MIT.nano | Kendall Square | Cambridge

[cozzyd]

The closing of that bridge was a huge inconvenience for transporting heavy things between labs in 26 and 24, especially in inclement weather. There is still an interior path between 26 and 24 through the 3rd floor of 34, but it involves stairs or a wheelchair elevator.

 

[whighlander]

demolition to prepare for DEMOLITION of the old #12 and the associated disruption continues apace

Removal of the other bridge between the "Once and Future" Building 12 and the rest of the Core Buildings is done

Next to "fall" is the basement ramp between Buildings 26 and 16

Scheduled to close temporarily during the installation of new electrical circuits. The ramp will remain closed for approximately 8 weeks.

• Existing electrical feeds are cast in the ramp. The ramp will be demolished, existing feeds removed, and new conduit and conductors installed.
• Signs will direct pedestrians to alternate stairwells and elevators nearby. The single elevator immediately next to the closed ramp will remain available for individuals with disabilities only and is not available for commercial, freight, or pedestrian use.

 

[whighlander]

MIT.Nano is launching a free seminar series on its own development and birth
How Mit.Nano is Made "Tool Talks"
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/how-mit-nano-is-made-tool-talks-0306

Tool Talks Topics
Below is a projected list of the discussion topics for the MIT.nano Tool Talks series. As construction schedules can change, so may the lineup in the series.

• March 17, noon, 4-105: Overview of construction sequence and Building 12 demolition prep
  • Building preparation
  • Selective demo
  • Building demo / method
• June 2015: Slurry wall – pre-trenching
  • Definition, purpose
  • Installation process
• August 2015: Slurry wall – installation of panels
  • General overview of installation process
  • Slurry plant
  • Installation sequence of panels
• October 2015: Excavation (September through December)
  • Review of soil pre-characterization
  • Removal requirements for classified soil
  • Sequence of soil removal and foundation wall bracing
• December 2015: Underslab plumbing
  • Review of performance requirements
  • Installation sequence
• February 2016: Crane set-up
  • Review of installation logistics and location of crane placement
• April 2016: Steel (March through May)
  • Review of fabrication / delivery process
  • Installation sequence / pick plan
• June 2016: Curtain wall (beginning)
  • Review of fabrication / delivery process
  • Review of performance criteria
• October 2016: Curtain wall (completion)
  • Review of QA/QC process
  • Review of performance testing requirements

Sounds like a fairly complete course in state-of-the-art research building construction -- if there hadn't been so much Green Beer flowing I might have made the first one

 

[whighlander]

MIT NANO 3/23 Demolition / Construction Update

Looking down at the Blg 12 work site from Bldg 26

Orientation:

• Construction Zone marked A is in the foreground
• Bldg 24 on the upper right corner
• Bldg 13 is center top
• main core Bldgs are to the left

Major Demolition begins

Plan view of the Construction work zone A with details of some of the tasks

Screenshot of building model indicating layout for support of excavation scope

Another hint of what Nano is all about

A wafer containing hundreds of gallium nitride chips etched into its surface. The use of “extreme materials” in electronics could reduce energy consumption and make computers far faster. Tomás Palacios. (Image courtesy of Bryce Vickmark.)

 

[whighlander]

Pace is picking up

Work will continue on Saturdays and 2nd shift

Extended Work Hours

The Building 12 demolition work will be extended to Saturdays and additional 2nd shift. Saturday work will start on 3/28 and second shift work will start the week of 4/6. This extended schedule is expected to continue for the next 4 to 6 weeks.

• Saturday 3/28/15 -- 6:00am to 6:00pm
  
• Week of 3/30/15 -- 6:00am to 6:00pm
  
• Saturday 4/4/15 -- 6:00am to 6:00pm
  
• Week of 4/6/15 -- 1st and 2nd shift work will start for the next 4 consecutive weeks
  • 1st shift 6:00am to 3:00pm
  • 2nd shift 3:00pm to 11:00pm

More demolition pics from MIT.nano construction update website
https://mitnano.mit.edu/campus-updates/330-construction-update

looking toward Bldg 26 [blue/green Glass curtainwall bldg in background]

Some Installation of jet grout and secant piles

Bldg 10 background [the one with the dome] -- main corridor bldgs to left

 

[cozzyd]

And ... it's gone!

 

[whighlander]

And ... it's gone!

Cozzy -- Spectacular Emptiness -- that shot is a definite keeper!

That shot has not been possible for at least 50 years* and it will soon be gone again



* technically it never was possible before since there was no Bldg 13 before there was a Bldg 12 nor was there a vantage point for the shot

 

[whighlander]

MIT NANO Update for May

 

[whighlander]

More from May progress report

Installation of secant piles in work zone A

30” CHW main installation at Vassar Street

Fire protection reroute in Building 8 basement to enable new tel-data closet

and a tidbit of the technology

A suspended microchannel resonator (SMR) measures particles’ masses as they flow through a narrow channel. The original mass sensor consists of a fluid-filled microchannel etched in a tiny silicon cantilever that vibrates inside a vacuum cavity. As cells or particles flow through the channel, one at a time, their mass slightly alters the cantilever’s vibration frequency. This illustration depicts a snapshot of a cantilever vibrating at its first four resonant modes.

Image: Selim Olcum

Faster, smaller, more informative
Device can measure the distribution of tiny particles as they flow through a microfluidic channel.
Anne Trafton | MIT News Office
May 12, 2015

A new technique invented at MIT can measure the relative positions of tiny particles as they flow through a fluidic channel, potentially offering an easy way to monitor the assembly of nanoparticles, or to study how mass is distributed within a cell.
With further advancements, this technology has the potential to resolve the shape of objects in flow as small as viruses, the researchers say

 

[whighlander]

And now for something completely different

MIT has released the timelapse demo of Bldg 12

Time-lapse demolition of Building 12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd4_lYb3vPE&feature=youtu.be
https://youtu.be/bd4_lYb3vPE

Enjoy

 

[whighlander]

MIT NANO starts digging

Nuts, bolts, and slurry walls
A how-it’s-made seminar series shines light on MIT.nano, an historic campus construction project.

Leda Zimmerman | School of Engineering
August 26, 2015

In a Building 4 conference room overlooking the construction site, ..... a lunchtime “tool talk” on July 23, the second in a series detailing the latest phase of the construction on the project. “This is day 289 out of 1,000 working days of MIT.nano,” declared Richard Amster, director of campus construction. “We have finished the enabling phase and begun the actual building project. … So here we go.”

The building of MIT.nano is not starting with a hole in the ground, explained representatives from the engineering firm Haley & Aldrich and general contractor Turner Construction; it’s starting with an underground wall built in a very special way. For the next two months, crews will excavate and construct a reinforced concrete wall that drops 45 to 50 feet below the surface of the ground (and more than 100 feet in one location to support the crane that will be used during construction). The wall, which establishes the perimeter of the structure and will ultimately serve as a component in its foundation system, goes in before excavation even starts.

In a presentation dubbed “Slurry Walls 101,” Mark Haley described in detail the process of build a wall inside the ground.

https://youtu.be/wLPWgT9kgk4

Click on the HD and Full Screens and you are on the jobsite with the Slurry running around your feet!

 

[BeeLine]

https://flic.kr/p/CTY6eo

 

[whighlander]

Relic from last century
Time capsule buried in 1957 unearthed during excavation for MIT.nano.
Abby Abazorius | MIT News Office
November 17, 2015

During excavation for MIT.nano, the Department of Facilities unearthed an unexpected relic between buildings 12 and 26: a time capsule buried on June 5, 1957, to commemorate the opening of the Karl Taylor Compton Laboratories.
While the object initially appeared to be part of an existing utility system, upon further inspection staff members confirmed that it was, in fact, a time capsule containing historical artifacts.

the following video puts it into context -- as the "1957 Time Capsule" was buried with a note: Do not open until 2957

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0MVqBbOIss

By the way here's the major progress on the MIT Nano building project since last summer's updates:

the following work has been completed: 13,000 lineal feet of underground conduit were installed; 2,100 lineal feet of chilled water pipe were installed; 250 welds were x-rayed; 3,375 cubic yards of concrete for slurry wall were placed.

 

[BeeLine]

Second crane going up.

https://flic.kr/p/DvJkiV

 

[whighlander]

Some relatively recent MIT.NANO construction pix

AND soemthing new in the Nano realm -- nanowires that self assemble in layers

NOTE unless specifically stated otherwise -- all images are from various MIT web sites and blogs accessible through the main web.mit.edu web site -- then search for mit.nano

 

[BostonDrew]

Whilander, where did you get those pictures?

 

[whighlander]

Whilander, where did you get those pictures?

BostonDraw -- the pix are all from various MIT web sites and blogs
Best way to track them is to Google MIT.NANO and click on images

Here's a detailed discussion of the slury wall construction with video

Nuts, bolts, and slurry walls
A how-it’s-made seminar series shines light on MIT.nano, an historic campus construction project.

Watch Video
https://youtu.be/wLPWgT9kgk4
http://news.mit.edu/2015/mit-nano-seminar-series-0826

Next few months of scheduled work

• February 2016: Crane set-up
• Steel (March through May)
• June 2016: Curtain wall (beginning)
• October 2016: Curtain wall (completion)

 

[JohnAKeith]

And what are they going to do with the time capsule?!?

 

[whighlander]

And what are they going to do with the time capsule?!?

John -- I believe that like the Time Capsule under the State House Steps that it will be on view for a while [most likely until after the celebration of Crossing the Charles] == then it will be conserved, possible added to -- and then reburied to be found circa 3000 CE as intended

http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/ImaginingNewTechnology.html

Reception: Imagining New Technology at the MIT Museum

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29
The Institute community and friends are invited to begin the celebration with a reception for the opening of Imagining New Technology: Building MIT in Cambridge, a special exhibition at the MIT Museum

Imagining New Technology: Building MIT in Cambridge
When MIT's President Rafael Reif places a small replica of MIT's main building into a collaboratively built model, he'll be putting the final touches on a new exhibition at the MIT Museum. Imagining New Technology: Building MIT in Cambridge opens February 29, 2016 to officially celebrate the 100th anniversary of MIT moving from Boston to Cambridge.

Open House - Under the Dome: Come Explore MIT

SATURDAY, APRIL 23
Calling curious folks of all ages!

On Saturday, April 23, MIT opens its doors for Under the Dome: Come Explore MIT, a free day-long, campus-wide Open House that gives visitors the opportunity to see firsthand the innovative, creative, and ground-breaking work taking place on MIT's campus and beyond.

Moving Day at MIT kicks off on May 7 with an innovative procession over land and water that celebrates the Institute’s historic relocation to the City of Cambridge in 1916. All are invited to participate in this uniquely MIT event by either entering the Crossing the Charles community competition or by joining the procession over the bridge and cheering on competitors. Come in festive spirit—costumes and props are optional!

 

[DZH22]

From 2/21