Comments on: “Spiral Drill Thingies”

By: rachelleb.com

rachelleb.com — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 17:09:13 +0000

Drilling

Most of the action at the Trump Tower construction site right now is drilling. Everywhere. The top three photos above were taken in the morning. The bottom photo is the same hole but in the evening. If I understand…

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 08 Mar 2005 17:10:55 +0000

Not to get too technical, but rebar doesn’t exactly “stiffen” concrete. Concrete its self is inherently good at resisting compressive forces (pushing together). Steel is inherently good at resisting tensile forces (pulling apart). So, combing the two results in a very efficient product, reinforced concrete.

By: rachelle

rachelle — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 23:08:16 +0000

ohhhh. that makes sense. i thought joe meant that cassion was the name of the drill thing. but it’s the name of the thing they’re drilling in! makes sense with rance’s comment.

hope you like chicago, david!

By: David

David — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 23:04:22 +0000

A caisson is a shell that keeps stuff out of the hole. Usually they’re used in water (like to build bridge supports) to keep out water while the foundation is excavated and constructed.

Also, rebar, which you asked about the other day, is the skinny ridged metal bars that you see lying around. It’s used to stiffen concrete. You’ll see them put it in the middle of a concrete form and then pour the concrete around it.

Thanks for having such a great site about Chicago. You great pictures were part of the inspiration for me recently moving here. Keep up the good work!

By: rachelle

rachelle — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 22:09:58 +0000

i was wondering.. what exactly are they doing with those “caissons”? why is most of the drilling done in those metal tubes… but then like in the video they’re just drilling in the ground? i obvs dont know anything about construction.

By: Rance

Rance — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 22:07:05 +0000

Does anybody besides me wonder if they did a good job of mapping the tunnels before the started sinking those pilings? Or are we going to have a repeat of the Flood of ’92?

By: Joe#3

Joe#3 — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 18:41:26 +0000

Those spiral drill thingies are called caissons.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 23:34:48 +0000

Hey, whats the weather like in Chicago this time of month?

By: andrew

andrew — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 16:15:26 +0000

old sun times foot print.