DenverInfill Blog

Remember shoring walls? The third photo in Update #30 is a good shot of one during the first phase of constructing the bus terminal. A new wall is now being built immediately behind the historic station in preparation for excavating the second half of the bus terminal hole. The process of building a shoring wall has several steps: (1) drill holes approximately 30 feet deep and about 20 feet apart; (2) drop an I-beam vertically into the hole; (3) back-fill the hole; (4) form the wall as dirt is being excavated by placing timbers into the slots created by the I-beams.

Here are two photos of the drilling process.   I took the first one on Wednesday, and the second one this morning.  The drill rig (you can see its vertical boom against the center of the station) drills the holes, and the crane in the second photo drops I-beams into the holes. The shoring wall will protect the station’s foundation and prevent dirt from falling into the hole.

Speaking of protecting the station’s foundation, think about the risks posed to the station by the heavy construction activity next to it. Kiewit is taking precautions to prevent damage to the old building including the installation of devices inside the building to monitor vibration levels.

The overhead photo below shows further progress on the new light rail station. Concrete is being poured for a handicapped passenger ramp and the framework for the canopy has been installed. Follow this link to get a broad perspective of this part of the project. It’s a rendering from Denver Union Station Project Authority’s website. The canopy is visible as a tiny, white triangle in the upper center of the rendering.

This week, I posted 20 new photos to our Denver Union Station page at JobSiteVistor.com.

The most visible current activity is the reconstruction of Chestnut Place that will connect 16th and 20th streets as it crosses over the top of the new underground bus terminal.  The photo on the left shows the reconstruction of the Chestnut Place – 18th Street intersection.  The photo on the right shows the first leg of the new Chestnut Place as it begins to stretch from 16th Street toward its destination with the intersection in the left photo.   Between the two photos is the underground bus terminal over which Chestnut Place will pass.  In the right photo you can see that the new route of the 16th Mall Shuttle is starting to take shape.  The modified triangular canopy is the new shuttle station.

Before the end of August, the extended route of the shuttle will cross Wewatta Street, turn right onto the new Chestnut Place, turn left onto 17th Street which will be on the roof of the bus terminal but is not yet visible, and turn left onto the new street that’s under construction along the front of the shuttle station.  After dropping off and picking up passengers, the shuttle will leave the station, turn left onto 16th Street, and continue on its way to the mall.

Demolition work continues behind the historic station.  The following photo shows the breadth of the work.  The remains of two of the three tunnels are visible if you look closely.  The baggage tunnel is left center and visible only as two vertical concrete walls.  All that left of the passenger tunnel is the gaping hole in the back of the station slightly to the left of center.  The mail tunnel is hidden by a pile of dirt near the excavator in the right center of the photo.

Today, I took the photos above.  Tomorrow, I expect to take more that I will upload to our Denver Union Station page at JobSiteVistor.com .