Rendering of East Civic Tower

City Hall Project Updates

Your source for construction news on Raleigh's new City Hall


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October 9, 2024 October 3, 2024 September 25, 2024 September 18, 2024 September 11, 2024 September 4, 2024 September 3, 2024 August 28, 2024 August 22, 2024 August 6, 2024 July 30, 2024 July 24,2024 July 17, 2024

Welcome to our new City Hall Project update page! Your source for the most up-to-date construction information on the City's new City Hall. When completed, the new building will enable us to serve our customers better and provide a collaborative, dynamic workplace for City employees. 

Stay in the loop, visit this page often!

 

October 9, 2024

Planned Power Outage Alert!

Duke Energy will cut power to the Raleigh Municipal Building (RMB) and the attached parking deck from 6 p.m. Oct. 11 through Oct. 13. This work will impact RMB and the parking deck, which will remain without power until Oct. 13. There will not be backup power to either RMB or the parking deck during the power outage. 

Duke Energy requires this power outage while they complete some vital work associated with the new City Hall.
 

October 3, 2024

It's October. The start of a new month!

Let's look at the construction activity planned for October. 

  • Duke Energy will shut off electrical power to the Raleigh Municipal Building (RMB) beginning at 6 p.m. on Oct. 11. This work will impact RMB and the parking deck, which will remain without power until Oct. 13. 
  • Crews will finish installing the forms for the basement walls.
  • The concrete contractor will place the concrete into the forms.
  • A team will waterproof and backfill the exterior of the basement walls.
  • A crew will excavate and pour a foundation at the electrical vault. 

September 25, 2024

Last week, the contractor moved the generator and started demolishing the concrete foundation. The demo work was the jackhammer noise everyone heard at the RMB building. The good news is that weather permitting, this work is expected to wrap up on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Please note that there may be more intermittent jackhammer noise after this date, but it should not be as disruptive as the last few days' work has been.

A crew also continues to form the basement walls. Once they complete the forms, they pour the concrete and backfill around them.

 

September 18, 2024

Image shows the crew installing rebar form for the new basement walls of City Hall.

This week we will do a bit of a recap of activities that crews have completed and then look forward to what we can expect in the next few weeks.  

As we saw in last week's construction video, the contractor completed the main tower foundation. Before pouring the nearly 3,420 tons of concrete, crews installed a rebar network that helps maintain the concrete's integrity. Before the rebar installation, they drilled about 30 to 50 feet down and installed more than 100 deep foundation peers. In short, our new City Hall has a solid foundation. 

Crews are forming the basement walls. Rebar is being installed, and in the next couple of weeks, the team will pour the concrete into the wall forms. After completing the basement walls, they will waterproof and backfill around them.   

The team is also working on a foundation pad for the backup generator for the new building. 

Raleigh’s New City Hall Gets a Foundation

September 11, 2024

Crews began placing the foundation for Raleigh's new city hall on Monday evening, Sept. 9 and wrapped things up at about 5 a.m. on Tuesday. The process is documented in the below video.  

September 4, 2024

Image show a close up image of the rebar on the job site of civic tower.

A Foundation for Our New City Hall

The rebar is in place, and the site is ready for the foundation. Crews are scheduled to place the concrete foundation next week. The team will close Hargett Street on Monday, Sept. 9, and it will remain closed to traffic throughout Wednesday, Sept. 11.  

The foundation will take around 180 truckloads of concrete and about 20 hours of continuous work. The first concrete truck is scheduled to arrive in the late afternoon or early evening on Monday, Sept. 9, and the last truck is expected to leave the site mid-afternoon on Tuesday, Sept. 10. 

During this work, there will be some noise from the trucks entering and leaving the job site and the generators needed for pumping the concrete. 

We know that construction noise, especially during the overnight hours, can be disruptive, and we appreciate your patience as we work to build our new city hall.  
 

September 3, 2024

The contractor is removing the RMB backup generator on Wednesday evening. This process requires the crane to lift the generator over the parking deck. Out of an abundance of caution, the RMB parking deck will be closed to all people and vehicles during this work.

If you park your car in the deck, you will need to leave the deck before 6 P.M. The deck will reopen at midnight.

August 28, 2024

The new city hall is getting a foundation. Crews have started placing rebar and the concrete trucks have been scheduled. Beginning Monday, Sept. 9, the contractor will close Hargett Street to all traffic. The closure will last through Wednesday, Sept. 11. The road closure is needed to allow a steady flow of concrete trucks to enter the job site.

August 22, 2024

Image shows civic tower construction site, including the base of the new tower crane.

Last week, crews constructed the rest of the tower crane’s base support. The base support is the foundation of the tower crane, located at the bottom of the structure. It is typically attached to a concrete pad on the ground, providing a solid, stable base.

Images shows large construction drill being loaded onto truck.

Crews finished the deep foundation work needed for this part of the project, and the drill was removed from the construction site for now. However, some deep foundation work remains to be completed later in the project.

Civic Tower construction site

What is next?

The team will start getting the site ready to install the mat foundation. Currently, crews are clearing the soil away from the deep foundation piers and will install the mat foundation rebar supports.

What is a mat foundation? A mat foundation is a concrete slab resting on the soil that extends over the entire footprint of the building, thus supporting the building and transferring its weight to the ground and, in the case of our building, also on the deep foundation peers.

August 6, 2024

Image of the tower crane at RMB

The tower crane is in place.

If you were in or around the Raleigh Municipal Building last Friday, you would have seen the tower crane's assembly. Some work is still being completed at the crane's ground level, but Hargett Street has reopened to traffic.

Storm precautions

With wet weather on the way, crews are working to ensure the job site is prepared. Any loose materials on the site will be tied down and secured, and the tower crane will be put in weathervane mode, meaning the horizontal section can rotate 360 degrees in the same direction the wind is blowing. This keeps the load balanced, reducing the risk of the crane becoming unbalanced and toppling over.

 

July 30, 2024

Installation of the tower crane starts tomorrow, July 31. 

Crews are busy getting ready for the tower crane assembly. The image we see here is the base of the crane. The rest will arrive starting tomorrow. During the installation, we are closing Hargett Street to all traffic. The street will be closed beginning July 31, 2024, and will reopen to traffic on August 4.  

What is a tower crane?

A tower crane is a piece of lifting equipment that can pivot around tower-like structures, hence the name. The crane has a jib and a counter jib supported by the tower mast, which gives strength to the cabling, trolley, and hook that lifts the load. 
 

City Hall construction site with the base of the tower crane

How is a tower crane assembled?

It all starts with the tower crane’s foundation, which is important because it ensures the crane stays in place. The foundation includes deep foundation piles and a concrete block.

Once the foundation is completed the first part of the tower is built. To do that, crews take tower sections called masts and bring them together to create the base. This part is completed with a crane; the first mast is what you see in the picture to the right. After the initial part of the crane is done, they will install the climbing unit. The climbing unit will allow the crane to build up later in the process. 

The slewing assembly is the next phase. This section is the horizontal section of the crane and can be assembled separately and then lifted onto the base with a crane. 

Lastly, the crane can be made taller by using the climbing unit and a hydraulic jack.

And, that is how a tower crane is built. 
 

July 24,2024

Planned Power Outage and Tower Crane coming to Raleigh Municipal Building 

On the morning of Saturday, July 27, 2024, Duke Energy will turn off power for approximately four hours to the Raleigh Municipal Building (RMB) and the adjacent parking deck. Generators will not be utilized during this time, and the building and parking deck will be without power, except for RMB life safety systems. The life safety and back-up E911 generators will not be impacted.   

The power outage is needed as part of the construction activity for the new City Hall. During the outage, crews will disconnect RMB’s backup generator for removal the following week. The back-up E911 generator will be relocated on the site at a later date. 

The construction contractor is removing the outdated building generators to make way for the tower crane installation, scheduled for July 31-August 4. Hargett Street will be closed to all traffic during the tower crane installation. 
 

July 17, 2024

Image shows the civic tower construction site with crane with drilling rig.

Construction crews have been busy working on the deep foundation for the new tower. 

What is a deep foundation?

First, let's talk about a foundation. A foundation creates a stable, solid base for a building. A deep foundation is used when the load-bearing soil or rock is deep below the surface. It transfers weight from a building's upper layers to stronger soil or rock layers below. In short, it distributes the weight over a larger area and prevents excessive settlement or movement that could compromise the structure's stability and integrity.

Pile foundations are the most popular deep foundations and what our crews are currently installing. They are made of columns of concrete reinforced with steel rebar.  
 

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