Jump To:
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!
November 20, 2024
The week before last, members of our team had the opportunity to visit Gate Precast Concrete in Nashville, Tennessee. Gate Precast Concrete is the company making the precast concrete panels that will be the exterior shell for the new City Hall. What does precast mean? Precast is a concrete product that is created offsite then delivered to its project destination for final use
These panels are enormous, and each takes 24 hours to fabricate. They are very labor intensive. The only part of the process that is automated is the concrete mix. Here is a short video that shows part of the process.
October 29, 2024
The end of the month is here, so let’s look back at what our construction contractor has completed this month. Here is a list of the work that crews completed in the last 30 days.
- Finished forming and pouring the exterior basement walls;
- The mechanical, electrical, and plumbing accesses at the basement level are done;
- Waterproofing around basement walls;
- Backfilling around the basement walls;
- Installed the foundation drain around the perimeter of the basement;
- Poured the mat foundation for the electrical vault;
- Formed the concrete walls for the electrical vault; and,
- Relocated an electrical transformer.
What can we expect to see in November?
In the next 30 days, the contractor will have crews working on the following;
- Pouring the interior basement walls;
- Completing the electrical vault walls;
- Installing the fill at the basement interior;
- Doing the rough-ins for the basement’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing; and,
- At the end of November, the deep foundation work for level one will start.
October 15, 2024
All went well during last weekend's work, and power was restored to the Raleigh Municipal building and parking deck on Sunday. This week, crews continue their work on forming the basement walls. Sections that are completed are now being waterproofed and then backfilled. There is also a team working on the foundation for the new electrical vault.
September 18, 2024
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.
September 4, 2024
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.
August 22, 2024
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.
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.
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
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.
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 17, 2024
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.
