Purdueenginerd

Houston needs a soaring downtown monument, and I believe this lot is the perfect place for it.  People spend hundreds or thousands to visit Paris, New York, D.C., heck even Seattle, just to stop by famous tall monuments.  The downtown hotels are in place.  Residential is on the way.  A light rail stop is across the street.  Retail is being set up a block away, along ADLA.  Throw up a 500-1,000 ft. monument that will drag the skyline eastward, give drivers along 59 and I-10 an amazing view, and increase property values in EaDo. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_Houston

Google image search spirit of houston statue. Kind of amusing statue, that never got built. 

any way to get something like a break down of construction costs for either this or Market Square Tower? where would one look for that type of info?

Construction companies aren't going to easily divulge that information to their competition for private ventures like this. Labor rates, Material costs, and productivity rates vary between companies, and the last thing you'd want is for your competitor to undercut you in an open bid. That beings said, while you may not be able to find specific cost estimates for skyscrapers going up now. You might be able to find some on older and perhaps more famous structures around the world. 

Very impressed with the aluminum framing and construction. 

agreed. Looks like they also installed little sunshades over the windows. I'm glad, it gives the building a little more 'texture'

It's not the only one going up in town. Six stories of kindling wood framing seems to be easy enough to do....as long as no one runs a forklift into it (see Swamplot for the results).

Yeah I saw that on swamplot. I cycled by it this weekend. They were disassembling the structure on sunday. Talk about 'oops'

For what its worth, the law ( states that you  must file with the FAA if your structure meets one of the following:

14 CFR Part 77.9 states that any person/organization who intends to sponsor any of the following construction or alterations must notify the Administrator of the FAA:

• any construction or alteration exceeding 200 ft above ground level
• any construction or alteration:
  • within 20,000 ft of a public use or military airport which exceeds a 100:1 surface from any point on the runway of each airport with its longest runway more than 3,200 ft
  • within 10,000 ft of a public use or military airport which exceeds a 50:1 surface from any point on the runway of each airport with its longest runway no more than 3,200 ft
  • within 5,000 ft of a public use heliport which exceeds a 25:1 surface
• any highway, railroad or other traverse way whose prescribed adjusted height would exceed the above noted standards
• when requested by the FAA
• any construction or alteration located on a public use airport or heliport regardless of height or location.

Source https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/portal.jsp

Obstruction Evaluation / Airport Airspace Analysis (OE/AAA)

200 ft. above ground level is pretty much every mid level and major skyscraper in Houston Proper. I think the so-called "defacto" height restrictions by the FAA some are proposing here appears to me to be more of an urban legend. Especially if the structure is in downtown... surrounded by several 800 foot plus skyscrapers. I think you'd have more truth to the argument if Hobby was closer to downtown. But theres a lot of cities with airports, closer to their respective downtowns and they don't have issues with large structures going up. Midway airport is 10.2 miles from Downtown Chicago. Hobby airport is 11.2. La Gaurdia Airport is 8.1 miles from Manhattan (more specifically central park). Logan Airport is 4 miles from downtown Boston. The list goes on...

The reason supertall skyscrapers dont get built in Houston, I'd opine, probably has more to do with the economics of the region than with a small(er) international airpot 12 miles away. 

Windows need to have Chevron Hatching with a chevron shaped crown at the top. It would be like inception. Chevron within a Chevron within a Chevron. 

I agree with Luminare. 

Careful guys and girls, we've got an internet tough guy here. 

As an exercise. On some of the other threads construction photos. Try to look at the side of the slabs while the buildings are under construction. You'll see cables/holes coming out the side of them that disappear as the project goes up. The cables coming out the side of the slab, are the PT cables. Workers will tension the cables, grout the hole, and seal the ends as construction progresses. 

Parking garages use PT a lot. 

In the pictures above, ...... The rebar, before the concrete pour........ What is the "red piping" in the floor? Anyone with construction expertise know the answer? I'm just curious to learn something today.....

Those are PT cables, or Post-Tension cables. So concrete is really weak in tension, which is why we put rebar into it. But if we put rebar, and post-tension cables... then Apply Tension on those cables, it puts the concrete into compression. This allows the the designers to construct a slab thats 3'' or 4'' or 5'' thick, as opposed to 6'', 7'', or 8'' (etc.). This reduces the self weight of the structure and reduces material costs. SOme more info in the Wiki Link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prestressed_concrete

I don't do much design with PT cables, since in the industrial world they can be dangerous.

The design changes rumor puzzles me. Thats an expensive-ass change order for a 'Redesign' of a 4-5 story building. Call me skeptical of that rumor. 

I'm wondering if they had QA problems or material problems on their concrete. 

From 610, the updtown/Gallery skyline looks very dense. From the air, not so much. Love that view though. 

Theyre waiting on the next forest to grow so they can cut it down: Need more lumber 

Yeah, the high rise appearance is underwhelming, and (in my opinion) will look dated within a decade. Still, I'm glad theyre building it. More density, more walk-ability. 

ah okay. Thanks. 

That is quite the tall wooden structure. 6 floors of wood framing. 

How long has that wood framing been exposed to the elements? 

Those are some pretty good renderings. 

I noticed they had replaced some of the diagonal bracing with new steel the other day. Must have been damaged or corroded. 

ah, that makes more sense Cloud!

Thanks. 

Ross Perot!? I didnt realize he was still around.

Great Photos Howard & Nate

I like brick for highrises more, in my opinion. It looks better than the glass over the course of decades.

I doubt those roof tops are rated for an outdoor gathering area. Rooftops that carry people have pretty high requirements, as purdue will tell you.

You COULD get away with it, with some strengthening. 

If its a simply balcony the requirements arent that much, but if its a gathering space for large groups of people, then yes. The requirements are high. 

That guy is lucky to be alive. Falls are one of the most common sources of fatalities at the construction workplace. OSHA regulations call for the requirement of Fall protection if the worker is at 6 ft (in construction) elevation above the local walking surface. At 15-20 ft, the distribution of fatal falls is quite high. 

Some light reading for those bored:

https://www.osha.gov/dep/fatcat/fy13_federal-state_summaries.pdf
https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10757

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2000-116/pdfs/2000-116b.pdf