Devon Energy Center

[USG '60]

Chicago got the name "Windy City" because - and the details escape me, but something about how Chicago journalist were blabber mouths. You know, hot air. Thus Windy City was coined.

Has nothing to do with wind gusts in Chicago.

I think maybe you have never been to Chicago. Those lake winds are brutal.

[ronronnie1]

Oh I don't doubt Chicago is windy as I have been there before, USG. I just assumed the poster was referencing the "Windy City" nickname - which has nothing to do with actual winds.

[OKCisOK4me]

if that was the case there wouldn't be any big buildings in Chicago

Yeah, I was thinking that too. Now, of course, there's many more buildings in the Windy City so technically the wind probably wouldn't be as bad there cause the breezes would be sheared by other buildings. Being as that the Devon Tower is being built on the SW core of the city where there's nothing to stop that rich south wind is a whole other story.

[mblues]

It's pointed at the horizon and has been since the crane fell over.

I'll bet they just want to catch any nasty storms on their High Tech Streaming Cam!!

[gen70]

Ya'll tell'n me it's windy in OKC? Ha..Ha..

[Urbanized]

The art of reading between lines is lost on message boards. If you followed Steve's posts when he was trying to get the webcam up and running, he was talking about how difficult it was to get all of the corporations concerned to agree to let it happen. He spoke of attorneys and corporate interests. He also said he couldn't explain all of the details.

Then, when he finally got it up and running he pleaded with everyone to take him at his word that the password protection had NOTHING to do with getting subscribers or generating revenue, but instead was due to something else, that he seemed to not be able to talk about. Now although I consider him a personal friend, I'll have to say that in addition to the good-natured dealings I've had with him I have also had plenty of reasonably tense discussions where he and I were on the opposite sides of things. In all of that time, however, I have NEVER known him to be dishonest. So personally, I take him at his word.

By the way, I seriously doubt they thought anybody would become a newspaper subscriber just see the webcam.

NOW, a new development emerges. There is a (fortunately non-injury) jobsite accident in view of his camera, and like magic it is turned away from the pit, presumably while the offending crane is removed and pending a return to normalcy.

Am I the only person who has connected the dots here? I'm just guessing, but I think it's pretty safe to assume that the delay and the camera realignment both have something to do with various corporate interests who might not be thrilled at the prospect of a functioning, dangerous-by-nature jobsite being broadcast in detail worldwide.

Have you guys ever DEALT with big corporations? If they had resistance to the camera from the outset I say it is a MIRACLE that it ever appeared in the first place. Instead of constantly ripping the camera Steve negotiated and treating him like a fibber for no good reason, I personally think we (the people in this thread who are obviously keenly interested in the Devon tower jobsite goings-on) owe him a hearty "thanks" for going to the effort he appears to have gone to help satisfy our curiousity, and provide yet another glimpse into the building of Devon Tower.

Or, we can just all be jerks about it. Whichever.

[Steve]

Thanks Urbanized
I'm sure the Oklahoman skyline cam will be back on the site soon. Once again, I must emphasize that there will be times when it will be aimed away from the site. This cam will not, in all likelihood, be aimed in when accidents are occurring.
There are many reasons for this, but even if I were calling all the shots here, I would make the same call, reason being I don't believe in show blood-splattering images and raw accident photos. I'm not a blood and gore reporter.
In this case, I think we can all agree we're happy that was not the case with this incident.
Construction site accidents happen. I can predict there will be a fire once the structure is halfway up and tv will make it appear as if it's the towering inferno when in fact it will just be wood rigging and work will resume within five days (we saw this with the OPUBCO tower and the Children's Hospital towers being built).
I've not heard from anyone in the know that this indicates an unsafe job site; in fact, I saw Holder/Flintco going to extraordinary means to maintain job safety when I was last there and I am a veteran of visiting job sites (Bricktown ballpark, Ford Center, canal, Renassaince, Skirvin and Colcord hotels, Civic Center Music Hall, downtown library, etc). I have at least three old hard hats in my trunk. So that's that, for what it's worth.

Anyway, I hope to be able to tell you it will be back online soon.
Thanks for your patience, Steve.

[soonerwilliam]

Thanks Steve for the info and for all you've done to get the skyline cam going. I certainly appreciate all your help! Keep up the good work for OKC!!!

[Steve]

Thanks sir!

[okcmomentum]

I understand what Urbanized is saying and hopefully everyone else will also. I think it's fabulous that we have the views into the construction that we do and for that we should all be grateful. I stopped by the site after work and snapped a few shots. It was very weird only seeing a couple workers working on the tower base. I'm guessing they are probably waiting on the rest of those panels to proceed. They have put up a lot of scaffolding and other construction type stuff that I do not know what is for but there is lots of it.

[jn1780]

They are setting up the forms/decking for the first floor in those photos. That's what the scaffolding is for.

[clz46]

Steve, I for one,nor do I think anyone here, indicated that the live cam pointing to the "skyline" had anything to do with you. Surely those who are in charge knew that we have OKCtalks cam and that we knew 30 minutes after the event that no one was hurt or injured. No "blood or gore" to see. It's understandable that it was done after the accident and even for awhile after the accident. I am just not sure I understand the need now. As was stated earlier you can't anticipate when accidents will happen and so maybe that is why until after the crane is removed ..just in case. Thanks again for everything you have done for the live cam.

[SWOKC 4 me]

Another thing I'm sure has been covered, but back to the 'structure'... what were the factors that they decided upon to go w/ a 'concrete' vs. 'steel' framework, I'm still having trouble understanding the advantages?

I had the same questions and this site seemed to answer them. Seems like it is an issue of cost as well as the ability of concrete to withstand high winds/tornadoes.

[clz46]

...and lo and behold the live cam is up!!!

[clz46]

...and now it's not

[Steve]

You may find it moving around at times, but the reset hasn't happened yet. I'll keep you appraised...

[USG '60]

...and now it's not

Live horizon, anyway.

[Steve]

There have been a lot of camera close-ups and scanning tonight, so you might catch some interesting activity if that sort of thing entertains you at 11 p.m. on a Thursday. Otherwise, I'd expect to see it reset in the next few days.

[clz46]

it actually showed a close-up shot of the "toppled" crane. then it was gone. oh, well they say patience is ... you know.

[OKC@heart]

The scaffold like looking stuff and the yellow poles are all part of the shoring system. The shoring is what they will use to support the form work for the the floor slab above this one and is just staged so that when they can resume work on setting the core shear wall forms, they can then tie the vertical steel as they have done on the one side facing the cam, and then place exterior forms on the outside and then they will pour the walls and then we will see the form work of the next levels flooring go up, be reinforced and then poured , then we will see them pour the next level columns like they did previously and then the shear walls and then shoring and then...well you get the picture.

When we see them reinforcing the suspended floor slabs that is when you will notice a difference in the reinforcing not just being steel but that there will also be long flexible steel cables that will be colored in a plastic sleeve. They will be put under extreme pressure following the pour and after the concrete has set for a while. That is called post tensioning the slab.

[ljbab728]

Ya know, if the wind is gonna delay construction, then guess what? This thing isn't going up a floor a week. Expect this thing to be finished in 2015 if that's the case. It's always windy here....

High winds are always a factor for any highrise building construction. Try going outside about 40 floors up and see what the wind is like on almost any day anywhere.

[OKC@heart]

They got the toppled crane uprighted. Hopefully we will see marked progress begin again now on the base shear walls.

[metro]

So maybe we can rename Pete's camera FAILCAM!

I think we've established it wasn't "Pete's" or the OKC Talk cam.

Chicago got the name "Windy City" because - and the details escape me, but something about how Chicago journalist were blabber mouths. You know, hot air. Thus Windy City was coined.

Has nothing to do with wind gusts in Chicago.

Technically it looks like there are 3 reasons why it's been coined the "windy city" one of them being the winds off Lake Michigan. I also know most modern Chicagoans refer to it as that because of the brutal winds going through the urban canyons at times. Look at the quotes of the reporters you mention from the 1840's-1860's or so, no one talks like that anymore or thinks like that.

Origin of the name "Windy City" - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[hipsterdoofus]

I think we've established it wasn't "Pete's" or the OKC Talk cam.

Actually, I was referring to Pete's cam as the FailCam..because it stays on during the accidents, not because the camera failed.

[OKCisOK4me]

High winds are always a factor for any highrise building construction. Try going outside about 40 floors up and see what the wind is like on almost any day anywhere.

I was being totally facetious..

As a tall guy people always ask how the weather is up there. As you know, it's a bit windier, lol.