Millennium Tower (Filene's) | 426 Washington Street | Downtown

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BosDevelop said:
yes, still moving a TON of dirt around. There has been action in the pit every weekday for the last few months. I cannot comment on the weekends. Just a guess but I bet we see a crane in the pit in the next month or so.
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My guess -- is that for a while longer that you wont see anything spring forth from the ground where the holes are being drilled

Remember that the front of the Burnham and the two sides are all accessible from the street -- However the Backside of the Burnham is tightly constrained by the pit and tower foundations.

To simplify the exterior work on the backside of the Burnham work on the tower will be limited for a while

This kind of phasing of the construction will allow smaller cranes and platforms to access the backside of the Burnham as needed while the glazing and other facade work is underway
 
Construction on the tower seems to be moving into the next phase. Permits for the eletrical systems and fire alarms were issued today. Permits are for a "442-unit" apartment/mixed retail building at 1 Franklin Street.
 
Glass, glass, more glass. Loving it more each day.

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Most activity is concentrated in the pit: massive 3' diameter round pylons running HORIZONTALLY in about 5 rows about 3' off the bottom, running between the secant walls on Washington and Hawley. I'm guessing they plan to dig much lower, using the pylons to support the secant walls as they go -- but won't it be difficult to excavate under those horizontal pylons? Anybody have any info on this? I've never seen anything like it.
 
Gromit said:
Most activity is concentrated in the pit: massive 3' diameter round pylons running HORIZONTALLY in about 5 rows about 3' off the bottom, running between the secant walls on Washington and Hawley. I'm guessing they plan to dig much lower, using the pylons to support the secant walls as they go -- but won't it be difficult to excavate under those horizontal pylons? Anybody have any info on this? I've never seen anything like it.
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You're right. You are looking at the cross-lot bracing for support of excavation. Once this level of bracing is installed, they will make a cut down 10-15ft (typical), install another level of bracing, make another cut, and so on until they reach bottom. They'll be able to work around the bracing with machines excavating in series, feeding one another.

Activity inside the Burnham seems to be continuous. That outside material hoist is non-stop. Looks like the glass is going in at night, brrr.
 
Idk who else agrees but this may be the most beautiful skyscraper in Boston (After the JHT), only time will tell once this is complete. I love the fact that from the charles river side it will form a peak over the rest of the downtown skyline, which it has been lacking for a long time. Also I was pissed after this thing got pushed back many times, but after seeing this new design I am soo thankful it did because this is head and heals over the earlier proposals. Not to mention the first design was much shorter and would have been another stump lost in a sea of stumps, this thing stands above the rest, looks incredible, and engages with the street much better. They might as well put an observation deck in this since trans national will probably take forever to get approved, it is in a very prominent location, and it is taller than the rest of the downtown buildings.
 
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NEUcivENG said:
You're right. You are looking at the cross-lot bracing for support of excavation. Once this level of bracing is installed, they will make a cut down 10-15ft (typical), install another level of bracing, make another cut, and so on until they reach bottom. They'll be able to work around the bracing with machines excavating in series, feeding one another.

Activity inside the Burnham seems to be continuous. That outside material hoist is non-stop. Looks like the glass is going in at night, brrr.
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Thanks for the clarification. Now I can see that the braces actually run from Washington to Franklin (?), and separately from Hawley to Franklin, leaving a big open triangle on the Burnham side of the hole. As you said, the machines are already working around the bracing in series, one in the pit feeding another sitting at street level, and that one is filling a non-stop line of trucks carting it away. You can see the empties lining up waiting their turn on the side streets near Franklin. Can someone post the construction schematics for this? How deep will they dig for the tower? They've just opened up 2 more basement levels under the Burnham, well below the current bottom of the pit, and I figure they'll need to go still further down . My daily commute takes me by the site early AM and again PM, and my gawking will surely make me miss my ride!
 
The renderings look pretty slick for Downtown. The question we have to ask ourselves what will this development do to rebrand the area into what?
 
palindrome said:
Project of the decade.
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Worth noting that Boston could have as many as 4 new towers 600'+ by 2020, not to mention other large undertakings such as the Congress Street Garage redevelopment. While this is certainly a frontrunner for project of the decade, I don't think it's quite the no-brainer that you are making it out to be.

When you really think about it though, this probably should have been the project of LAST decade!
 
Gromit said:
Thanks for the clarification. Now I can see that the braces actually run from Washington to Franklin (?), and separately from Hawley to Franklin, leaving a big open triangle on the Burnham side of the hole. As you said, the machines are already working around the bracing in series, one in the pit feeding another sitting at street level, and that one is filling a non-stop line of trucks carting it away. You can see the empties lining up waiting their turn on the side streets near Franklin. Can someone post the construction schematics for this? How deep will they dig for the tower? They've just opened up 2 more basement levels under the Burnham, well below the current bottom of the pit, and I figure they'll need to go still further down . My daily commute takes me by the site early AM and again PM, and my gawking will surely make me miss my ride!
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There are 3 basement levels with parking and a sub-basement level for some mechanical stuff. At least that is what was in the project documents
 
Just toured the Fox Residences at Downtown Crossing; my office has access to all the units. Check out the views into our beloved Filene's Hole:

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Nice views...an 800-1000 footer at Winthrop sq would look amazing.
 
Is that bracing they're putting in so they can start digging the foundation?
 
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