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Tuesday, 10 April 2018 20:40

Record setting high-rise construction begins in Los Angeles

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World record concrete pouring operation...

...kicks off construction on tallest building west of Mississippi River.
On Saturday Feb 15th, construction crews began a 20-hour concrete pour that will set a world record for the longest duration continuous concrete pour ever.  Officials from the Guinness Book of World Records will be on hand to verify the feat.  The record setting concrete pour will serve to form the foundation of LA's first new skyscraper in over 20 years.Wilshire Grand Center2

The Wilshire Grand Center will be an 1,100 ft tall mixed-use office/retail/hotel complex with an estimated cost of $1 Billion.  It will be the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.  Only Chicago and New York have taller buildings.  Topping out at 73 floors, the Wilshire Grand Center will encompass approximately 1.7 million square feet of space!
In comparison, the Wilshire Grand Center, in earth-quake-prone Los Angeles is only 2/3rds of the height of New York City's new "One World Trade Center" which stands 1776 feet tall when measured to the top of its architectural spire. It has 35 fewer floors than Chicago's Willis (formerly Sears) Tower.  Willis Tower still eclipses One World Trade Center with the highest occupiable floor at 108 floors compared to 1 WTC's 104.  

In a unique departure from Los Angeles's typical high-rise construction practice, The Wilshire Grand will have not have a "flat" roof as is mandated by a 1974 fire ordinance that required all tall buildings to include rooftop helicopter landing pads.  Because The Wilshire Grand will be constructed with life-safety systems that exceed LA city fire codes it has been granted an exception that will allow it to have a sloped architectural roof.  
240px-Wilshire Grand CenterAdding to the degree of difficulty in completing this 20-hour world-record concrete foundation pour is the fact that concrete must be dispensed into place within 90 minutes of being mixed.  84 million pounds of concrete will be delivered by approximately 2,000 truckloads during the project.  Due to traffic issues in Los Angeles careful planning, including alternate routes around traffic jams, was required to stage such an operation.
The Wilshire Grand Center is expected to be completed in 2017.  Read more about this intriguing new real estate development at www.wilshiregrandcenter.com

 

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