UT Research Park Complex Developments

[Ross]

On 1/29/2020 at 8:03 PM, ekdrm2d1 said:

I see the four vault concrete structures for the proton therapy.

 

 

Presumably for the gantries. Here's a link that shows a behind the scenes look at proton therapy and the associated equipment. https://www.oncolink.org/cancer-treatment/proton-therapy/overviews-of-proton-therapy/proton-therapy-behind-the-scenes

[Geographer]

Good afternoon, Houstonians!  I am a new member of this forum.  It's an exciting time to be a resident of Houston!

 

Why doesn't this building have piles buried into the ground?  Houston's geology is rather soft and porous, right?  It seems that without piles a big, heavy building will sink into the soil over the decades that it will be used.

[Highrise Tower]

Here's photos of the matt pour today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

Any idea how many yards of concrete they used? It looks massive enough to fall into the "will never be demolished" category.

[Ross]

16 hours ago, Geographer said:

Good afternoon, Houstonians!  I am a new member of this forum.  It's an exciting time to be a resident of Houston!

 

Why doesn't this building have piles buried into the ground?  Houston's geology is rather soft and porous, right?  It seems that without piles a big, heavy building will sink into the soil over the decades that it will be used.

Larger buildings here seldom have piles, as there's not a geologic layer able to support them until you get thousands of feet down. For houses, it's simpler, as they weigh less. So, the general approach is to make the buildings "float" on the soil underneath by roughly equating the weight of the building and foundation to the weight of the removed soil, sometimes assisted by ledges of concrete around the edges.

[jmitch94]

I thought almost all large buildings here have piles. Every tower I've see on this forum seems to have pilings. 

[Ross]

1 hour ago, jmitch94 said:

I thought almost all large buildings here have piles. Every tower I've see on this forum seems to have pilings. 

 

If there are pilings, they don't go deep, as it is impossible to hit solid rock here. Here's an article on construction in Chicago, which has somewhat similar conditions, except that there is solid rock in some places https://informedinfrastructure.com/31619/building-skyscrapers-on-chicagos-swampy-soil/ .

 

Here's another one on the Texas Commerce, formerly Gulf I believe, building in Houston, which used a mat foundation https://www.asce.org/project/texas-commerce-bank-building/

 

The JP Morgan Chase tower, 75 stories, doesn't have any pilings or piers. 

[jmitch94]

Okay I have absolutely no knowledge of construction so I guess my question is what is all the drilling into the ground for before they lay the mat? 

[Highrise Tower]

 

 

[Highrise Tower]

 

[Highrise Tower]

 

 

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[Highrise Tower]

[hindesky]

[Highrise Tower]

[Highrise Tower]

[Highrise Tower]

[Highrise Tower]

 

[hindesky]

[Highrise Tower]

[hindesky]

The walls are 3' thick. Built like bunker, wonder why they have to be that thick?

[hindesky]

Looked for the reason why the walls are so thick and found this article.

 

https://www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com/trends/construction-engineering/lessons-learned-in-building-proton-therapy-centers/

 

Parts of the article.......

 

Weighing 220 tons—or as much as a fully loaded Boeing 757—the unit had to be welded to the bottom of the ship that brought it to the Port of Houston from Belgium because if it shifted even slightly during the voyage, it could capsize the boat. Once on land, the truck transporting the cyclotron from Galveston, Texas, to Irving took three days to make what is normally a four-hour drive, escorted by police officers and using a route dictated by the Texas Department of Transportation because many bridges wouldn’t be able to bear the load.

 

Solution: The unique aspects of a proton therapy site must be considered early in the process to properly plan for this key piece of equipment. For the Texas Center, the cyclotron was pulled in to the building through a side wall opening using a railroad track-like system. The opening, at nearly 12-feet thick, was later infilled with solid blocks to complete the shielding system requirements.

 

 

Challenge: Structural considerations—Concrete walls between 8-12 feet thick are required for the facility to achieve the shielding required to protect patients and staff from radiation. At the same time, the walls need to accommodate extensive cabling for the proton therapy equipment (21 miles for the Texas project).

 

 

Solution: By building onsite and installing preassembled components, project teams can save valuable time and hit important deadlines while maintaining the quality control necessary to serve the medical equipment. For the Texas Center project, prefabricated conduit runs and 16,000 cubic yards of concrete in the 19,000-square-foot treatment zone made the difference. The construction team saved 7-10 days per concrete pour by racking the conduits on the ground. Using prefabricated components helped the team work in a controlled environment and ensure that every conduit was accounted for and allowed the team to make progress on the conduit runs while other team members were installing rebar and preparing to pour concrete.

 

Challenge: Foundation stability—Seismic and ground considerations must be considered for every project to ensure the facility will have a strong foundation that lasts for years to come. The Texas facility was in an area recently prone to tremors and with troublesome expansive soils that tend to shift.

 

Solution: Knowing your location and planning accordingly can help project teams address these issues as quickly as possible. In Texas, the team consulted with geo-tech engineers PSI (Arlington Heights, Ill.) and structural engineers Walter P. Moore (Houston) early in the process and mapped out a plan to stabilize the building. Nearly 300 piers, far above average for a building of similar size, were drilled into bedrock an average of 65 feet deep to prevent the beamline and treatment zones from moving, as well as to ensure stability between the clinical and treatment zones. The team also used void forms to prevent differential settlement and allow soil to shift under the building without disturbing the clinical side.

[Ross]

Yep, lots of radiation in the basement. There are very thick walls between each treatment room as well. When I had my proton treatments, I received 2 gray units per day for 30 days. A fatal full body dose is less than 10 gray units. The cool thing with protons is that the energy can be controlled, unlike conventional radiation which, in the words of Jim Morrison, breaks on through to the other side. I wish I had been able to take a picture of the treatment rooms, but they don't allow you to take anything into the area except yourself and any appliances required for treatment.

[Highrise Tower]

[Ross]

13 hours ago, Highrise Tower said:

Interesting. We don't see that many above ground concrete walls built using forms like this here.Especially not that tall. Part of me wonders how, if it ever happens, this building will be demolished(hey, it's Houston, everything gets torn down at some point. There must be a law or something😁).

[Highrise Tower]

 

 

[Highrise Tower]

[hindesky]