looks like it could be either.

Metal... I can't see a spire being constructed out of glass. Seems like it would be too fragile.

^^ good news.

Is the construction going to be paused because of the snow? (It better not :) )

Construction will be an ongoing process. They only stop for major holidays and extremely bad weather.

The man of steel
November 27, 2005

BY KEVIN NANCE ARCHITECTURE CRITIC
http://www.suntimes.com/output/nance/sho-sunday-towers27.html

On opposite sides of the globe, and at the same time, two great towers are rising. One is Trump International Hotel & Tower, the most ballyhooed new skyscraper to be built in Chicago in decades. The other is Burj Dubai, which promises to be the jewel of the United Arab Emirates and, by the way, the tallest building in the world.

These far-flung projects, expected to be complete in 2008, have much in common. Both are luxury hotel/condo buildings designed to appeal to the rich. Both have flamboyant, high-rolling billionaire developers, Donald Trump and Mohamed Ali Alabbar.

But what Trump Tower and Burj Dubai mainly share is their principal architect: Adrian Smith of the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Adrian who? So you might ask about the designer of two of the most eagerly anticipated building projects in the world today. Compared to peers such as Rem Koolhaas or Santiago Calatrava, Smith is relatively anonymous -- partly because of his lack of a signature style, partly because his firm has always emphasized its corporate identity over that of its individual architects.

Who is Adrian Smith, and how did these two career-defining projects come to him at nearly the same moment?

'Stretching the vocabulary'

Born in Chicago -- his father was a national manager for Montgomery Ward & Co. -- Smith spent his formative years in San Clemente, Calif., before making his way back to the Windy City to study architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 1967, while still in school, he started working at SOM, where for several years, he learned the secrets of skyscraper design directly from Bruce Graham, architect of the Sears Tower and John Hancock Center.

Over the years, Smith steadily climbed up the firm's ladder, becoming a partner in 1980. By that time, influenced by Mexican architect Luis Barragan, Smith had become a devotee of contextualism: the idea that new buildings ought to relate to the geography, the culture and especially the architecture immediately around them. This was a departure from the modernist ethic of legendary Chicago architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, which had produced several generations of boxy steel-and-glass buildings in what became known, tellingly, as the International Style. As the name suggested, such buildings could exist, more or less interchangeably, almost everywhere.

Smith went in the opposite direction. "I wanted real buildings that felt very much a continuation of the fabric of the city they were in," he says. "When I designed a building, I wanted it to look as if it could only exist in this location -- it would be out of place anywhere else."

But the trap of contextualism is that an architect can pay so much attention to blending into his surroundings that he fails to develop a design vocabulary all his own. Avoiding the wild eclecticism associated with postmodernist structures by Michael Graves, Robert Venturi and others, Smith produced a series of buildings in the 1980s that worked hard -- at times too hard, as he later thought -- to fit in. Smith's project for Boston's Rowes Wharf (1982-1987) borrowed so much of the surrounding architecture's scale, historical detail (a neoclassical dome and rotunda) and materials (especially Boston's dominant red brick cladding) that it all but disappeared, absorbed into the cityscape as if in camouflage.

"Some of those buildings added depth and ornamental detail that had not been seen before, but they got uncomfortably close to replication instead of transformation," Smith admits. "I wasn't stretching the vocabulary."

The solution was not to jettison context altogether, but to apply it more loosely, putting it at the service of what began to emerge as a nascent personal aesthetic marked by increasing transparency and sleekness. Since the early '90s, Smith has produced a series of designs that maintain his commitment to context, but do so within a relatively consistent framework of silver-blue skins of stainless steel and glass, dominant vertical elements and elegant tapering effects.

The most striking of these projects to date is Jin Mao Tower (1992-1999) in Shanghai, China. This 1,380-foot structure, currently the fifth-tallest in the world, is a true Janus of a skyscraper. It looks back at Chinese architectural history -- abstractly evoking the traditional pagoda with an ascending series of flaring horizontal elements that ring the tower's cylinder like bracelets -- while aggressively conveying a sense of the technological present and future.

Which brings us to the Trump Tower and Burj Dubai -- and to the fact that, if not for certain tragic events in 2001, the two buildings might have been battling for the title of the world's tallest.

'Very international, very Chicago'

In 1999, Donald Trump, known for his opulent buildings in New York, Atlantic City and elsewhere, sent a team of representatives to inspect the Chicago Sun-Times building on North Wabash at the Chicago River as a possible site to build a new tower. His ear to the ground, Smith developed a few preliminary ideas for a building on the site. But nothing happened until the summer of 2001, when Trump announced a deal to go forward with a redevelopment plan.

What happened next was simple: Smith, who had never met Trump, picked up the phone and called the developer, inviting himself to New York to share his ideas. Smith went, Trump liked the ideas, and Smith was hired.

"He recognized that for a very tall tower, he needed a very experienced architect, and few people are," says Smith, 61. "It's a market niche I happen to occupy right now."

As Trump recalls the decision to bring Smith on board, it was both simpler and more complicated than a question of experience. "I loved his work," he says. "I thought it was both very international and very Chicago."

With Trump's blessing, Smith set to work on a design for a roughly 150-story building that would top out at 2,000 feet -- considerably higher than the world's current architectural peak, Taipei 101 in Taiwan.

It wasn't to be. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Smith was in an SOM conference room in Chicago, preparing to present his design to Trump's team. They were all sitting down to look at Smith's schemes, pinned on a wall, when they got word that an airplane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. They went to a television and watched, aghast, as a second plane hit the other tower.

"Everybody was devastated," Smith recalls. "I remember one of Donald's people saying they'd looked at buying the World Trade Center, but had decided against it because it was a terrorist target."

The meeting broke up without considering Smith's design scheme, and the next day he received a call from Trump, who was adamant that the design had to be significantly downsized.

"I just didn't want to be in a position where I was building a building that was too tall in light of what happened on Sept 11," Trump says in an interview. "I realized that the great dream of the very tall building in this country should no longer be a dream."

With the new restrictions in mind, Smith's first design for Trump Tower was a stack of faceted parallelograms, which, when shown in a preliminary version, were not well-received. He then smoothed away the design's sharp corners, cutting off 60 feet of mostly unusable space on each side, creating elegant curves and dramatic setbacks that divide the building into distinct vertical masses.

It's in those stepping-up setbacks, keyed to the heights of neighboring buildings, that Smith's contextualism subtly expresses itself, although most observers will perceive it subliminally, if at all. The step that defines the top of the tower's base is related to the nearby Wrigley Building. Moving up the tower, the next step connects to buildings across the Chicago River. Finally, the top step relates to Mies' IBM Building.

Later, with the design process well under way, Trump had second thoughts. "I realized I could take the existing building, and with very little difficulty, elevate the height by about 10 stories, and it would be taller than the Sears Tower," he says. "By that time we had passed $300 million in [condo unit] sales, and I wrote the buyers a note that said, 'We are able to create a building that would be the tallest in the U.S. What do you think?' The answer was a resounding 'Please don't do it.' "

Still later, however, Trump toyed with the idea of further heightening the tower by adding an elongated spire that would make it the tallest building in the world. He approached Smith, who put a damper on the concept, in part because he was already working for another developer on the world's tallest building: the Burj Dubai.

"How tall is it?" Trump wanted to know.

"I can't tell you," Smith said. "It's a secret."

"Well, I'd like to get involved with that," an excited Trump said. "We could call it the Trump Burj Dubai and make a killing!"

Going 'as tall as I wanted'

The height of Burj Dubai (which translates to "Dubai Tower") was in fact a fiercely held trade secret. Alabbar, Smith says, saw the tallest-building title as one of his main selling points in his drive to make Dubai, capital of the United Arab Emirates, the most sparkling tourist destination in the Middle East.

The focus on height was such that at one point, Smith says, he and Robert Booth, executive director of Emaar, Alabbar's company, discussed the possibility of a hydraulically controlled spire that could be raised in case some other developer decided to, well, trump Alabbar with a taller building.

As has been often reported, Smith got the commission for Burj Dubai by winning a design competition held by Emaar. What isn't as widely known is that Smith himself set the guidelines for the competition. Indeed, Smith had something of an inside track from the beginning. The very day that Alabbar's team interviewed Smith in New York, it received an enthusiastic call from the developer, who had just visited Jin Mao in Shanghai; he also admired Smith's three-legged footprint for Tower Palace, a residential high-rise in Seoul, South Korea.

"We quite simply liked the design," Booth said. "It held the right proportions and was truly elegant and iconic, and would stand as a landmark for the city of Dubai."

But Emaar had also interviewed several other architects and was unsure how to proceed. The company asked for input from Smith, who was happy to provide it. He proposed a competition with a two-week deadline -- long enough for competing architects to come up with an idea, but not so long that they'd spend much money to develop it.

Smith's advantage was twofold: He knew roughly what Alabbar was looking for, and he also knew that as a large firm, SOM could work at warp speed. "We had the horsepower to produce a lot of work in two weeks -- probably faster than anyone else."

But the most important ace in Smith's hand was that he had clear vision of what his Burj Dubai would look like: a slender, tapering, dizzyingly tall building with a tripod-like footprint that Emaar would eventually compare to a Middle Eastern desert flower. Here, in fact, Smith's contextualism was an afterthought. Since there was almost no geographic or architectural context in the still-emerging city of Dubai, he'd actually been thinking of Chicago's tripedal Lake Point Tower.

He was also thinking, vaguely, of another metropolis: the forest of gleaming towers that is the Emerald City, as glimpsed by Dorothy and her friends from the poppy field in the film version of "The Wizard of Oz."

"That was in my mind as I was designing Burj Dubai, although in a subliminal way," Smith says. "I didn't research the way it looked -- I just remembered the glassy, crystalline structure coming up in the middle of what seemed like nowhere. The funny thing is, I didn't remember it being green."

After winning the competition, Smith set about developing the design and quickly ran into trouble in connection with its height. Emaar executives had wanted a building about 550 meters (1,804 feet), in part because they viewed anything above that height as of diminishing economic benefit. But the essence of Smith's design was tallness and slenderness; he presented it at around 700 meters (2,296 feet), but to Smith, even that felt too short.

"At the very top, it didn't feel like it was resolved properly," he says. "The top three or four layers felt like they were stuck on top rather than an extension of the vocabulary of the rest of the buildings. I kept adding height, and got to a point where it could be a more continuous extrusion of elements of the building below it, instead of feeling like a base and a top with no middle," he says. "Eventually, Mohamed allowed me to go as tall as I wanted."

TRUMP IS BEEFSTEAK; DUBAI IS FROSTING
BY KEVIN NANCE ARCHITECTURE CRITIC
One is a handsome but matter-of-fact and oh-so-muscular skyscraper for the City of Big Shoulders, its elegant sheen barely disguising its underlying assertion of power and practicality -- a brawny Teamster in an opera cape. The other is a desert dream, impossibly tall and slender, a dazzling mirage come to life as if from the pages of The Arabian Nights.

Chicago architect Adrian Smith's design for the Trump International Hotel & Tower fits perfectly into the ethos of a city that works hard and plays harder: excellent quality but not too fancy, like an expense-account beefsteak cooked just right. His design for Burj Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, looks like something Samuel Taylor Coleridge might have conjured up in an opium-induced fugue: mythic, ethereal, Romantic with a big R.

Trump Tower appears brazenly technological, its 60-foot setbacks creating an ascending series of stacked masses -- base, middle, top -- that may remind viewers of a sleek, stretched-up Cuisinart. Burj Dubai feels organic and pliable, like frosting extruded from a pastry bag.

Trump Tower is of the here-and-now. Burj Dubai (as befits a design rumored to have been the inspiration for certain buildings in George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith") is of some distant past or perhaps-never-to-be-arrived-at future.

Trump Tower will be welcomed into the Chicago skyline like an old friend. Burj Dubai looks like a building that ought not to exist.

How unexpected, then, that the two designs actually have so much in common. Their skins, for example: They share the same silver-blue curtain wall, the same stainless-steel spandrels and mullions, the same part-transparent, part-reflective glass (though the Dubai building will appear less transparent and more reflective during the day because of the brighter desert light). They're as much alike, in that sense, as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's IBM Building and his twin apartment towers at 860-880 N. Lake Shore.

Trump and Dubai are also both structural engineering marvels: massive buildings that float above moist foundations with the help of caissons drilled between 40 and 110 feet into the solid earth, supporting reinforced concrete columns.

Both are complicated, although Burj Dubai is more so. Because of its extreme height, for example, it required a "sky lobby" system, similar to that of Chicago's John Hancock Center, in which residents will be required to transfer from one elevator to another, sometimes more than once, to reach their apartments. At the much shorter Trump Tower, residents will be able to zip from the ground floor straight to the penthouse, no pitstops necessary.

But the fundamental differences between the two buildings are related to history, vision, nerve and Smith's own evolving relationship with his contextualist ideals. He designed Trump Tower in the jittery aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, a period when American developers were understandably loath to reach too far into the sky. Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Smith's client for the Dubai project, apparently faced no such constraints, or at least saw his way clear to minimize them.

And where Trump is famous for his determination to stretch a dollar, Alabbar was willing to indulge Smith's desire for extra height for the sake of Burj Dubai's proportions, even though it wasn't strictly cost-effective.

Then there was Smith's philosophy of adapting to local contexts, which had the effect of guiding the Trump design toward assimilation and continuity with the mainstream of Chicago architecture. In Dubai, a city in which most commercial structures were built within the last decade, there was little context to adapt to; instead, Smith seems to have relied, perhaps more completely than in any previous project, on artistic instincts given free rein to experiment and dream.

The result is that Burj Dubai is by far the more fabulous (and fabulist) of the two buildings, an aesthetically magnificent if perhaps less than entirely practical masterpiece. That isn't to say that Smith's Trump Tower design doesn't have its own brand of genius. Necessity often mothers the best kind of architectural invention, and in this case, given the parameters he was handed, Smith has acquitted himself with considerable style, wit and panache.

He's done us proud.

Excellent article!!!

A few shots from this past Friday and Saturday.

View to the northeast across the construction site - 2005-11-25
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/418707.jpg

Horizontal rebar interlaced with the vertical rebar of the caissons - 2005-11-25
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/418710.jpg

Excavating more clay to reveal a steel retaining wall - 2005-11-25
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/418740.jpg

Steel rebar beginning to rise above the river - 2005-11-25
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/418701.jpg

Is it just me or can you guys see the photos?

I couldn't see see them for awhile, but then I remembered that you can:

1) right click on the "X"
2) click on properties
3) copy the Address (URL)
4) then past it in the address bar
5) then go to it

I did that to one of the photos and they all showed up.

^^ Thanks but the images are working again.

nice update... look at the snow.

^^ Thanks but the images are working again.

nice update... look at the snow.

That's not snow that's gravel.

^ :lol:

Just to let everyone know, the base of the second tower crane is now in place. It's located at the southwest edge of the core.

Good to know

From Crain's issue to hit magazine stands December 5th:

Trump makes a mark
By John T. Slania


The Donald changes more than just a skyline
Fine cooking: Those mulling the good life at the Trump International Hotel & Tower can see at the sales center what the kitchens look like. Photo: John R. Boehm
When Donald Trump announced plans two years ago for his 92-story Trump International Hotel & Tower, he proclaimed it would be a "Chicago landmark for the 21st century."

That kind of hype is expected from the flamboyant Mr. Trump. But even though the luxury hotel and condominium project only now is beginning to rise, local real estate observers believe the design and marketing of the building already have had an impact on the local market.

"It is something the Chicago market has taken notice of, and in some cases, begun to copy," says Gail Lissner, vice-president at Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago-based consulting firm that follows the downtown condominium market.

The way Mr. Trump is selling the condos is certainly having an influence on the local real estate market. Under the development's hotel room ownership program, buyers purchase a studio or a one- or two-bedroom suite and maintain it as a private residence or make it available to hotel guests. Owners who allow their units to be rented must pay monthly fees for maintenance and housekeeping, and the hotel decides how the room is furnished. But with ownership comes privileges, such as priority occupancy and a share of the room rental revenues.

The hotel residences sell for about $1,200 a square foot, or roughly $630,000 to $2.7 million.


Mr. Trump first tested the concept a decade ago in New York, and he and others are duplicating it in cities like Las Vegas, Miami and Orlando, Fla. But he was among the first to introduce the strategy to Chicago.

Mr. Trump is also pitching plenty of variety. The hotel condos include studios with 1 bathroom, 1-bedroom units with 2 baths and 2-bedroom units with 3 baths.

The conventional condominiums begin with studios with 1 bath and range to 3 bedrooms and 3½ to 4½ baths. They sell for about $975 a square foot, slightly lower than the hotel units because there are no maintenance and housekeeping fees. That translates into prices ranging from $565,000 for the smallest studio to $3.8 million for the largest three-bedroom.

The penthouses on the 86th through 88th floors have 4 or 5 bedrooms and 4 to 5½ baths. They cost $3 million to $5 million. The $28-million penthouse on the 89th floor is currently reserved for Mr. Trump.

Trump Tower, naturally, boasts a number of other luxury bells and whistles. There will be a 60,000-square-foot health club and spa on two levels, by far the largest such private facility in a residential building in Chicago, says Tere Proctor, Trump International Hotel & Tower's director of sales. And there are other touches, such as the ability of any resident to order room and maid service, at an additional cost, of course.

What distinguishes the units from those in other buildings, Ms. Proctor says, is their contemporary design, such as kitchen appliances concealed behind wood cabinetry and streamlined sinks and countertops.

Another unique feature: Buyers have fewer choices when it comes to finishes on bathroom sinks, kitchen countertops and other materials, Ms. Proctor says. "Our philosophy is that this is already the best. There is no need to upgrade," she says in a near perfect echo of her boisterous boss.

Some things, it seems, never change.

©2005 by Crain Communications Inc.

Selling a big, empty space
By John T. Slania

Tere Proctor, director of sales for Trump International Hotel & Tower, has been selling high-end residential real estate in Chicago for more than 30 years. She has worked for many prominent developers, including JMB Realty Corp. and Fordham Co. Now Ms. Proctor is working for the world's best-known developer, Donald Trump, and is responsible for selling luxury condominiums in his 92-story building along the Chicago River. She shared her sales thoughts and secrets during a recent interview with Crain's.

How did you get the job?
When Koenig & Strey GMAC acquired the listing for Trump Tower, they called me and asked if I was interested. I had worked on big projects — the Fordham, the Pinnacle and 65 E. Goethe (for Chicago developer Fordham). But the Trump project was something I couldn't resist.

Is it difficult selling condos in a building that isn't complete?
When you have a 5,000-square-foot sales center, it helps. We have displays of how the living room, bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms will look. It helps that people can see, touch and feel it. The sales center location (on the 20th floor of the IBM Building, across from the construction site) allows people to look out and see what some of the views will be like. What you're trying to do is paint a picture of what they can anticipate.
Advertisement
[78762]

Related Article Topics | Related Industry News

So, how are sales going?
We're 70% sold, which is great, considering that we have to sell 758 units. We still have more than 200 units to sell, and the challenge at this point in the project is to keep that momentum going.

How do you keep the momentum going?
Well, it helps having a strong brand, and I've never seen a stronger brand in my business than the Trump name. And each time Donald Trump is out there doing something, it helps.

For example?
Mr. Trump was in town recently giving a speech on real estate for the Learning Annex, and I was in the crowd. Toward the end of the speech he said, "I'm going to give you Tere Proctor's phone number. Write it down. Then call Tere Proctor." That was a Sunday. On Monday, the phone was lit up like a Christmas tree. I sold 10 units that week. These were people, many from out of town, who came in to see Mr. Trump speak and bought based on his recommendation. These weren't just people expressing interest, these were signed contracts.

©2005 by Crain Communications Inc.

I find it odd that someone who came to hear Trump mouth platitudes for the Learning Annex is apparently successful enough as a businessperson to afford a unit in the Trump building. Inherited money?

- edit

It looks like the 2nd crane tower is begining to rise above the street since BVictor last reported the base was in place. Early December as reported earlier in this thread. How exciting.

Froze my fingers off snapping these; nonetheless, ask the Wrabbit for photos and you shall receive...

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y150/wjcordier/Trumo2005-12-07-2.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y150/wjcordier/Trump2005-12-06-1.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y150/wjcordier/Trump2005-12-07-1.jpg

Wow, thanks for my weekly fix.

the second crane is now completly up.

A few recent photos from the construction site.

View to the southwest across the construction site - 2005-12-13
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422645.jpg

Excavating clay and dirt at the east third of the building footprint - 2005-12-13
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422646.jpg

View to the southwest from the plaza between the Wrigley Building - 2005-12-13
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422650.jpg

View to the west from the Michigan Avenue bridge - 2005-12-13
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422653.jpg

View to the northeast from the Wabash Avenue bridge.
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422655.jpg

Lovely cranes. Thanks for the update.

God, those cranes look so good to me. My partner and I hit Michigan Avenue today for some holiday shopping and got off the L at Grand. As we were waiting for a light to change on Wabash, I looked south and saw those beautiful cranes at the end of the vista. Wow. Just wow.

He was more concerned with what was at the Apple store, but I just got the best rush from the scene. All of those years of holding my breath, and now this beast is finally going up.

Shitty weather, but a nice day to be out and about in Chicago.

Great Crane pics... as always Thank You for providing us updates, pics, and info.

A few final shots before the new year.

View of the site from Wacker Drive - 2005-12-23
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/424662.jpg

Looking north from the Wabash Avenue bridge - 2005-12-23
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/424667.jpg

Thanks for the pics!
Cannot wait for 2009!

Quite nice. 2006 this baby will begin it's rise.

By the way, did anyone else see that animation/video of this tower rising before? It was on Fox in the Morning one random day. I think I should contact them and see if they still have the clip.

http://www.midwest.construction.com/projects/05_BestOf/start3.asp
From Midwest Construction

Top of 2005
Start 3: Trump International Hotel & Tower
Cost: $750 million

The Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago will stretch to an elevation of 1,360 ft. and be the second tallest building in the city after the 1,450-ft.-tall Sears Tower.

"At one time, there was discussion to add a spire to make it (the Trump) the tallest building in Chicago," said Paul James, senior vice president in Chicago with New York-based Bovis Lend Lease Inc., the general contractor. "But the spire would have been disproportionately tall."

The finalized plan calls for a 235-ft.-high spire whose proportions make it suitable for the 92-story building. In general, construction professionals accept the definition of the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat that includes a spire length in assessing a building's overall height.

When complete, Trump will probably be the 12th tallest building in the world, assuming each announced project taller than it is constructed according to plan.

Ironically, Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLC, the architect of the Trump, also designed the Burj Dubai tower under construction but not topped out in the United Arab Emirates. Burj will probably the tallest in the world even though its height remains secret.


What a Project

The Trump as itself represents a major construction challenge because of its sheer size.

It will encompass 2.6 million sq. ft. and hold 472 condominium units, 286 hotel-condominium units, about 1,000 parking spaces and retail, James said.

Amenities will include an 87,000-sq.-ft. health club on the 14th floor, and two amenity floors in the hotel-condominium, which will be located on floors 16 through 27.

The hotel-condominium unit owners will make up the ownership of that portion of the project, and the New York-based Trump Organization, the overall developer, will manage the hotel for a fee. The unit owners can elect to occupy their units but then diminish the ownership's profit potential.

With the exception of the mechanical space on level 50, the condominiums will be on floors 29 through 89, James said.

Concrete is the main structural support, and curtain wall will dress the building.

A substantial amount of sitework has gone into the project, starting with the demolition of the Chicago Sun-Times building. Only rock caissons are being installed because of the building's immense load.

The 1920-era Upper Wabash Avenue viaduct, which had reached the end of its design life, was rebuilt as part of the project.

"The first issue was to get the viaduct rebuilt so we could open traffic there again and maintain access for our sitework," James said.

I just took a few shots, and I will attempt to post them tomorrow. The western 1/3 is up to about LL1, one more level there and that portion will be even with Wabash. The central 1/3 is up to LL2 and the eastern 1/3 is still all the way at the bottom, LL4.

Should a buildings foundation be so close to a river? What happens when the river rises?

Should a buildings foundation be so close to a river? What happens when the river rises?

We really don't have problems with flooding on the main section of the river. If the river rises because of an extremely heavy rain, the locks are opened and the water flows into Lake Michigan. That's also why the Deep Tunnel Project is being built.

Phots from Thursday January 5, 2005

View of the eastern one-third of the building footprint - 2006-1-5
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/426877.jpg

View to the southwest from the plaza between the Wrigley Building - 2006-1-5
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/426883.jpg

View to the west from the Michigan Avenue bridge, - 2006-1-5
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/426873.jpg

Nice updates. I hope we'll see more from the angle in #3 in the coming months, with Waterview Tower and all.

1. I like the fact that you can see the lower levels from across the River. Its not often that you can see lower levels from above ground like this.

2. Where's Waterview going to be in picture 3? Between the shiny building with the triangle on top and the beige building to the right?

^Yes.

Well that will be an amazing shot then.

Should a buildings foundation be so close to a river? What happens when the river rises?

Wow, not even 16, and has more than 2000 posts. Hope your spending an appropriate amount of time also talking to chicks on the phone, which is what 16 y/o dudes should be doing. Here's a hint: Don't tell'em your a skyscraper geek, that probably won't get you too far.

Anyway, rock on bro! Happy birthday! :cheers1:

Can someone PLEASE take some update shots? It's been two weeks, I'm going crazy :crazy2:

We really don't have problems with flooding on the main section of the river. If the river rises because of an extremely heavy rain, the locks are opened and the water flows into Lake Michigan. That's also why the Deep Tunnel Project is being built.

Actually, the Deep Tunnel Project is to solve the problems of CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow). The problem in old cities like Chicago is that the sewers take on both sanitary waste (i.e. flushing the toilet, shower, etc.) and storm water. The government passed the Clean Water Act which requires all sanitary waste be treated before being released into the river. When it rains hard, the waste treatment plants cant handle all of the untreated water and historically it would overflow into the river. The Deep Tunnel project stores the water until it can be treated by the plants. It really has nothing to do with flooding problems with the river, but I suppose it would prevent the river from rising as much as it would with the sewers overflowing into the river. Since the river flows away from the city, and with the lake being lower than the river in such a case, there really is no upstream flow coming down the river that would cause it to rise more than a few feet.

This is also why Daley blames Milwaukee for polluting the lake. They do not have any infrastructure that prevents the overflow. Right now, no water drains from the city back into the lake, whereas virtually all of Milwaukee rain water ends up in the lake. Their sewers surcharge and sends sanitary waste into the lake along with all the dirt, oil, etc. on the streets of Milwaukee. They are not in compliance with the Clean Water Act and the EPA needs to step in and tell them to spend their money on infrastructure instead of blowing it all on a new baseball stadium.

Can someone PLEASE take some update shots? It's been two weeks, I'm going crazy :crazy2:

^ Just go to emporis

I do go there, and I go to SSP! Everyman has posted some pics from today and posted them in the Construction Updates thread. Thanks, but I'm back to normal now. Thanks.

Can someone PLEASE take some update shots? It's been two weeks, I'm going crazy :crazy2:
Also, the Trib has a Trump Cam up & running:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/broadband/chi-trump-flash,0,2997874.flash

Also, the Trib has a Trump Cam up & running:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/broadband/chi-trump-flash,0,2997874.flash

Thanks, I actually had that as my signature at SSP. Pictures are so much better than the webcam, they're more detailed and you can actually see exactly what's going on.

Here are some shots that I took yesterday. One shot is from last week.

View to the northeast from the Wabash Avenue bridge - 2006-1-12
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/430030.jpg

View to the west from the Michigan Avenue bridge - 2006-1-19
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/430032.jpg

View to the north from Wacker Drive - 2006-1-19
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/430041.jpg

View of the eastern one-third of the tower base and formwork - 2006-1-19
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/430045.jpg

View to the southwest from the plaza between the Wrigley Building - 2006-1-19
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/430050.jpg

^^Great shots! Thank you for updating us.

Those are great. Thanks a ton Victor!

Can someone please explain to me how those cranes work. If they build the building around them how do they get them out when they are done?

I know 2009 is the completion date for this project but how long do you guys figure before it has a place in the skyline atleast? How tall would it have to be before it does, 5,6,7, 800ft.?

I would expect it to have a decent skyline presence by the end of this calendar year. It should look complete from the exterior by the end of '07 and the remaining 14-20 months would be for interior and finish work.

Anyone got any other timelines in their head?

I'm looking at the timeline right now. It shows the building topping out in early July of 08' and enclosed by late May of 08'.

Oh! And TTC should begin enclosing the building in early July :banana:

I don't think that the building will begin to make a skyline presence untio it's in the 500' range from certain directions, but once it surpasses IBM Plaza, that's when it will really be noticable.

By the end of this year I don't think that it will be all that noticable yet skyline wise. It's biggest presence will be from the Michigan Ave. bridge by years end. By this time next year though, it will begin to rise fast, the base will take the longest because the floor plates are so massive.

Can someone please explain to me how those cranes work. If they build the building around them how do they get them out when they are done?

A smaller crane will sometimes be lifted to the roof of the completed tower to dismantle the tower crane afterward.

Here's a perfect thread that explains in detail with diagrams on how it goes up and how it comes down.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=249236

Thanks for the link Uberalles. My question has finally been answered. You have no idea how long I have been looking up at these things wondering how the hell do they do that. This may have seemed like a simple question to some, but this has made my day now that I no longer have to wonder.

I created a graphic to make it easier to track progress and show show how much is left to do. I will keep this updated whenever something changes.

Trump Chicago Progress
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/avanzee/Construction%20Photos/Chicago/Trump_update.jpg
If I need to make any changes please let me know. I want this to be as accurate as possible and since I'm not in Chicago, all I have is the web cam and recent photos.

That is an awesome idea, IMO. Makes me wish I wouldve thought about it first. It would be cool to have simliar graphics like that for Waterview and other big towers. Not saying that you should/have to do it but it would just be cool. It mightve been simple or not but howd you make that?

There's something similar with the monthly supertall construction diagram, but nowhere as indepth for individual towers. Great idea- hope you stay with it :)

That is an awesome idea, IMO. Makes me wish I wouldve thought about it first. It would be cool to have simliar graphics like that for Waterview and other big towers. Not saying that you should/have to do it but it would just be cool. It mightve been simple or not but howd you make that?

It was actually amazingly easy. I just copied they image from their online brochure and used Paint to do the rest. The bucket tool makes it so easy. :)

As for Waterview Tower, I'll see what I can do.

From the Hancock earlier this week.
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/4548/trump012lx.jpg

Wow. Don't think I've seen that angle before.

Are those caisson/column forms on the sidewalk going to be poured? I thought the building kind of hangs over the sidewalk. As seen in this rendering:
http://www.som.com/resources/projects/4/9/4/waterco4_494.jpg

Not too much new has happened. Here's is the current status of the project. If there is a form for the concrete I display it as complete because it should be cured or atleast poured with in 1-6 days.

Trump Tower Chicago Progress
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/avanzee/Construction%20Photos/Chicago/Trump_update1.jpg
Any new pics guys?

For those that don't visit the SSP Trump Thread:
http://img272.imageshack.us/img272/6923/ttcfin1bg.jpg

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6240/ttcfinang7ks.jpg

^^^
Hi STR,
Those are awesome. I don't get over SSP much.
Looks like Fordam has changed and my model can be trashed. :(
Guess that's why you wait till it's approved.

I stumbled upon this link one day. It's some models of Chicago buildings.
http://www.buildyourownchicago.com/

^I've been where you are with Fordham. I designed a Freedom Tower for each of its three incarnations.

And some more pics, this time with context:
Corner of State and Wacker
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8927/State_Wacker.jpg

Corner of Rush and Hubbard
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2036/Rush_Hubbard.jpg

Corner of Michigan and Wacker
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/6607/Michigan_Wacker.jpg

From the Sears Tower Skydeck
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5113/Skydeck.jpg

From the Hancock Observatory
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5179/94th.jpg

Classic postcard shot
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3757/Postcard.jpg

Navy Pier
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8224/Navy_Pier.jpg

^^^^STR those are soooo cooool

thats really sweet, maybe if u have enough free time u should try like waterview or fordham im not asking but itd be real cool 2 ;-) anyways awesome job i wish i had some of those skills

I think I can speak for all of us hear at SSC, please add the WVT, Legacy, Fordham Spire, or any other new building you can add. I feel we have been waiting for something like this the whole time.

This isn't something I'm going to pour all my time into. It took almost 10 hours to get TTC right (it would have taken 3 if I got it right the first time, but that's still a lot of time). A lot of that was spent with the texture (version 2 of 3 for TTC is shown below). If you people want to see a certain building added, you'll either have to wait until I feel like it, or draw the texture map yourself.

If you think you can do this for your favorite building, PM Me:
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/5858/ttc28uw.jpg

Great job, STR! The building is much sleeker than I realized.