It is nice to see that most of the first few floors' features are about done and the remaining floors will be going up soon...finally it looks like a tower under construction...I assume things will be moving more quickly now vertically.

It is nice to see that most of the first few floors' features are about done and the remaining floors will be going up soon...finally it looks like a tower under construction...I assume things will be moving more quickly now vertically.

If you consider the first 6 floors being up by August 1st and it being equal to the height of the west parking garage, then yeah, I guess that is progress... I'll call it progress when I'm driving eastbound on Northwest Expressway next to Baptist Hospital and I see it defined from there.

Six floors by June (approx 100 feet tall) and glass on the exterior by July.

End of July at least.... the top of the elevator shaft is at about floor level of the Colcord's 6th floor.

If you consider the first 6 floors being up by August 1st and it being equal to the height of the west parking garage, then yeah, I guess that is progress... I'll call it progress when I'm driving eastbound on Northwest Expressway next to Baptist Hospital and I see it defined from there.

Patience is a virtue...especially in constructing tall buildings...I just hope I live long enough to see all those nice German windows installed! :kicking:

Patience is a virtue...especially in constructing tall buildings...I just hope I live long enough to see all those nice German windows installed! :kicking:

You're not prone to driving drunk are you? Being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Gotten struck by lightning before?

If you're older then I applaud you for recording your marks on the net. My parents are in no way intrigued enough to become a member of a forum...

You're not prone to driving drunk are you? Being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Gotten struck by lightning before?

If you're older then I applaud you for recording your marks on the net. My parents are in no way intrigued enough to become a member of a forum...
Well...I am 61-1/2, have been in a large earthquake in 1994 (4 miles from epicenter) have had to dig fingers in the ground with a tornado overhead, been in two bad car accidents in Dallas (and I have NEVER lived there) and had a litany of health problems, so...I do HOPE I live that long--I am just an old eccentric guy who still likes to be the young boy who liked to see things built. When you get out of touch with the times and technology--you are headed for the ash-heap of history. :fighting3

Yep, it's cool to keep up w/ the tech... my Dad has been in I.T. since the 50's, still working, not thinking of retiring (now 76 yrs old) and he's not one of those stuck in the old tech, proficient in Oracle, VB .net, all the above, just saying that as we age, may as well keep up with it all !

I took these pictures on June 4th, so I am a bit tardy posting these up. My apologies, but hope you enjoy:

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/7659/kdk0336.jpg (http://img693.imageshack.us/i/kdk0336.jpg/)

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/8442/kdk0337.jpg (http://img294.imageshack.us/i/kdk0337.jpg/)

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7607/kdk0338.jpg (http://img13.imageshack.us/i/kdk0338.jpg/)

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4392/kdk0339.jpg (http://img690.imageshack.us/i/kdk0339.jpg/)

Click here for a pano shot. (http://img37.imageshack.us/i/kdk0340m.jpg/)

Thanks for the great pictures Vandy, especially the north side ones...can never quite see that area on the cam. One gets a good perspective of the actual size of things down there from your photos from ground evel...nice...:congrats:

Thanks vandy, you take some great pics..

Thanks for the great pictures Vandy, especially the north side ones...can never quite see that area on the cam. One gets a good perspective of the actual size of things down there from your photos from ground evel...nice...:congrats:

It is very easy to lose perspective in how large the site is. Seeing 6ft tall workers on site really helps!


Thanks vandy, you take some great pics..

Except when I stick my finger in front of the lens like in picture #3 :doh:

JMarkRoss - That's some crazy stuff. Glad you've made it through all that!

I never saw an answer to my question a few days back, here goes again, what is the building north of the tower? Is that the Colcords new meeting space? Platemaker do you know?

I thought I answered that, Metro. I believe it's this building, which was part of the original plan and separate from the rotunda and podium buildings.

I think it's more meeting space for Devon and fits between the tower and east parking garage.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/devon/devon9.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/devon/devon14.jpg

Yep, Pete, I remember you posting that.

Looking at the still cam shot, those square forums for the columns are going up pretty fast on the (whatever floor) they're on now, over on the east side. AND finallllllyyyyyyy, they're casting the last column of the ground floor level. It's like a right of passage, lol...

Guess I missed it after my question. I've seen the renderings, but also know they plan on building the Colcord a meeting/banquet building, so assumed it was the one I questioned. I'm sure you're correct Pete, looking at the renderings. Platemaker, do you or anyone else know where the Colcord's meeting/banquet building will be built then?

The meeting rooms they are adding are coming west directly off of the L(north) of the building.

Guess I missed it after my question. I've seen the renderings, but also know they plan on building the Colcord a meeting/banquet building, so assumed it was the one I questioned. I'm sure you're correct Pete, looking at the renderings. Platemaker, do you or anyone else know where the Colcord's meeting/banquet building will be built then?

Also, if you look at the second illustration, just north of the tower you'll notice a 'v' shaped dotted line. You can see the form of that line in the still cam shot on the north structure. I believe that they're going to build a interior walkway connecting this building in the first rendering with the actual Colcord structure. I read that somewhere here in this thread but can't remember what page or when...

Let's see if this works. Here is a pdf showing the ground level of the entire block that was submitted to the planning commitee.

Thanks cad poke! That was very helpful, and worked great! Thanks for the post!

In vandy's second and third pictures, you can see by the blue portable toilet one of two openings that provide access to the "second floor". The middle opening is walled-off for this floor and some kind of suspended walkway system will connect the tower to the northern building. We don't know what it will look like because they never released interior renderings for this side of the tower.

The southeast side of the "second floor" is just one solid wall connecting the two elevator cores, just like we see in one of the renderings.

Edit: This post was in reference to main tower and building directly north of main tower.



Thanks Poke, it looks like Concord will be connected directly due east of the tower's center.

Thanks so much cad_poke!

Here is that image at various sizes to show some of the detail:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/devon/cad60910a.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/devon/cad60910b.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/devon/cad60910c.jpg

Devon Energy Corp., the second- largest independent U.S. oil company by market value, promoted President John Richels to chief executive officer and said co- founder J. Larry Nichols will stay on as executive chairman.

Here is a rendering from the 6/5/10 Oklahoman showing the proposed courtyard just west of the Colcord. You can see the meeting rooms and Devon Tower connector behind the trees, tied into the "L":

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/devon/colcord60510.jpg

From the article:

"Guests who will want to enjoy such sights and sounds will be treated to another improvement planned by Devon — the creation of a new courtyard and park area immediately west of the hotel.

The current courtyard posed a challenge for the hotel to create an environment inviting to guests because it was built around large utility sheds and adjoining concrete parking.

The new courtyard, designed by Portland, Ore., landscape architect Scott Murase, calls for an ornate wall with water fountains flowing through the sides. A glass wall will face Sheridan Avenue, providing guests with some privacy but not blocking out views of life outside the hotel.

A small park area between the tower and the courtyard, meanwhile, will replace the utility sheds and concrete to provide shade for courtyard guests.
Kimker said the improvements all are a part of Devon's commitment to ensuring the hotel's long-term future."

creepy red skies

creepy red skies

The tower won't be completed until the 2012 Mayan apocalypse. :ohno:

The people in that rendering are all ghosts also. LOL

That last and third blueprint reminds me of the circular access point R2D2 sticks his rod into on Star Wars to access the computer system on the Star Destroyer!

creepy red skies

I agree...I was going to postulate that the rendering looked great--although the Great Oklahoma City Fire in the background seemed foreboding...:LolLolLol

I agree...I was going to postulate that the rendering looked great--although the Great Oklahoma City Fire in the background seemed foreboding...:LolLolLol

It could be from the Yellowstone mega volcano...

Looks like the Concrete Pumping Boom is in action for the first time puring part of the Elevator Core. I would imagine that it is going to be pouring the first few rectangular columns that will support what will be the 4th floor. (or 3rd depending on whom you ask! lol!)

What I am eager to see is them pouring more columns at a time like I know that they will eventually begin to do. We will really start to see things move then!

Does anyone have any pics from ground leve? I can't get a good look from that Devon Skycam thing.

Many skyscrapers omit floor 13 or floor 4 in the 'official' records (say elevator placards), but obviously there is a level 13 and a level 4.

Why floor 4??

Why floor 4??

Tetraphobia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraphobia)

Great to see the Concrete Boom in operation yet again this evening! They are pouring the newly formed columns! That is about all for the side that has most recently been placed.

I am hoping that tonight they will pour the next third of the floor on the SW side of the building.

It also appears that the second level to the building to the north of the tower is about ready to pour (at least one section of it).\

Good times - awesome to see!:woowoo:

Something has occured to me.
Everyone knows that the dirt is gone you see.
So can someone tell me.
Where is all the dirt please?



(the dirt that will fill in the empty holes after construction)

Something has occured to me.
Everyone knows that the dirt is gone you see.
So can someone tell me.
Where is all the dirt please?



(the dirt that will fill in the empty holes after construction)

They buried all that dirt under the tower.

They only have the western side of the "bathtub" left to go.

It is great that the Tower is now emerging from the shadow of the east parking structure and with the completion of this floor just about done now (I won't hazard a guess as to it's number) it will be interesting to see the rest of the floors stack up...soon a slight adjustment to the camera will be needed to increase the vertical field visible to allow full viewing of the progress...exciting eye candy...

Something has occured to me.
Everyone knows that the dirt is gone you see.
So can someone tell me.
Where is all the dirt please?



(the dirt that will fill in the empty holes after construction)

Hi Troypin, To answer your question there is a great deal of earth that was removed and most of it will not be coming back. The subgrade level is going to be used as underground parking so most of the volume is taken up by that structure. What is left will be the planted gardens and water features which will require select fill and plant supporting soil to be brought back in. However it is fairly unlikely to see them return the previously excavated or removed dirt back on site. It will likely be sand, gravel and soil that meets a certain quality level that they will use. The sub-grade garage roof deck will have to be treated similarly to any other roof and will need to be waterproofed and sealed with a membrane and drainage system. Then we will see them back fill with the earthen materials that I listed previously.

The original excavation or cut (soil removed from the site) was likely taken to a property owner's land that is advertising free soil dump. They often do this if they are trying to build up the land to a useable level so that it can increase the useabililty of the land.

Hopefully this will answer your questions.

Their going to need construction elevators pretty soon.

They already have to do a lot of ladder climbing just to get to the current top floor.

I would guess that it will be a few more floors yet before we see that take place.

Anyone happen to be heading out to the site with a camera? I am needing a pre-weekend fix of detailed construction shots showing what has traspired on the North building as well as from the west looking eastward toward the tower and then of course looking westward over the site.

Thanks to all who spend thier own time in sharing these images with the rest of us who are unable to get there.

...soon a slight adjustment to the camera will be needed to increase the vertical field visible to allow full viewing of the progress...exciting eye candy...

I was just wondering about that myself; in that how many floors would be constructed before the building was higher than the camera's current vertical view limit. My guess is that floor 14 would be just at or above the upper edge of the current view.

I'd say let's have a pool on that, but some one with the specs could probably do the geometry and nail that.

Fly

I would guess that it will be a few more floors yet before we see that take place.

Anyone happen to be heading out to the site with a camera? I am needing a pre-weekend fix of detailed construction shots showing what has traspired on the North building as well as from the west looking eastward toward the tower and then of course looking westward over the site.

Thanks to all who spend thier own time in sharing these images with the rest of us who are unable to get there.

I second the motion...we are always indebted to the good souls that take the pictures that keep us up to date...our eyes on the site...keep an eye out for any red skies in the NW, though...:bow::bow::bow:

Their clearing off the top of the recently poured third floor section. Looks like we may see some of those big form structures moved into place this weekend, if not today.

Their clearing off the top of the recently poured third floor section. Looks like we may see some of those big form structures moved into place this weekend, if not today.

Do you mean the forms for the elavator cores?

Do you mean the forms for the elavator cores?

I was talking about the floor forms that they have building and stock pilling over at the staging area west of the tower.

The floor layout from this point on is the same all the way to top of tower with only minor differences. This allows them to use standard floor forms which will greatly speed up construction.

I thought the floor layout would not become consistent until the sixth floor is reached or the top of the atrium which I thought was six floors. I also would think that all the elevator shafts would not be going to the top. In most high rises of this size one core would go to about the 20th floor, one to the 40th and the other to the top. But, perhaps this building will be different

I thought the floor layout would not become consistent until the sixth floor is reached or the top of the atrium which I thought was six floors. I also would think that all the elevator shafts would not be going to the top. In most high rises of this size one core would go to about the 20th floor, one to the 40th and the other to the top. But, perhaps this building will be different

I think the atrium and the north building are "loosely connected" to the tower if you know what I mean. There may be some kind of steel structure which handles the transition between the tower, atrium, and south building. The floor layout of 3-6 should be similar enough to start using the standard forms.




The cores are part of the towers structual integrity so they will go all the way to the top.



Edit: I only say that they will start using the standard forms now because they made the point of finishing all the columns on the newly poured floor section. They usual started putting up the shoring system by now. The pattern seems to be different. I could be wrong though.

Here comes one of the sections now.

Oh yeah and another section is flying as I type! Things are going to really start to pick up now on the tower!

As a retired person...with time and boredom as my closest friends...I am able to watch the crane move around and bring things up...saw them do a big blue column frame today...have to wait a minute to see the next frame--but it is fascinating. They are doing a lot at night now...and with the help of observations from others, it enables one to keep up with the logic of it all. Thanks folks! :kicking:

BTW...if anyone is keeping daily cam jpegs like I am...I have a pretty complete set going back quite a ways...I try to get at least one in the AM and one in the PM, and am starting to get night shots when I find myself up for a while in the night...if you need a copy of a date...let me know, I will try to share. Pretty geeky stuff, I suppose--but the time lapse thing from a jpeg folder is cool to watch...:woowoo:

yesterday...
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll14/Platemaker_photos/061110.jpg

What I have yet to figure out, is how the new blue form system is moved from floor to floor after the concrete has been placed/poured on top of it. Anyone know how this is accomplished?

Sure... its just two half cylinders bolted together... they just split it in two, place it on the top with the crane, bolt it back together, and pour... but notice now that they are on floor thre they are square instead of round.

Interesting and informative photo Platemaker. Great one, really. :congrats:

Awesome pano Platemaker! I had a dream last night about the tower getting its last panel of glass on it. I said to some guy, "man, that's gonna take a crap load of Windex to clean!" Then we see this guy using this Squeegy that's as big as a semi truck and I then say, "well, I bet that speeds up the process...". Gotta love dreams. :kicking:

One other thought I need to add:

That concrete pumper on top of the south elevator core looks it may reach the last 1/3 section of our "above ground floor" but what about the building just to the north of the tower? Will the crane just deposit it somewhere else or do they plan on having two pumpers? I'd think the answer would be two as that would definitely speed up the process...

Sure... its just two half cylinders bolted together... they just split it in two, place it on the top with the crane, bolt it back together, and pour... but notice now that they are on floor thre they are square instead of round.

Platemaker, do you know how they move the big blue floor forms that they have been building and stockpiling, and now they are on the southeast portion of the tower?
Thanks for the info.

no idea. :)

Platemaker, do you know how they move the big blue floor forms that they have been building and stockpiling, and now they are on the southeast portion of the tower?
Thanks for the info.

They will use a cantilever landing. This will be attached to the building and then they can wheel the form sections outside the above floor.