Devon Energy Center

[twade]

It looks as if the second section of the core just rose.

[ourulz2000]

It looks as if the second section of the core just rose.

??

[twade]

??

It appears as if 2 of the 3 climbing concrete forms have risen to the next level.

[Troypin]

you can finally see the building rising from the street. Also early this week my dad took me down to the site and he said the Tower Cranes look like a family. The two tower cranes that are building the tower is like a father and mother and the other two are the children. All working together to build a better future for Devon Energy and Oklahoma City.

[jmarkross]

Troypin--your Dad is a wise man. Glad you got down there to see the site.

[vandy]

This is my first post here at OKCtalk. Here are some photos from today, taken at my noon lunchbreak. I apologize for the poor quality, these are from my cell phone. I took also took a panorama shot... the link to view that is at the end of this post.











Link to pano shot.

[kinggober]

Awesome shots Vandy! Nice panorama too!

[Troypin]

When should they start building up the pillars on the east side?

[mattrosser]

This is a picture from the 34th floor of the Chase Building looking down at the Devon construction site on Friday.

[West Coast]

Looks like they started placing the first floor.

[OUGrad05]

Well guys, it appears that the structure will begin rising from the earth

Does anyone know what the realistic time frame is per floor of framing? I know there's been a lot of "speculation", it seems based on the reading I've done that 1.5 floors/week average if it is a concrete structure. Can anyone confirm? does anyone know?

[jn1780]

Well guys, it appears that the structure will begin rising from the earth

Does anyone know what the realistic time frame is per floor of framing? I know there's been a lot of "speculation", it seems based on the reading I've done that 1.5 floors/week average if it is a concrete structure. Can anyone confirm? does anyone know?

I heard eight days per floor.

I'm surprised they started pouring part of the floor. I was under the impression that they would pour the whole floor at one time.

It's nice seeing that freshly poured floor!

[CuatrodeMayo]

lol.

[OKC@heart]

To answer a question that was asked a while back, the fist level floor is a traditional mild steel reinforced slab with concrete beams formed into the floor as the support from the columns back to the shear walls of the elevator cores. The beams were visible just prior to last nights pour, but you will be able to see them again as they continue to form the next third of the floor currently taking place. They then have to tie the reinforcing for the beams and get it all in place prior to the pour.

Notice that this morning they have already set the steel reinforcing for the first column of the second level!

I would anticipate that the first couple of floors to be done this way and then once we get above grade I would expect it to become post tensioned, as that is the only way the floors will rise at the projected rates as previously discussed.

[jmarkross]

I have a question for someone who knows construction...will this building be a skeleton of reinforced concrete pillars--in lieu of steel beams as we often see in high-rise buildings? Instead of the dark conglomeration of I-beams--it will be gray pillars of formed concrete? I saw the Chase Building go up in the early 70's (Liberty Tower at the time)--a mass of steel beams, but this one will appear different? Also--why would one choose one type over the other?

[dedndcrusr]

It looks like the whole north side of the tower is pretty much at a stand still. I guess the misplaced column really slowed progress. I doesn't look like they'll be able to go much further until they get the framework wrapped all the way around.

[jn1780]

It looks like the whole north side of the tower is pretty much at a stand still. I guess the misplaced column really slowed progress. I doesn't look like they'll be able to go much further until they get the framework wrapped all the way around.

I think the time it takes to lay rebar for the floor is the biggest factor.

[ronronnie1]

So is it true that they effed up and poured (placed/whatever'ed) the pillar in the wrong spot? That mistake has gotta be costing them some major cash. This thing is basically at a stand still. Like I said before, it appears they've hired the Three Stooges to oversee this project. For shame.

[OKC@heart]

The Floor plans that I have seen indicate a concrete structural system, so yes it will likely be concrete columns & post tensioned floor vs. a steel framed structure.

There are a myriad of reasons one structural system is used over another. Material costs vary and we have seen times past where there were shortages of concrete and the price skyrocketed, but more recently we have seen the price of steel skyrocket due to the insaitiable appetite and development taking place in China and other developing regions and so material costs increased. This was also at the peak of the building boom in the US as well so virtually all costs were escallating rapidly.

There are some structural engineers on this forum who would be better equipped to go into the details of why each are used, but sometimes there are seismic considerations, (stiffness vs elasticity) availability of the skilled labor in the area that able to do the work, as well as speed of erection, fireproofing, and many many others. I am not sure if this helped but it is a start.

[possumfritter]

OKC@heart ...Not meaning to get off topic here (really), but you mentioned "seismic considerations." Have you been watching the construction of the New Oakland Bay Bridge?

Bay Bridge Info

[OKC@heart]

OKC@heart ...Not meaning to get off topic here (really), but you mentioned "seismic considerations." Have you been watching the construction of the New Oakland Bay Bridge?

Bay Bridge Info

I haven't seen this but at first glance looks pretty amazing! Thanks for the link, I am continually interested in complex construction projects with difficult constraints and how the solutions are arrived at. Bridge construction is often fascinating for the difficulty in having a construction site that is basically in mid air. Thanks again for the link!

[possumfritter]

I haven't seen this but at first glance looks pretty amazing! Thanks for the link, I am continually interested in complex construction projects with difficult constraints and how the solutions are arrived at. Bridge construction is often fascinating for the difficulty in having a construction site that is basically in mid air. Thanks again for the link!

I had a bit of a hunch you might like that. You are welcome.

[HOT ROD]

I have a rather interesting question to as the engineers and building consruction guys on the forum: How do tower cranes get their power? Do they use batteries or is there a power cable that runs up from the bottom? Or, is there a way that power is transferred up the frame lattice, hence the carefully designed staging and jacking processes?

These are just my simple and very uneducated hypotheses; but I have always been interested to know. It seems sort of weird to have a power cable going up so high - and what about when you jack up the crane, how would you add power cable or even move it out of the way so you could get the new crane lattice in place?

These constraints are leading me to believe the crane must either battery powered or gets power from contacts built into the frame structure.

Please elaborate, oh kind building wizards. ...

[clz46]

Probably won't make any difference to ronronnie1 but it is my understanding that the pier cracked. It wasn't poured in the wrong place. I for one think it's a good thing they found it when they did.

[OKC@heart]

Probably won't make any difference to ronronnie1 but it is my understanding that the pier cracked. It wasn't poured in the wrong place. I for one think it's a good thing they found it when they did.

Was your source reliable? Just wanting to know becuase it is highly unusual to see a pier crack without a load being placed on it. If they are building a transfer and setting a column in a spot adjacent then it was more likely a location issue, rather than material failure. However if they just redid the same one in the same location it could be that the concrete used on the top portion was not adequate in design strength or mix or whatever and had to be redone.

Again I have no direct knowledge of what really has taken place with regard to that pier and am very curious as to what really is the situation. Would like to hear from someone who is privy to that info.