Devon Energy Center

[Watson410]

I'm honestly surprised they let the library employees walk that close to the garage! I bet they won't after this incident.

[OKCisOK4me]

I always thought, for reasons such as this, that this is why Devon Energy bought The Colcord Hotel. I remember seeing a story just a couple of years ago about a construction crane in NYC that collapsed, or dropped a load, into another building nearby the worksite. So dangerous. I know that these construction companies have an outstanding record when it comes to the jobs they do so I do hope this is the only accident for the next several years. Could of been a big deal if more people had been around, as previously stated!

[hipsterdoofus]

I'm honestly surprised they let the library employees walk that close to the garage! I bet they won't after this incident.

They probably stop them when movement is ongoing, - they have flagmen at the top and bottom - but you can't prevent traffic back there since it is also now the dock for deliveries for the Oklahoma tower as well...there are warning signs and such. I suppose more people will go around front now.

[skyrick]

I work for a major Fire Alarm company in Ft Worth owned by the evil corporate giant, Tyco International, and I was just wondering what brand of FA has been contracted?

Rick

[MadMonk]

Holy crap! I can't tell you how many times I've walked down that ramp on the way to work over the last few months. It's a convenient shortcut rather than going around the library. I just started parking in the garage again today. I hadn't heard anything about the accident until I checked this post once I got home this evening. I parked really close to that corner of the garage today and took a couple snapshots just as I was leaving. Now I understand why the construction worker in the garage was asking me not to take pictures. I thought he was just being pissy and now I feel bad about smarting off to him.

My shots. I didn't know I was risking life and limb getting them!




On this shot, I thought that they had just broken a piece and layed it there.

[hipsterdoofus]

Yeah I can't believe how lucky the guys beneath there were and how unbelievable that no one was in that parking spot in the alley. The first couple of spots are for vendors and such but the third is assigned to someone and usually has someone in it! :-O

[ThePlainsman]

3 Pillars. 3 floors collapsed. Watched it from the HT Building. What happened was the crane was lifting another wall into place. It clipped the southern most pillar, which fell northwardly and clipped another pillar. These two fell into the alley between the Library and the parking garage. Concurrently, when these fell, they loosed the pipe supports on a third pillar located in the sw corner of this section. It fell inwardly (towards the east) and onto the third floor of the newly constructed portion. The third floor collapsed and pancaked downward onto the 2nd and 1st floors, settling in the basement of the garage. This is exactly what I saw yesterday at about 445 pm.

[raneman]

It was actually right at 4:25 PM. Hipsterdoofus and I get off at 4:30 (we both work at the library) and we immediately looked up the surveillance video to watch it after it happened and the video shows 4:25:04.

Channel 9 has a copy of the surveillance video that we recorded. You can watch it here:

Video Page 2009 - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

[ThePlainsman]

Did you guys about crap yourselves? LOL. Hightower provides an excellent view of this stuff. Guess I left work about 445 and that's what I remember. I have some pretty decent pics of it though. Watching those floors pancake was freaky.

[OKC@heart]

Hey Plainsman! Please post those pics when you get a chance. It would be good to see in more detail what will have to be repaired.

[hipsterdoofus]

Did you guys about crap yourselves? LOL. Hightower provides an excellent view of this stuff. Guess I left work about 445 and that's what I remember. I have some pretty decent pics of it though. Watching those floors pancake was freaky.

We were further down the building - we do have staff though that were within feet of where it fell. The fact that there were no injuries is still amazing to me.

[OKC@heart]

We were further down the building - we do have staff though that were within feet of where it fell. The fact that there were no injuries is still amazing to me.

Seriously that was a miracle, that no one was injured. Let's hope that was this build outs token accident and that we can somehow avoid future accidents as this magnificent structure emerges.

[OUSoonerfan3]

Has anyone in the know heard who the sub-contractors on the job will be? I am curious about who the plumbing, mechanical, and electrical contractors will be.

I have heard rumor that Oil Capital Electric got the job with approx $60 million bid.

[ndmoore]

February 9, 2010 around 5pm on the first floor of the parking garage.

[MadMonk]

February 10, 2010 around 5pm on the first floor of the parking garage.

You mean the 9th? Today's the 10th.

[ndmoore]

You mean the 9th? Today's the 10th.

oops!

[Richard at Remax]

does anyone know where the steel will be made? and will it be brought in a few pieces at a time or will it be stacked at the site?

[architect5311]

does anyone know where the steel will be made? and will it be brought in a few pieces at a time or will it be stacked at the site?

Do you mean, where the steel will be fabricated?

Is the structure going to be steel or concrete? I would assume a concrete structure.

[mburlison]

Plainsmen --- it must be a conspiracy, Rosie O'Donnell says its impossible, without pre-detonation, for floors to pancake and (by the way) for heat to melt metal! LOL

[Richard at Remax]

Unless I was mistaken I thought it is going to be a steel structure and that is why it will go up faster than a concrete one

[OKC@heart]

Unless I was mistaken I thought it is going to be a steel structure and that is why it will go up faster than a concrete one

I am not sure which sturctural system is being used on this tower, but if they are doing Concrete it would be doing well to see two floors per week, certainly not four simply from a forming and pouring standpoint. If what has been suggested is true (4 floors per week) then this suggests that it might be a steel structure.

Again I would like to hear from someone like RWB or Anonymous or Planman to know for sure.

[architect5311]

Wow, at 4 floors per week (steel construction?) it should top out in what, 7 months......I doubt it.

A concrete structure would go perhaps one floor per week, which seems to fit the construction schedule.......IMO

But someone on the inside please chime in concrete or steel?

[gen70]

There will be steel beams and columns.

[HOT ROD]

wow, so OKC will have a new skyscraper near topped out by the beginning of the next NBA season. ...

OMG, should do wonders for tv nights to show a growing big city.

[OKC@heart]

Concrete can be done faster than one floor per week. On a project that I did in Austin, TX, residential highrise, but much lower, but with a larger floor plate we got to the point where we were doing two floors per week, but that was pushing it. I am less familiar with the time involved in steel highrise construction as all of the highrise projects I have done have been concrete.