arche_757 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Indeed. I'm sure it has been written up and analyzed as to why, but this building will basically take 3 years start to finish. The Empire State Building took a little over 16 months from excavation to opening (January 1930 - May 1931). Five workers died during that buildings construction (which would shut down a modern building for months - maybe longer). Also during the Great Depression. The building was in a race too with Chrysler down the road - which in my opinion is a FAR superior design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Going out on a limb, but I don't think OSHA existed in the early 30's either. Lots of extra rules, safety practices, standards, etc. Dubai right now can build skyscrapers the way New York did back then. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fernz Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Five workers died during that buildings construction (which would shut down a modern building for months - maybe longer). Also during the Great Depression. The building was in a race too with Chrysler down the road - which in my opinion is a FAR superior design.Also, this was during the Depression, as already mentioned. There was a large pool of cheap labor available, willing to do anything, even if unsafe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 (edited) I was thinking about Dubai as I typed that actually. Anyway, here's more nearly real time photos of the last days of the Texas Tower. In the third pic you can see the flying bobcat that was hoisted up to roof way back when they started has worked its way back down to the 3rd floor. Edited April 22, 2014 by Nate99 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arche_757 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 ^Thanks for the updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Terrible photo of them drilling with a mobile crane. They were also hard at work down in the hole with the excavators/machinery.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaderJF Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Should take them less than a couple of weeks to clear everything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timoric Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 (edited) - Edited July 8, 2019 by Timoric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Maybe Hines does care about Historic Preservation, they kept the Texas flag pole so far (:. Does anyone know if this Dec there will be Christmas Trees on the tops of these under construction buildings, seems like I remember seeing that before.The Texas Flag poles are a theme for Texas Ave in downtown. Not unique to or owned by this building.And as for "Christmas trees" on the roof of skyscrapers, that happen after the last structural support beam is in place/the building is officially "topped out". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timoric Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 (edited) - Edited July 8, 2019 by Timoric 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 I can't believe those last couple floors are still hanging on. You'd think they could just bring in Chuck Norris or something at this point; he's only two hours away. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purdueenginerd Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 They likely have the mast climbers tied in to the remaining structural components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 I can't believe those last couple floors are still hanging on. You'd think they could just bring in Chuck Norris or something at this point; he's only two hours away. Of course then, you risk losing all of downtown Houston. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shasta Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Maybe Hines does care about Historic Preservation, they kept the Texas flag pole so far (:. Does anyone know if this Dec there will be Christmas Trees on the tops of these under construction buildings, seems like I remember seeing that before. The Christmas tree has nothing to do with Christmas. they typically put a Christmas tree on top of the building once it has topped out. Since most of our new downtown buildings haven't even broke ground yet..there will be no way we'll see "topped out Christmas trees" this December. Maybe December 2015. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 I just drove by the site during lunch and by the looks of it today I'd say by early next week they'll have this thing down. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaderJF Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 This HAS to be the most photographed demolition in Houston history... right? Not by the amount of people like with the Macy's demo, but at least the most photos taken over time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fernz Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 This HAS to be the most photographed demolition in Houston history... right? Not by the amount of people like with the Macy's demo, but at least the most photos taken over time. you're probably right, but the Astrodome may beat the record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanize713 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Well let's keep it going. From earlier today 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlyoung83 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 The Binz building garage across the street would also give some nice aerial shots of what this block now looks like. The roof/top floor is accessible to the public and even has an elevator. I've gotten some nice shots from this location. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
por favor gracias Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 (edited) The Binz building garage across the street would also give some nice aerial shots of what this block now looks like. The roof/top floor is accessible to the public and even has an elevator. I've gotten some nice shots from this location. Cool, thanks for the info. Edited April 27, 2014 by por favor gracias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 The Binz building garage across the street would also give some nice aerial shots of what this block now looks like. The roof/top floor is accessible to the public and even has an elevator. I've gotten some nice shots from this location. Why didn't I think of that? 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanize713 Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 You even got the train on that second picture, nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Why didn't I think of that? Is that guy using a blowtorch? I will say this, our great-grandparents knew how to build. That building was effing solid. Reminds me of what they say about the Academic Building at A&M, that since they didn't know too much yet about the characteristics of reinforced concrete in 1910, they just used twice as much as they thought they needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Is that guy using a blowtorch? I will say this, our great-grandparents knew how to build. That building was effing solid. Reminds me of what they say about the Academic Building at A&M, that since they didn't know too much yet about the characteristics of reinforced concrete in 1910, they just used twice as much as they thought they needed. He was using a cutting torch. I'm guessing that he would go through the beam nearly all the way with the torch and then they cable it up to the crane once it is about to let go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purdueenginerd Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 (edited) Is that guy using a blowtorch? I will say this, our great-grandparents knew how to build. That building was effing solid. Reminds me of what they say about the Academic Building at A&M, that since they didn't know too much yet about the characteristics of reinforced concrete in 1910, they just used twice as much as they thought they needed. Ehh.. I disagree respectfully for reinforced concrete structures of that era. Generally I have found them to be under-designed. Reinforced concrete steel structures from that era run into two problems. The steel they use was around 18 KSI-33KSI (kilopounds per sqaure inch) in yield capacity, or less and there was wide variety of bar design, which could allow for shear slippage of embedded reinforcement. Here's an image of some historic reinforcement used that I have at my office. http://i.imgur.com/zMGq0lA.jpg All of the bars shown above, I've pulled off of projects in Houston, Chicago, or New Orleans. They added more, and not proportionally, because the steel was significantly weaker in tension in that era. Today, standard rebar has a yield capacity of 60 KSI. The concrete mix design is another factor which isnt being addressed. Modern reinforced concrete structures, for just about every element are significantly stronger, and better built. Now, that being said... based on the most recent pictures, this looks like a composite beam. An I - beam (more correct term is W-Section) encased in reinforced concrete. In this instance, the I-beam is the primary structural component and the reinforced concrete is likely acting as a form of fireproofing, or strengthening from later structural modifications.--- I can't really tell without looking at the drawings. The guy is probably using a plasma torch to cut through the steel beam and/or rebar.... which is way faster than using a grinder or bandsaw. /edit: Correction on KSI values. Edited April 28, 2014 by Purdueenginerd 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Ehh.. I disagree respectfully for reinforced concrete structures of that era. Generally I have found them to be under-designed. Reinforced concrete steel structures from that era run into two problems. The steel they use was around 18 KSI-33KSI (kilopounds per sqaure inch) in yield capacity, or less and there was wide variety of bar design, which could allow for shear slippage of embedded reinforcement. Here's an image of some historic reinforcement used that I have at my office. http://i.imgur.com/zMGq0lA.jpg All of the bars shown above, I've pulled off of projects in Houston, Chicago, or New Orleans. They added more, and not proportionally, because the steel was significantly weaker in tension in that era. Today, standard rebar has a yield capacity of 60 KSI. The concrete mix design is another factor which isnt being addressed. Modern reinforced concrete structures, for just about every element are significantly stronger, and better built. Now, that being said... based on the most recent pictures, this looks like a composite beam. An I - beam (more correct term is W-Section) encased in reinforced concrete. In this instance, the I-beam is the primary structural component and the reinforced concrete is likely acting as a form of fireproofing, or strengthening from later structural modifications.--- I can't really tell without looking at the drawings. The guy is probably using a plasma torch to cut through the steel beam and/or rebar.... which is way faster than using a grinder or bandsaw. /edit: Correction on KSI values. I'm sure our understanding of reinforced concrete is much more advanced now; my point about the Academic Building was that because they realized they didn't understand it well yet, they compensated by making the walls twice as thick as they thought they needed to be. Supposedly they are around four feet thick around the base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 I'm sure our understanding of reinforced concrete is much more advanced now; my point about the Academic Building was that because they realized they didn't understand it well yet, they compensated by making the walls twice as thick as they thought they needed to be. Supposedly they are around four feet thick around the base. The interior is much smaller than you think it should be, that's for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlyoung83 Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 You got there fast! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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