Great pics. Thanks!

I'm glad you guys like the pics and thanks for the compliments.


Are they not going to expand the garage to the street? It doesn't appear they are.

I've heard that the west expansion will ALL be finished off as office and other non-garage space. We were under the impression that it was just the first couple floors for the fitness center and maybe ground floor retail, but it sounds like it will go all the way up. This would explain why they aren't adding the concrete structure there.

Does anyone know what those 2 huge brown tanks are on the south end of the site?

I would think it's fuel tanks, for the equipment that doesn't leave the site.

I would think it's fuel tanks, for the equipment that doesn't leave the site.

I think so also - they have generators and lights going 24/7 and they got caught stealing power from our building, so guess they had to spring for their own fuel and juice. :)

I've heard that the west expansion will ALL be finished off as office and other non-garage space. We were under the impression that it was just the first couple floors for the fitness center and maybe ground floor retail, but it sounds like it will go all the way up.

Wow, that would be a significant change and I one I find hard to believe. They said nothing of this when they finalized their programming just before construction began. They actually reduced the amount of office space in both the tower and podium.

There are also two separate, detailed renderings that show the garage being extended completely to Hudson.


If you look at the west garage, it is basically the east garage doubled. It was built almost as two separate structures tied together in the middle.

And I think this was the plan for the expansion of the garage to the west. If you look closely at the renderings, there is a little gap between what was to be added and what is already there. So, they could easily be adding the floors to the existing structure then later slap the addition on in a relatively separate process.

LOL, Channel 4 just broadcast the picture of the snowy devon construction cam I sent them.

LOL, Channel 4 just broadcast the picture of the snowy devon construction cam I sent them.

I saw that! Good idea!

I included the link to OKCTalk.com, but they apparently didn't feel like putting that up along with the pic. :cuss2:

I included the link to OKCTalk.com, but they apparently didn't feel like putting that up along with the pic. :cuss2: Maybe hinting responsibility for shot? (Meaning channel 4)

Just trying to drum up traffic for Pete. :Smiley259

Just trying to drum up traffic for Pete. :Smiley259 I'am all for OKCTALK.^^

Thanks MadMonk!

Very cool it made the air.

I can't wait to see it completed!

Thats what I was thinking. But I am not an engineer.

Is the Devon structure going to start going up on Friday? If so, I am really excited!

Pictures from today. A bit of a glare from the window but lots going on.
http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/660551b6.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/7ebf6a49.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/a765841a.jpg

Great shots! Thanks!

Is the Devon structure going to start going up on Friday? If so, I am really excited!

Not a clue here and just an average joe guess but just because Friday is the first day of the new year, I don't believe that means superstructure. There's a long way to go on all their ground work...

Among other things, they have a hole to dig - a big hole.

I could have sworn I heard around the end of March the tower will start going up.

I'm not sure they have a big hole to dig.

They have already dug down and have been drilling piers into the soil for some time. I think they may be ready to start going up from where they are now.

Quick Fact:

The Chicago Spire which is to be 150 stories at 2,000 feet tall has a maximum depth listed at 80 feet.

Considering this building is not even half that and they're already 20-30 feet down from street level, it very well could be going up before we know it! I just haven't seen any photographs with a defined footprint that indicates steel structure will soon be rising. Oh, but I can't wait!

Oh, but I can't wait!

Ditto that. I keep checking everyday on the progress of the garage, which is going up extremely quick and can't wait to see a footprint for the new tower.

Quick Fact:

The Chicago Spire which is to be 150 stories at 2,000 feet tall has a maximum depth listed at 80 feet.

Considering this building is not even half that and they're already 20-30 feet down from street level, it very well could be going up before we know it! I just haven't seen any photographs with a defined footprint that indicates steel structure will soon be rising. Oh, but I can't wait!

Typically most highrise construction utilize piers as well as a matt foundation from which the structure springs whether it be steel or concrete. The matt foundation is usually a large concrete massively thick slab that ties into the piers and then is filled with tons of steel reinforcing. The column bases often emerge from the mat and then the structural elements such as the elevator cores begin to emerge vertically with all of the other structural elements.

But I can't wait!!!!

Well I heard the plan was for the structure to start rising the 1st and for the structural frame to start going up about 4 floors a week for a while.

The winter weather may have delayed those plans a day or two though, and what I heard could have been something that sounded nice from someone who has no clue..we'll see on the 1st, soon enough.

usually go by progress, not a date. Tomorrow seems way too soon.

The information was relayed from reliable sources, but that was a couple of weeks ago and they could be a bit behind.

Devon tower job site is bustling (http://newsok.com/devon-tower-job-site-is-bustling/article/3429090?custom_click=headlines_widget)
Crews are building the garage first; work is expected to begin on main building in the spring
BY STEVE LACKMEYER The Oklahoman
Published: January 3, 2010

If only there weren’t fencing surrounding the future home of Devon Energy, downtowners would be treated daily to an elaborate ballet with a stage populated by burly construction workers armed with heavy equipment.

Passers-by are witnessing a rapid transformation of the one-time Galleria parking deck, with a hole being dug for the base of the tower while the former City Center west garage has shot up five stories in just a couple of weeks.

"The garage is on a very aggressive schedule,” said Mary Hill, senior construction manager with Hines, project developer. "It was one of the big deciding factors in the request for proposals we put together when we interviewed contractors — an aggressive schedule put together by a contractor that could deliver on these points was key.”

The job site is being worked by two shifts that run from 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, with some odd tasks sometimes being tackled Sundays.

Those lucky enough to have a front-row seat to this production include Klay Kimker, vice president of administration at Devon Energy. Watching the south facade already going up on the five-story addition to the garage, Kimker quickly explains how the large construction cranes are meticulously working north to south to ensure that hundreds of spaces are reopened by a February deadline.

Once those floors are added, the garage’s west expansion will begin where caissons already are being drilled into the ground.

And as all of this is transpiring, work is under way to begin building the 50-story tower that will be the jewel of the new Devon office complex.

It’s on this east end of the site, immediately next to the Colcord Hotel, where caissons will be set 120 feet into bedrock. Steel rebar cages, each weighing 33,000 pounds, will be lowered into the ground by two cranes. A 20-hour pouring of concrete will create the foundation for the tower.

"On a site this small, you can see why it has to be choreographed very, very well and judiciously,” Kimker said. "You can see all the moving machinery, and it all has to move in synch with everything else on the site.”

Despite the site’s history as having once been home to the heart of downtown’s retail district, crews have not run into underground remains left behind by Urban Renewal. They have, however, unearthed remnants of an old barn and an 80-foot-deep water well.

Gavin Kalley, project director with Holder-Flintco, described the site as relatively clean, with minimal expected contaminated dirt remediation completed on schedule.

Kimker points across the street to the Myriad Gardens lake to explain the other challenge overcome by engineers in planning for the tower. Contractors involved with any significant downtown project know that the central business district was originally part of the Oklahoma River bed — and if one digs deep enough, they’ll still hit water.

"If you walk across the street and look at the lake, you can see exactly where the water level would be,” Kimker said. "We would see 5,000 gallons of water coming into the site if it’s not repaired. But it will be cut down to 1,500 gallons an hour with a disposal well and shoring.”

Kalley said the shoring will isolate the site so that while water doesn’t gush into the tower’s foundation, the water level on surrounding properties will be maintained as they are today.

If the site seems busy now, with 180 workers, the pace only will continue to pick up in coming months with the work force to top 800 once the tower is built and interior finishing work is started.

Overseeing this production is a crew of 17 safety officials, engineers, architects and project managers working from two stories of the One North Hudson building across the street from the job site. Hill said the office crew will grow as well as subcontractors open offices in the building — creating the equivalent of a midsized new downtown tenant to the office market.

Kimker is hesitant to boast about the project’s progress, but when pressed he acknowledges it is "on schedule” and "doing well” on budget. Hill expects passers-by will begin seeing the tower rising by spring.

Kimker likes to view the site’s progress from the corner of Hudson and Sheridan avenues. It’s there that he can see the garage expansion topping off, and he explains how the "podium building” — often overshadowed by the main tower — will be even higher standing 108 feet into the air.

"It’s difficult to get an idea as to how large this site is,” Kimker said. "But from this corner you really see it more than from any other. It’s very big.”

Read more: NewsOK (http://newsok.com/devon-tower-job-site-is-bustling/article/3429090?custom_click=headlines_widget#ixzz0bZF9mfQ q)

http://photos.newsok.com/2/showimage/801659/gallery_large?recordView=0

http://photos.newsok.com/2/showimage/801660/gallery_large?recordView=0

Hill expects passers-by will begin seeing the tower rising by spring.


Sweet!!

Kimker is hesitant to boast about the project’s progress, but when pressed he acknowledges it is "on schedule” and "doing well” on budget. Hill expects passers-by will begin seeing the tower rising by spring.


by spring....thats only 8-9 weeks away, if it's already "rising" that means that they should start the pad and steelwork soon.......I'm so excited. Someone mentioned that they may be able to put up up to four floors of frame work per week....is that realistic? Also will there be an additional cam to show the pad site more clearly?

regardless...that means I'll be making more trips downtown to watch the progress.

Yes it's realistic; Trump Tower in Chicago went up one floor per day.

THX Metro...thats great news. At my age I never know how long I'll be around, so the quicker this goes up the better. lol. From the construction cam it looks like the pit is coming along pretty quickly and almost done....

Are the large yellow pieces of equipment in the pit the driiling machines for the caissons?

Kimker points across the street to the Myriad Gardens lake to explain the other challenge overcome by engineers in planning for the tower. Contractors involved with any significant downtown project know that the central business district was originally part of the Oklahoma River bed — and if one digs deep enough, they’ll still hit water.

"If you walk across the street and look at the lake, you can see exactly where the water level would be,” Kimker said. "We would see 5,000 gallons of water coming into the site if it’s not repaired. But it will be cut down to 1,500 gallons an hour with a disposal well and shoring.”
Gee, whaddya know... ...I was right! Good grief!

Over the past several days they have been pouring the main piers for the Round portion of the tower. That is why the large very long steel reinforcing cages into the holes and the concrete pumping truck that has been there well into the night pouring. It may not look like much but it is very significant and indicates that very soon the cured sub grade structure will be able to support above grade structure.

If anyone can get by there with a camera I would love to see shots of the area where they are pouring. You will notice that it is in the circular form of the main columns of the building as indicated in the Floor Plan. Also we are just about to the point where we will not be able to see anymore action on the Parking garage, so at some point in the not too distant future it would be nice to turn the camera back to the left so we can see more of what is transpiring on the foundation work of the tower.

Thanks again to all who have been providing great shots of the site. It is tremendously helpful and exciting to be a part of!
:congrats:

After reading heart's post, I figured today would be the last day of the week I would even want to risk running over there so I did. Here's the activity I saw:

Pouring of the piers as indicated
http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/c1753bcd.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/c9c5816d.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/94c7310f.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/c2e802b6.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/870c82b2.jpg

Activity on the west end
http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/572f0068.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/56c6dd9a.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/e905509a.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/5d58f83e.jpg

Section of the garage going up
http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/1011f4cf.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/okcmomentum/e954b177.jpg

A huge thanks to OKCmomentum for the photos! Talk about responsiveness! So much is going on the site at once it is hard to comprehend the coordination effort that goes on behind the scenes to make it come together like it is. I can tell you from witnessing several large projects through design and then through construction, that you do not get the kind of quality and speed that is taking place here in OKC on this site very often. The Contractors and developers are quality!

Try to stay warm up there! Yeah I heard that you guys are going to have polar bears who have been disoriented by all of the frigid weather roaming the streets before long. Keep your faucets running overnight the next few days, avoid exploding water pipes at all cost folks.

A huge thanks to OKCmomentum for the photos! Talk about responsiveness! So much is going on the site at once it is hard to comprehend the coordination effort that goes on behind the scenes to make it come together like it is. I can tell you from witnessing several large projects through design and then through construction, that you do not get the kind of quality and speed that is taking place here in OKC on this site very often. The Contractors and developers are quality!

Try to stay warm up there! Yeah I heard that you guys are going to have polar bears who have been disoriented by all of the frigid weather roaming the streets before long. Keep your faucets running overnight the next few days, avoid exploding water pipes at all cost folks.

At what point does construction stop when it gets too cold?

At what point does construction stop when it gets too cold?

Where I have had projects done it has not ever been an issue. But it is usually a ballance of what is construed as taking too much risk for the workers on the site, and of course a finacial decision. If the workers are all in heated cabs that is one thing but when it gets into the teens and single digits the guys who are working on the ground outside of the machinery will end up spending a large amount of time in a truck to get warm. So it becomes an issue of, do you just send them home and avoid hypothermia and frostbite issues as well as paying for the labor that ends up not accomplishing much becuase of the extreme cold, or do you just accept it and send them home to play it safe.

Its judgement call, however I will be suprised if we see much action on the site over the next couple of days. At least until the wind dies down. For what its worth.

Construction Pics - Jan 6, 2010:

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww242/luckynedpepper/Jan62010-a.jpg

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww242/luckynedpepper/Jan62010-c.jpg

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww242/luckynedpepper/Jan62010-e.jpg

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww242/luckynedpepper/Jan62010-f.jpg

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww242/luckynedpepper/Jan62010-i.jpg

Nice pics, Thanks.

great pictures both - thanks!

I'll be back at the office next week and will try and remember camera. I need to find a place to post pictures so I don't have to bug Pete to post - any suggestions for free and relatively easy sites?

great pictures both - thanks!

I'll be back at the office next week and will try and remember camera. I need to find a place to post pictures so I don't have to bug Pete to post - any suggestions for free and relatively easy sites?

Photobucket - or for your higher resolution stuff just get a free flickr account.

Pool of water: still there.

great pictures both - thanks!

I'll be back at the office next week and will try and remember camera. I need to find a place to post pictures so I don't have to bug Pete to post - any suggestions for free and relatively easy sites?

Thanks.

It's really difficult to post pics here. If it were, I can promise you'd I wouldn't be doing it. lol. For mine, I upload the pics to Photobucket, like Hipster mentioned, then from there, uploaded the pics here.

PM me if you want and I'll go over details on how it's done.

Pool of water: still there.

Yes, some is still there, but not nearly as much as before. And the location of the water looks to be a little bit east of where it was before (See post #321, 1st pic).

There's no way to know how much water there is compared to last time. The hole has moved and changed size. The question is: how much water surface area is exposed at the same elevation? It's really pointless to argue. Devon's Klay Kimker confirmed in Steve's Jan 3 article that the natural water table level is visible across the street at the Myriad Botanical gardens. It will be at the same elevation in the Devon site if you dig deep enough. It would hold true whether you have a hole 3' in diameter or 30' in diameter.

Kimker points across the street to the Myriad Gardens lake to explain the other challenge overcome by engineers in planning for the tower. Contractors involved with any significant downtown project know that the central business district was originally part of the Oklahoma River bed — and if one digs deep enough, they’ll still hit water.

"If you walk across the street and look at the lake, you can see exactly where the water level would be,” Kimker said. "We would see 5,000 gallons of water coming into the site if it’s not repaired. But it will be cut down to 1,500 gallons an hour with a disposal well and shoring.”

Kalley said the shoring will isolate the site so that while water doesn’t gush into the tower’s foundation, the water level on surrounding properties will be maintained as they are today.

I'm not sure what there is to argue about at this point.

??

Who's arguing? Don't know why or where you got that. My post was intended as general conversation and nothing more.

You probably missed the earlier post where someone ripped me for suggesting the water must be approximately where the natural water table is.

:boxing2:Here, redirect all your anger at me Urbanized. I'm here for you.

Happily! Where to begin, where to begin...

Kind of cool to think that the Myriad Gardens lake is technically a natural lake then.

Kind of cool to think that the Myriad Gardens lake is technically a natural lake then. Almost lol!

Yes, some is still there, but not nearly as much as before. And the location of the water looks to be a little bit east of where it was before (See post #321, 1st pic).

It's kinda cool to line those pics up in separate tabs and click back and forth between them picking out the differences between the two pics! I did it for five minutes or so before I finally got bored, lol.

Over the past few days while it has been so ridiculously cold they have not been installing the
precast however I have noticed a significant increase in excavation taking place where the base of the main tower will be. That is significant because that means that we are getting closer to seeing them tie the steel for the mat foundation that sits atop and integrates with the piers that they have been pouring over the last couple of weeks. Exciting stuff!

Thanks.

It's really difficult to post pics here. If it were, I can promise you'd I wouldn't be doing it. lol. For mine, I upload the pics to Photobucket, like Hipster mentioned, then from there, uploaded the pics here.

PM me if you want and I'll go over details on how it's done.

DelCamino, which building are you taking these pictures from?

Driving down Walker today I saw the first structural column for the westward expansion of the parking garage being placed. It is becoming apparent just how monstorous in scale just the garage is going to be. Certainly not disproportionate; it's just going to be FAR bigger than it was. Probably by itself it would qualify as one of the largest private construction projects downtown in a long time.

Probably by itself it would qualify as one of the largest private construction projects downtown in a long time.

What makes this statement so sad is it is true. Pre-MAPS the only significant thing I ever saw constructed downtown was the 10 story IRS building in the very early 90's.

Yeah, as I was thinking about the statement before I posted it, I could only think of the IRS building (government-driven) and the Renaissance as significant upper-story additions to the skyline.

Just a note - they started putting the northern most columns up on the garage a couple of hours ago - now that the weather is better they should fly on this.

DelCamino, which building are you taking these pictures from?

It looks like those pictures are being taken from the 9th or 10th floor of the 420 West Main Building which houses municipal government offices.