Category Archives: Tower Cranes

A post-European-visit Chicago tower crane survey

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There were 32 active tower cranes in the City of Chicago when the B.U.C. staff took a break to look for cranes in London on the 17th of this month. A lot changed during our nine-day absence, and we returned to find…okay, there are still 32 active tower cranes in Chicago. But not all the same ones.

Two cranes from that count are no longer active: 171 Aberdeen, which came down Friday, and 3Eleven, which has been partially lowered and will soon be completely removed.

But two new cranes have taken their places: One South Halsted and the Moxy Hotel. That means the West Loop and River North both lost and gained a crane. Nice synergy.

There are also a few changes on the future tower crane horizon. Aloft Chicago Mag Mile has planted a stub at 243 East Ontario Street in Streeterville, joining No. 508 (508 West Diversey Parkway) as stub-only tower crane sites. And the Marlowe project at 675 North Wells Street in River North received a tower crane permit on Friday.

Two sites, Nobu Hotel (854 West Randolph Street) and Essex On The Park (808 South Michigan Avenue) have permits, but continue to keep us waiting on stub planting. Nobu is driving piles; Essex remains on caisson duty.

Quick Look: Aloft Chicago Mag Mile plants a tower crane stub

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Streeterville has a new tower-crane stub, thanks to the lovely new seedling sprouting up at the Aloft Chicago Mag Mile at 243 East Ontario Street. Just a little more sand left to dig out of the lot, and Tishman’s 18-story hotel can start going vertical.

Not down yet, but the 3Eleven tower crane is out of commission

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3Eleven tower crane removal

The tower crane at 3Eleven has been lowered below the top of the building. You know what that means.

Having served its city well, the tower crane at 3Eleven (311 West Illinois Street) is on the way down. The John Buck Company’s 25-story apartment building topped out in April, and the cladding has nearly reached the top of the tower. Now the work is done for this pretty yellow Liebherr 316 EC-H 12 Litronic tower crane.

Where will it end up next? Well, this is purely speculation, but the tower crane permit for the Nobu Hotel at 854 West Randolph Street in the West Loop calls for the exact same type of Liebherr crane. “Hmmm,” you might say.

The long-awaited One South Halsted tower crane is up

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727 West Madison tower crane

There it is, finally! One South Halsted put up a tower crane for me.

727 West Madison tower crane

Old Glory, and a Glorious Golden Tower Crane.

The shiny yellow tower crane stub that tantalized us for so long at One South Halsted has finally blossomed into a full-blown Liebherr 316-EC-H 12 crane, spreading joy and heavy materials throughout the Greektown neighborhood of the West Loop.

Twitter user @iYarn let us know last week while we were enjoying the Tower Cranes of London that assembly had started, and the tower crane was completed and operational upon our return. Sorry to have missed it, but the hours of entertainment it’ll provide will more than make up for that disappointment.

River North’s Moxy Hotel gets Chicago’s most unique tower crane

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Moxy Hotel tower crane

Off in the distance stands one of Chicago’s newest tower cranes, at the Moxy Hotel site.

Moxy Hotel tower crane

Tower crane parts are delivered the first week of May.

We knew there’d be a crane at the Moxy Hotel site in River North, but when the parts showed up, I asked someone on site and was told it really wasn’t a “tower crane.” But a piece of paper can make all the difference in the world, and as you can see, the City of Chicago’s building permit says it’s a tower crane:

ENGINEERED SUPPORT FOR A LEIBHERR 81 K.1 TEMPORARY SELF ERECTING TOWER CRANE SUPPORTED ON A BALLASTED BASE AND CRANE

Yeah, Liebherr is the correct spelling, but that’s not important. What matters is that this contraption with the weight stack that looks like the bench-press machine from high school goes in my official book as another tower crane for Chicago.

There were similar cranes to this one spotted during a visit to Phoenix this winter, but they were operated from the ground. Since the Moxy Hotel crane requires an operator to make the climb up to a cab, that gives it even more legitimacy. Count it.

 

One South Halsted builds a tower crane

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Many thanks to Adebayo Onigbanjo (Twitter user @iyarn) for keeping me up to speed on the tower crane at One South Halsted. These photos are from Thursday; alas, the excitement of London got the better of my attention span, so by now, I presume the crane is fully assembled and lifting the heavy stuff.

London, OMG!

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You think Chicago has tower cranes? Okay, yes it does. Chicago does have tower cranes. But London has tower cranes like they’re being given away. Every direction you look, cranes. Turn the corner, another crane. Look to the left, you might see 10 tower cranes. On one site. There might be too much home work to do here, but for now, just have a few photos. If I figure out what the words should be, I’ll post ’em later.

A Sunny Day At: The Sears Tower

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Chicago’s a big city, with a pretty good transportation system. But it’s hard to get to, say for example, 32 tower cranes all in one day. Which is why Skydeck Chicago was built at the Sears Tower. All of the tower cranes, all in one place. With a couple exceptions. I missed a few, like Vista Tower, One Grant Park, and 1101 South Wabash, which can’t be seen, and 8 East Huron and Wicker Park Connection, which I simply brain-lapsed on.

Construction Stubdate: No. 508 plants a tower crane in Lake View

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https://twitter.com/SigAlfano/status/863160123841294336

Shout-out to Twitter user @sigalfano who let me know, after some guesswork, that a tower crane stub had been planted at No. 508 (508 West Diversey Parkway) on Friday. It joins One South Halsted in the stub group, with full assembly likely while I’m in England. So take pictures and videos of it going up and send them the blog’s way.

This is the only tower crane in the Chicago skies right now for Macon Construction Group, the general contractor tasked with building the 12-story, 53-apartment Pappageorge Haymes design.

 

Off to England. Who will count the tower cranes?

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I’m putting you on tower-crane watch, Chicago.

Even though we leave for London Wednesday, it’s very likely construction will continue here without me, and that means you’ll need to be my eye on the skyline. You can print out this little cheat sheet of things to look for if you’d like.

508 West Diversey tower crane stub

Chicago’s newest tower crane is coming to 508 West Diversey.

There are permits issued for the following tower cranes, which could spring up any day:

  1. One South Halsted (stub)
  2. 508 West Diversey (stub)
  3. Aloft Chicago Mag Mile (243 East Ontario)
  4. Essex On The Park (808 South Michican, still undergoing caisson work)
  5. Nobu Hotel (854 West Randolph, also in caisson mode)

The following is my Endangered Tower Crane list. Some have topped out, while others “might” be near the end of their use. This is neither an official not scientific list:

  1. 3Eleven (311 West Illinois. Definitely topped out)
  2. 171 Aberdeen (I think topped out. Novak? A little help?)
  3. Apple Store (It’s only two stories, so who knows what “topped out” means on this one. But I have to believe they don’t need the tower crane much longer)
  4. 8 East Huron and No. 9 Walton (These are both extremely tentative. I haven’t counted stories yet, but I think they’re close to the top)

Which tower crane will be completed first, One South Halsted or 508 West Diversey? Who’ll take tower cranes down first, Power Construction (Apple Store, 3Eleven) or Novak Construction (171 Aberdeen)? I won’t know; I’ll be in England. (Maybe Paris too!)

Pay attention, Chicago, and share photos with each other. Or send them to the blog (buildingupchicago@gmail.com) and I’ll be sure to post them. Then, we’ll see you back Stateside at the end of next week.

I hear there are tower cranes in London, so don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine.