Interesting Construction Facts



     

    • HISTORY: Vertical Expansion Project completed in 2010 expanded the building from 33 to 57 stories.  First project in scale (large high rise) and scope (while occupied by 4,000 people) completed in real estate development history.
    • SCHEDULE: It took 43 months for the project design and construction phases to be finished.
    • FINISHED SPECS:  Height: 797'7"   Gross Structure: 2.2+ Million Gross Sq Ft.
    • STRUCTURE & LOADING:  An additional 24 stories of structure (approximately 65,000 tons of weight) were added on top of an existing 33 stories of structure (approximately 125,000 tons of weight) for a total of 190,000 tons of weight bearing on our foundation - which is made up of a series of structural caissons bearing on a hardpan layer (a very consistent hard layer of clay about 90 FT below the ground) and not bedrock.  Our foundation is rated to support 240,000 tons of weight for an approximately 50,000 ton factor of safety.
    • STEEL: An estimated 8,000 pieces of structural steel were installed; the building's jumbo steel columns and beams were rolled in Luxemburg and then transported through the St. Lawrence Seaway to the US.
    • CONCRETE: 12,000 yards of concrete were poured over 730,000 SF of electrified deck, where 15,400 presets were installed to run power and data for each floor.
    • CURTAIN WALL: 5,500 sections of curtain wall (exterior wall) panels were installed.
    • ELEVATORS: 16 new top of the line passenger elevators were added to the building that travel at a 1,400 feet per minute speed.
    • COOLING TOWERS: The 24 existing cooling towers for our building located at floors 30 and 31 were kept operational throughout the construction until 11 new towers were 100% operational and brought on line on the 53rd floor.
    • COOLING PLANT: 300 E. Randolph uses 100% non CFC refrigerant. This cooling plant is operated by Thermal Chicago/Exelon and supplies chilled water for AON and 340 E. Randolph.   
    • GREEN ROOF: The building's new green roof is located above our atrium to help manage storm water runoff and reduce cooling load.