Truck Stop
28 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted Around the neighborhood
in28 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted Around the neighborhood
in28 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted Demolition
inThe construction of the trestle bridge is coming along. It looks like many old wooden piles were pulled up from down the center of the west lot during the work on the trestle.
Also, I was surprised to see the Malcolm triple-auger drilling rig and crane still at work today. That fellow that has put in 80% or so of all 860 soldier piles told me last Friday that they would be working straight through last weekend to finish the final few pieces of the CDSM wall. But they were out there again today, working on the part that crosses Fremont Street. So perhaps this weekend will the grand finale of the CDSM shoring wall work.
28 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted 140 New Montgomery
inEnd of the month updates on 140 New Montgomery:
There was a lot of interior demolition going on today — or so it sounded like with all of the noise from inside !
Because it is a Saturday, the crews were not working on the exterior cladding today, but you will see below that I spied some examples of what they will be doing, as far as their repair and painting of the blemishes to the terra cotta exterior.
Along with the interesting pics above, here is another one that I just love. This is from Wilson Meany’s marketing partner’s brand new Twitter feed, publicizing the progress of the refurbishment project. Their tweet was as follows:
Construction update: interior demo is up to the fifth floor Here’s some of the salvage work we are doing along the way twitter.com/140nm/status/1…
— 140 New Montgomery (@140nm) April 27, 2012
I remember those doors ! They were the entryway doors to each of the individual offices. When you exited the elevators on your selected floor, you would be in the marbled-walled elevator lobby for that particular floor, and these doors would lead to each of the Pacific Telephone offices found on that floor. I am looking forward to seeing how they plan on re-purposing these beautiful old doors !
This is a wonderful new development — the posting on Twitter of photos like these ! I hope they will continue to give us more and more views into the happenings inside the building !
28 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted 666 Folsom
inSome end of the month updates from 666 Folsom.
All of the window units (and the dividers as well) have been removed from the Folsom Street side and from the west side (that faces Third Street).
Today, I could hear that a lot of demolition was going on inside, and the taller crane was working on removing the window units from the Hawthorne Street side of the building.
Only two rows of window units have been removed so far (from the right hand side) on the north side of the building (facing toward Market Street).
First, the Third Street side:
Next, the “back”side, taken from that little alleyway behind the old corner garage:
Next, the Folsom Street side — all window units gone !
Finally, the Hawthorne Street side — you can see they are just starting on the window unit removal:
20 Friday Apr 2012
Posted Excavation
inThis weekend, April 20-22 the CDSM shoring wall work will be completed. I was lucky enough today to be able to have a quick chat with my old friends, the two primary CDSM shoring wall engineers, particularly the one older fellow who told me last November that he thought he was probably responsible for installing 80% or so of all of the 860 soldier piles. The last time I spoke with him, he was presiding over the demobilization of the CDSM equipment, including the two triple-auger drilling rigs and the two large crane used to drop the solider piles. He mentioned that he hoped he be back to finish the job, and sure enough, here he is doing just that. He and his crew will work straight through this weekend to put in the last 27 CDSM shafts and piles, crossing Fremont street and into a portion of the central terminal lot.
I was also able to confirm something with him, and bring closure to my favorite mystery. He had mentioned to me last November that one of the solider piles “kept on going” when they dropped it, and I had recently noted that pile # 59 over by Shaw Alley on Minna Street appeared to be missing. My recent posting about this noted that this spot has recently been “fixed” with a new, clean soldier pile installed and a bit different looking grout filling the spot that previously showed a missing pile, with timber bracing placed behind across piles # 58 and # 60. Well, sure enough, these two stories and indeed connected. That IS the spot where the pile was installed but “kept going”. He told me today it went down 14 feet or so below its intended installation, hence the need for the recent fix. If I have the chance to chat with Steve Rule again at the TJPA community meetings, I will have to tell him that my favorite mystery is now solved. This interesting guy chatted for a brief moment about his life, and that he doesn’t really have a place he calls home right now, as he follows the drilling rig equipment around to wherever it — and wherever HE — is needed.
All of the guys involved with the CDSM wall construction have done an incredible job, setting the stage for excavation to really crank up now. Their fascinating equipment and their dedicated work will be missed, and we wish them luck wherever their next job takes them.
20 Friday Apr 2012
Posted 140 New Montgomery
inDemetrius Nogara of Plant Construction has to be the nicest guy around. Despite how busy they are now at 140, he still takes time out to have a chat with me out on the sidewalk, sharing construction updates with lots of technical details and interesting stuff.
The demolition is well underway in the old underground garage, with pin piles installed and other preparation for the eventual arrival of the tower crane in June. Demetrius said the old power generator and diesel tank will be taken out in the coming weeks.
Demetrius answered my most recently developed curiosity — that there is indeed a layer of (now) exposed red brick underneath all of the sheetrock and wall material from our old offices there. It is actually a two course thick layer of bricks, with the outer terra cotta blocks behind them. The larger brick-looking blocks in the Wall Street Journal’s photo below are also terra cotta, and I believe that wall they are covering is the elevator bank area. Demetrius said that this material will have to come down as it is not strong enough to meet modern safety standards. I really, really, REALLY hope I can get the chance to see the insides after the construction is done, and before tenant improvements and changes begin.
The crew manning the window washer platforms are still going up and down fixing small damaged spots on the exterior cladding. A lot of water was being pumped out of the basement pit area when I arrived on Friday morning. It is quite a busy construction site now, and things are just getting rolling. I can’t imagine what it will like there in a few months, with so many trucks trying to negotiate the small Natoma alley. These guys are great at what they do.
20 Friday Apr 2012
Posted Around the neighborhood
in20 Friday Apr 2012
Posted 666 Folsom
inSome construction updates at 666 Folsom.
A lot more window units have been removed. I still haven’t figured out what those “Preston” units are for. And the best thing this week was the “baby pool”…what was THAT used for ?
Two official-looking people, one woman and one man, were going down the street opposite 666, looking, writing notes, and photographing stuff going on with the sidewalk, obstacles, damage, etc. Now THAT is a job I should be doing, as I am always noticing such stuff. They spray-painted this spot, where the little door lid is missing from this gas connection spot.
16 Monday Apr 2012
Posted 140 New Montgomery, 666 Folsom
inBoth 140 New Montgomery AND 666 Folsom are seen in the first few seconds of this new Chrysler TV commercial.
15 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted Around the neighborhood
in