The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Northeast, Near North, Camden, Old St. Anthony, University and surrounding neighborhoods
robotlollipop
Metrodome
Posts: 94
Joined: October 10th, 2012, 1:00 am

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby robotlollipop » November 13th, 2012, 10:00 pm

This might be a long shot but do you know of any good books I could check out that go more in depth on cost of adding stories as well as codes and construction practices?

MNdible
is great.
Posts: 5989
Joined: June 8th, 2012, 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby MNdible » November 13th, 2012, 10:03 pm

You could start here. Or you could just slit your wrists...

Seriously, we probably should cull through some of the better threads where this has been discussed and have it in a FAQ, because it's something that comes all the flippin' time these days.

robotlollipop
Metrodome
Posts: 94
Joined: October 10th, 2012, 1:00 am

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby robotlollipop » November 13th, 2012, 10:09 pm

yikes!

min-chi-cbus
Capella Tower
Posts: 2869
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 9:19 am

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby min-chi-cbus » November 14th, 2012, 8:21 am

Yeah....it's all about dollars and cents.

A 6 story building is GENERALLY the tallest a developer can go with "stick" frame construction (or wood instead of concrete or steel). Since (apparently) wood is the cheapest form of construction material, it's ideal for developers to keep heights below the threshold where wood could no longer support the heavier materials of a taller building.

Don't worry if this isn't obvious to you.....I only know this by being a veteran of this site and sites like it for years now. I AM in the industry, but don't (yet) dollop with these aspects in my day-to-day grind.

MNdible
is great.
Posts: 5989
Joined: June 8th, 2012, 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby MNdible » November 14th, 2012, 9:57 am

It's ideal for developers to keep heights below the threshold where wood could no longer support the heavier materials of a taller building.
Not quite. It's not that wood doesn't have the structural capacity to support more floors, it's that life-safety concerns limit the height of a building made from a flammable material.

User avatar
FISHMANPET
IDS Center
Posts: 4241
Joined: June 6th, 2012, 2:19 pm
Location: Corcoran

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby FISHMANPET » November 14th, 2012, 10:47 am

So on Monday they hauled away a lot of dirt, and I think I saw some forms for pilings or something in the ground.

Also, the way that the street is being used as a sidewalk in front of this during construction makes me think that it could be a long time before the busway actually opens up to buses.

Silophant
Moderator
Posts: 4470
Joined: June 20th, 2012, 4:33 pm
Location: Whimsical NE

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby Silophant » November 14th, 2012, 10:56 pm

My friend that works in PTS told me that Washington will be open for bikes for spring semester. She didn't mention buses, but I don't know if that's because it won't be open for buses, or if she just doesn't know/care. (She's the ZAP student coordinator, so she's kinda bike-focused.)

My (optimistic) guess is that buses will start using Washington again then too, and pedestrians from that side of the street will just be shunted onto the walkway between the rails for that half-block.
Joey Senkyr
[email protected]

Silophant
Moderator
Posts: 4470
Joined: June 20th, 2012, 4:33 pm
Location: Whimsical NE

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby Silophant » November 14th, 2012, 10:59 pm

A 6 story building is GENERALLY the tallest a developer can go with "stick" frame construction (or wood instead of concrete or steel). Since (apparently) wood is the cheapest form of construction material, it's ideal for developers to keep heights below the threshold where wood could no longer support the heavier materials of a taller building.
My understanding was that you can build five stories out of wood, whether from structural concerns or fire-safety concerns, and that's why all these six-story buildings have the ground floor framed with concrete. Not that I know anything about construction.
Joey Senkyr
[email protected]

Tcmetro
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1767
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 8:02 pm
Location: Chicago (ex-Minneapolitan)

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby Tcmetro » November 14th, 2012, 11:48 pm

The buses will have to wait until all the landscaping is done on Washington, because the lack of space for work trucks. At least that's what I would imagine the hold up is. I would expect buses to return around fall 2013.

Silophant
Moderator
Posts: 4470
Joined: June 20th, 2012, 4:33 pm
Location: Whimsical NE

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby Silophant » November 15th, 2012, 6:15 pm

I would think that, for landscaping work, the work trucks could park on the rails themselves, which they're already doing for the median fence installation on the blocks that are open to traffic. The current holdup seems to be installing storm drains on the inner side of the bus lanes.
Joey Senkyr
[email protected]

Tcmetro
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1767
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 8:02 pm
Location: Chicago (ex-Minneapolitan)

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby Tcmetro » November 15th, 2012, 6:51 pm

IIRC, trains and buses will share lanes from Church St to Union St. Ultimately, it's better to wait for the construction to be completed, and some level of testing done before returning buses to Washington.

mulad
Moderator
Posts: 2753
Joined: June 4th, 2012, 6:30 pm
Location: Saint Paul
Contact:

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby mulad » November 15th, 2012, 8:46 pm

Yeah, I've heard that, but I never put much stock in it. I've always been confused since current buses only have doors on the right-hand side, and I haven't heard of plans to get buses with doors on both sides in order to use the LRT platforms. If the buses can't use the LRT platforms, then it doesn't make much sense for them to go on the tracks, though perhaps someone wanted to keep that option open if there's an obstruction on the roadway or a bus is taking a long time to load/unload or something.

On that part of the East Bank, I think there's only a small mountable curb separating the regular busway from the tracks, so it wouldn't be hard for buses to get onto the tracks, but the curb is probably enough to discourage it from happening often.

I'm not sure how often tracks will need to be blocked for utility trucks from now until the LRT line is finished. Heavy construction is mostly done on that stretch, but stringing catenary wires and the other signaling wires will probably take some time.

Tcmetro
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1767
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 8:02 pm
Location: Chicago (ex-Minneapolitan)

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby Tcmetro » November 15th, 2012, 9:08 pm

The buses will not share platforms, but will share lanes with trains to provide space for bike lanes on Washington, for wider sidewalks, and for the (IMO, ridiculous idea of) center walkway between the LRT tracks.

MSPtoMKE
Rice Park
Posts: 496
Joined: June 20th, 2012, 8:15 pm
Location: Loring Heights
Contact:

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby MSPtoMKE » November 16th, 2012, 1:27 am

It seems reasonable to have the tracks be mountable for buses to have the option tho get around obstructions, but to have them operate only on the tracks except when pulling up to a curbside bus stop seems silly and a waste of a full width driving lane. In any event, there will be significantly fewer buses on this stretch after the light rail opens, only the 2, Campus Connector and U of M express buses will run on it.

Also, this is getting off topic :)
My flickr photos.

User avatar
FISHMANPET
IDS Center
Posts: 4241
Joined: June 6th, 2012, 2:19 pm
Location: Corcoran

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby FISHMANPET » December 6th, 2012, 8:25 am

So over the last few days they've been putting precast concrete walls in the pit, looks like about two stories, I assume they're both for parking. Will try and get pictures on my daily trek to Sally's today.

User avatar
trkaiser
Landmark Center
Posts: 259
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 9:05 am
Location: Northeast Minneapolis
Contact:

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby trkaiser » December 27th, 2012, 2:01 pm

I took some overhead shots from the adjacent parking ramp - this is a pretty dull design, but its impact on the street and new feeling of density of Stadium Village will be pretty nice.

http://tomabouttown.wordpress.com/2012/ ... ashington/

MNdible
is great.
Posts: 5989
Joined: June 8th, 2012, 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby MNdible » December 27th, 2012, 5:42 pm

this is a pretty dull design
I think it has a quiet elegance compared to some of the overly-busy garbage that's been put up lately. Yes, I'm looking at you, FLOCO.

User avatar
Nick
Capella Tower
Posts: 2719
Joined: May 30th, 2012, 9:33 pm
Location: Downtown, Minneapolis

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby Nick » January 1st, 2013, 5:29 pm

And this
Nick Magrino
[email protected]

gahwi003
Metrodome
Posts: 99
Joined: July 18th, 2012, 6:17 pm
Location: Dinkytown

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby gahwi003 » February 1st, 2013, 5:50 pm

The crane for this one is up!

User avatar
Andrew_F
Rice Park
Posts: 409
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 10:15 pm
Location: Stevens Square

Re: The Station on Washington - (630 Washington Avenue SE)

Postby Andrew_F » February 3rd, 2013, 4:37 am

Full-size tower or mini?


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests