This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on May 11, 2008 4:08 PM.
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So I'm walking with my boy in his stroller about an hour ago in South Waterfront. (I know how you feel about the place, but they do seem to be trying to do a good job creating a dense new neighborhood from scratch. But...)
So I get to talking with a security guard and he points out the building closest to the river, one of the tall glass towers. "See anything odd about it?" Then he tells me that the building was built with insufficient allowances for the river soil subsiding. According to what he heard, the building has a ten degree list. He says eight more degrees and it gets condemned.
Five will get you ten this is another example of a developer playing the "engineer's stamp" card. Under our fair city's planning regs, you can't build it if it doesn't meet The Code. That is, unless you can get a registered engineer to stamp your plans. The stamp of a registered engineer trumps the code, or the expertise of staff reviewing plans, on structural issues.
Of course, all of our developers are good scouts, kind to animals, etc, and would NEVER, EVER, EVER take advantage of this in order to get a structurally deficient building put up.
Sorry Io don't buy this at all.
For all SoWa's calamities this is not one of them. No way. The modern day foundation requirements for a building like this are engineeered to the extreme.
Further, the "obvious and overlooked design flaw" is an urban legend staple. The story this guard is telling is absolutely not true. On the other hand, urban legends do arise as cautionary tales against ignorance and irresponsibility, so perhaps it is instructive at least insofar as it depicts the tower as an emblem of the dangers of hasty, corrupt, reckless and uninformed speculation.
The towers being constructed in SoWa are being done so with the polar opposite approach the PDC uses for the public improvements. Professionally engineered, designed, estimated, managed and every dollar accounted for.
Hoffman would never use the reckless and irresponsible methods our tax dollars fund.
If the PDC ever gets an audit we'll see the full extent of the inept waste saturating and mounting in SoWa.
I'm not that kind of engineer, but my understanding is that foundations for this type of building are set on pilings that are anchored in bedrock.
That's not to say there aren't engineering deficiencies, but think about it: how could you build something that tall without anchoring it to something more solid than dirt?
For all SoWa's calamities this is not one of them. No way. The modern day foundation requirements for a building like this are engineeered to the extreme.
I work with engineers all the time. They're not perfect, and do make mistakes. Sometimes big ones.
That said, they also have to base their calcs on soil info taken by others. The problem could come from there too.
The weight of the building could cause unforseen problems as well. Particularly that close to the river.
I know that the nature of the soil down there was not overlooked, and buildings are definitely required to deal with it.
Not that they couldn't have screwed it up somehow, but it definitely has not been overlooked. Sky scraper professionals know a gravel-covered flood plain when they see one.
A good while back , a student discovered that the engineering design for the Famous NY CitiCorp tower was flawed ,leaving it weak to strong wind. After a long effort to convince his Prof , and the legendary Engineer and Architects of the tower , a top secret fix was designed , and many welders were snuck into the building to repair the weakness. WEEEEEE
The 8 story parking garage on 1st and Jefferson had a similar top secret night-time repair (I think it was some kind of epoxy injection) to major structural cracks that threatened to topple the building. This happened in the 80's so it must have worked ok.
The leaning could lend "authenticity" to this faux-european magic kingdom. Please follow up on this(conduct a egg drop?)(measure with a laser pointer?) . Robert Thompson and Hoffman are busy trying to reconfigure Eugene(you owe Nike arena and sport-themed entertainment district-"walnut node") and this accomplishment/disaster is related I believe.
Also in TVA boondoggle news, the verdict of the Fairmount vs. UO/Nike/TVA/Hoffman arena project appeal case gets released on June 3. It may be appealed again to a higher court by the Fairmount neighbors. Since the boregonian and cashregister guard endorsed and rushed this(like good ol sustainability boys do)I do not suppose they will be updating us on this case/political trainwreck.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (23)
Ten degrees? That seems pretty extreme.
Posted by none | May 11, 2008 4:31 PM
Heh! When the condo tower starts leaning like the tram tower...
Posted by Bryan | May 11, 2008 4:54 PM
Maybe the river needs more Viagra?
Posted by Mister Tee | May 11, 2008 5:51 PM
Come on. Here's what 3.97 degrees looks like.
Nevertheless, if there's any truth to it, I'm sure a taxpayer-financed bailout will be in order.
Posted by john rettig | May 11, 2008 5:59 PM
You on the level?
Posted by Abe | May 11, 2008 6:17 PM
Maybe it was 0.8 as opposed to 8 degrees? In any event, usually tips like these turn out to have at least a kernel of truth in them.
Posted by Jack Bog | May 11, 2008 7:04 PM
Those otherwise unemployable old coot security guards often have no loyalty to the Mafia and sometimes find great joy in spilling the beans.
Now, lets ask a janitor.
Posted by Abe | May 11, 2008 7:34 PM
Five will get you ten this is another example of a developer playing the "engineer's stamp" card. Under our fair city's planning regs, you can't build it if it doesn't meet The Code. That is, unless you can get a registered engineer to stamp your plans. The stamp of a registered engineer trumps the code, or the expertise of staff reviewing plans, on structural issues.
Of course, all of our developers are good scouts, kind to animals, etc, and would NEVER, EVER, EVER take advantage of this in order to get a structurally deficient building put up.
Posted by my bet | May 11, 2008 8:40 PM
Sorry Io don't buy this at all.
For all SoWa's calamities this is not one of them. No way. The modern day foundation requirements for a building like this are engineeered to the extreme.
It's unfathomable that it is tilting.
Posted by Howard | May 11, 2008 9:30 PM
Further, the "obvious and overlooked design flaw" is an urban legend staple. The story this guard is telling is absolutely not true. On the other hand, urban legends do arise as cautionary tales against ignorance and irresponsibility, so perhaps it is instructive at least insofar as it depicts the tower as an emblem of the dangers of hasty, corrupt, reckless and uninformed speculation.
Posted by telecom | May 11, 2008 10:58 PM
The towers being constructed in SoWa are being done so with the polar opposite approach the PDC uses for the public improvements. Professionally engineered, designed, estimated, managed and every dollar accounted for.
Hoffman would never use the reckless and irresponsible methods our tax dollars fund.
If the PDC ever gets an audit we'll see the full extent of the inept waste saturating and mounting in SoWa.
Posted by Ben | May 12, 2008 9:22 AM
I'm not that kind of engineer, but my understanding is that foundations for this type of building are set on pilings that are anchored in bedrock.
That's not to say there aren't engineering deficiencies, but think about it: how could you build something that tall without anchoring it to something more solid than dirt?
Posted by Steve R. | May 12, 2008 9:39 AM
For all SoWa's calamities this is not one of them. No way. The modern day foundation requirements for a building like this are engineeered to the extreme.
I work with engineers all the time. They're not perfect, and do make mistakes. Sometimes big ones.
That said, they also have to base their calcs on soil info taken by others. The problem could come from there too.
The weight of the building could cause unforseen problems as well. Particularly that close to the river.
Posted by Jon | May 12, 2008 12:19 PM
I know that the nature of the soil down there was not overlooked, and buildings are definitely required to deal with it.
Not that they couldn't have screwed it up somehow, but it definitely has not been overlooked. Sky scraper professionals know a gravel-covered flood plain when they see one.
Posted by Deeds | May 12, 2008 12:59 PM
Yay! A new icon!
Posted by Larry K | May 12, 2008 1:33 PM
A good while back , a student discovered that the engineering design for the Famous NY CitiCorp tower was flawed ,leaving it weak to strong wind. After a long effort to convince his Prof , and the legendary Engineer and Architects of the tower , a top secret fix was designed , and many welders were snuck into the building to repair the weakness. WEEEEEE
Posted by billb | May 12, 2008 1:34 PM
Yay! A new icon!
Actually, it's a linchpin.
Posted by Jack Bog | May 12, 2008 1:38 PM
I call bullsh*t.
Posted by tonyt | May 12, 2008 2:27 PM
The 8 story parking garage on 1st and Jefferson had a similar top secret night-time repair (I think it was some kind of epoxy injection) to major structural cracks that threatened to topple the building. This happened in the 80's so it must have worked ok.
Posted by John | May 12, 2008 4:35 PM
It will only be a problem if it is leaning to the right.
Posted by Bark Munster | May 12, 2008 5:06 PM
How could that be when the forces of Portlandia push all things to the left?
Posted by Howard | May 13, 2008 10:33 PM
The leaning could lend "authenticity" to this faux-european magic kingdom. Please follow up on this(conduct a egg drop?)(measure with a laser pointer?) . Robert Thompson and Hoffman are busy trying to reconfigure Eugene(you owe Nike arena and sport-themed entertainment district-"walnut node") and this accomplishment/disaster is related I believe.
Posted by Zachary Vishanoff | May 28, 2008 1:30 PM
Also in TVA boondoggle news, the verdict of the Fairmount vs. UO/Nike/TVA/Hoffman arena project appeal case gets released on June 3. It may be appealed again to a higher court by the Fairmount neighbors. Since the boregonian and cashregister guard endorsed and rushed this(like good ol sustainability boys do)I do not suppose they will be updating us on this case/political trainwreck.
Posted by Zachary Vishanoff | June 1, 2008 1:52 PM