Campus Construction

[Cajunbander]

Some pictures from 3/2/11



Looks like they're done with the CMU (Fancy construction term I picked up from here.) stairwells and elevator shaft except for one.





Coming right along on the parking garage.





Looks like they're starting to work on the parking tower's foundation.





Almost done framing the first floor.





They put up iron framing, I'm guessing this is because it'll be all open since it's the entryway? I dunno.





This is just a really cool picture I took while I was up on the parking tower.

[Turbine]

Looks like they're done with the CMU (Fancy construction term I picked up from here.) stairwells and elevator shaft except for one.

These guys can work.

Softball got the shaft . . . the other one

[ULGrad@HOU]

_ Thanks, I was wondering if there was any interest and if I should continue to update.

I think there is a survey control point in the area of the band platform that they do not want to disturb. _

Thanks to all who provide updates and pics, it's great to be able to watch the progress!

[Boomer]

_ Thanks to all who provide updates and pics, it's great to be able to watch the progress! _

Obviously this picture not taken during 12 o'clock lunch break-----Nobody under the Pride of Should be Louisiana stand!!! LOL

[HelmutVII]

I was thinking that this weeks work would show dramatic difference from last week. It looks like they will be able to go up about one story in two weeks. That means by April they should be close to topping out the wall framing. I suspect they will use prefabricated wood or metal roof trusses which should go up fairly quickly.

The steel around the elevator shaft is not only for the first floor open spaces but the design loads for the corridors on the second floor and above are much higher than the design loads in the rooms. I also suspect that this is the only steel framing they will need as the floor plan for the second to forth floors will be different. (less open space)

The foundation that I can see for the parking garage appears to be pretty stout. You can tell by the large pile of excavated dirt near where the old credit union building was. Just about every cubic yard of material excavated will be replaced with concrete. I also saw some substantial rebar mats stockpiled on the site. Looks like plenty of rod busting going to take place there. Once they get "out of the ground", the parking garage will go pretty fast because each level will be repetitive. Finish work on the garage will be mostly perimeter cosmetics as the interior will be "plain Jane" the only thing needed is lighting and life safety related mechanicals.

They are scheduled to open the Taft Street dorm in AUGUST of THIS YEAR. I'm thinking it will be close, but if they can keep up this work progress they could very well make it. If they miss the deadline, it won't be by much. I spoke to the band director one evening on my walk and he said they were going to give him a sodded and watered practice field in August. An ambitious schedule indeed. I estimate they have accomplished easily 1.5 million dollars worth of work since the first of the year.

[HelmutVII]

_ Obviously this picture not taken during 12 o'clock lunch break-----Nobody under the Pride of Should be Louisiana stand!!! LOL _

They do not take lunch breaks all at one time. They break in shifts and eat on their tailgates. There is a constant work going on at the site from "can to can't" and sometimes beyond. Equipment maintenance takes place at night, if necessary, under light towers. I'm hoping the foundation crew for the parking garage finishes in time for them to move onto one of my projects scheduled for auger cast piling. I want these guys on my project!!!

[Boomer]

_ They do not take lunch breaks all at one time. They break in shifts and eat on their tailgates. There is a constant work going on at the site from "can to can't" and sometimes beyond. Equipment maintenance takes place at night, if necessary, under light towers. I'm hoping the foundation crew for the parking garage finishes in time for them to move onto one of my projects scheduled for auger cast piling. I want these guys on my project!!! _

Are there union guys???? I don't think that is the case!!! Does anyone know for sure????

[HelmutVII]

_ Are there union guys???? I don't think that is the case!!! Does anyone know for sure???? _

I don't know if they are Union workers. I do know that ALL workers wear the proper safety gear, they ALL wear the yellow work vests. The work site is tightly regulated in that if you do not have the proper apparel you will stand out immediately. I am sure there is a safety guy or project superintendent on the site that will run your _____ off if he sees somebody without the proper safety gear. The only ones that do not have the proper safety gear are truck drivers that deliver materials and they are on the site and off pretty quick. Most of the time they do not get out of their truck.

I do know, from the little bit of observation that I can see on the weekends, there is not much standing around on the job site.

[Cajunbander]

I do know, from the little bit of observation that I can see on the weekends, there is not much standing around on the job site. _

THEY NEVAR STOP!!!!!!!!

Seriously though, passing back and forth throughout the week, nobody is ever just standing there, they all look like they have a job to do at any one point in time. The parking tower is working out well for the crews I constantly see people running up there with plans? and surveying the worksite.

[HelmutVII]

I saw some light towers placed near the McKinley street end of the parking garage last night on my walk. I figured they would be placing concrete for the Parking garage foundation early this morning. I woke up at a bout 3:00 A.M. this morning and heard a fairly steady stream of concrete trucks on University Ave. So I guess they did place some of the foundation this morning. Good thing as we are expecting rain this afternoon into tomorrow.

[Cajunbander]

_ I saw some light towers placed near the McKinley street end of the parking garage last night on my walk. I figured they would be placing concrete for the Parking garage foundation early this morning. I woke up at a bout 3:00 A.M. this morning and heard a fairly steady stream of concrete trucks on University Ave. So I guess they did place some of the foundation this morning. Good thing as we are expecting rain this afternoon into tomorrow. _

My friend lives in the house directly across Taft from the field, and he says that they're out most nights doing something.

[HelmutVII]

An amazing day today. No work being done after 2" of rain yesterday.

An overview of work as of March 6, 2011



North end of Taft Street dorm showing second floor decking.




Middle section of Taft Street dorm with Denbo debris pile in background.



South end of Taft Street dorm almost ready for decking.



The size of the building is starting to show now. If you can imagine this amount of framing 3 more times you can get the idea. Kind of hard to show in photographs though.



Bancroft slab and foundation below is all that remains





Parking garage work site after 2" of rain on March 5, 2011. It will be a mess tomorrow when they continue working.




A portion of the foundation placed on Friday morning March 4, 2011

[HelmutVII]

Work being done on March 12, 2011

Clockwise from left. Second floor framing, Bancroft foundation demolition




Second floor framing of North end of Taft Street Dorm. Yellow rods at the top of the stud walls are for OSHA required railings needed when decking the third floor.



Middle section of Taft Street Dorm.



Second floor of South end of Taft Street Dorm getting decked.


Breaking up Denbo Foundation



Debris pile of Bancroft foundation, looks like they are removing everything down to about 4 or 5 feet below ground level. The round pieces of concrete are the tops of the piling for Bancroft. The materials in foreground are truss joists for the second floor ceiling of the Taft Street Dorm.

[HelmutVII]

Parking garage work on March 12, 2011

Rod busting to the right, foundation excavation in the middle and concrete placement to the left.



Rod Busting for the Parking garage foundation



Excavation for the Parking garage foundation



Placing concrete for the Parking garage foundation

[Cajunbander]

I was taking pictures of the site yesterday as well. I ran into one of the crew at the top of the stairs and he was saying they've been coming in and taking aerial shots of the site on a regular basis. I didn't think to ask him if they were or would be posting them somewhere online. It'd be cool to see.