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.
