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Welcome to our East Civic Tower Project update page! Your source for the most up-to-date construction information on the City's new East Civic Tower. When completed, the new tower 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!
June 26, 2024
What's been done
Crews have finished their work on the shoring and lagging walls on the north and east sides of the job site. The basement excavation is complete, and the central building pad is established. The team also installed test piles. The piles are part of the deep foundation, and testing is conducted to determine their strength and soil resistance. Results from the test are expected to come in throughout the next few weeks.
What’s next
Crews are getting ready for the tower crane, which is scheduled to be delivered at the end of July. Before the crane can be installed, it needs a foundation, which is scheduled to be completed in the next few weeks. There will also be some grading work to allow access around the crane to the NW corner of Hargett Street. Stay tuned for more information on the tower crane.
June 12, 2024
Groundbreaking Event Recap
The Groundbreaking event was not just a success, but a testament to our collective efforts and dedication.
We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day for the groundbreaking event. The sun was out, a slight breeze blew, and the temperature was perfect.
The event started around 9:30 a.m., with people gathering at Nash Square. Our Engineering Services Department Head, Rich Kelly, was the MC for the event. We were also honored to have Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin as our first speaker. She talked about the importance of the building for the future of Raleigh. The next speaker was Daniel Baumann. Daniel is a Partner and Design Director at Henning Larsen. He graduated from the University College of London and currently resides in New York. During his speech, he talked about the collaboration with his team, Ratio, the lead design firm, and City staff. Next up was Eric Perkinson. Eric is the Regional Vice President at Brasfield, and Gorrie is the construction contractor in charge of building our new City Hall. Eric spoke to the construction and efforts of the City team to bring this project to life. Our last scheduled speaker was our City Manager, Marchell Adams-David. She spoke about the time that projects like this can take. She had former City Manager Ruffin Hall join her to talk about the importance of this building and bringing City Employees under one roof and the enhancements to our customer experience when they visit Raleigh City Hall. One thing that stood out throughout everyone’s speech was the dedication and collaboration of City staff on this project. Once the speeches were over the spotlight turned to the ceremonial groundbreaking, and people mingled and viewed renderings of what the new building will look like.
June 7, 2024
Groundbreaking Celebration Tuesday, June 11
We're having a groundbreaking celebration! Join us at Nash Square on June 11 at 9:30 a.m. This event is a great opportunity to learn a little bit more about the inspiration behind the buildings design, hear from our City leaders on what this building will mean to City staff and the public, and even learn a little bit more about the construction process.
May 30, 2024
Great view of the lagging walls
This week's update image shows the detail of lagging walls. (To learn more about lagging walls, read the May 16 posting.)
The excavation and grading of the job site are moving along nicely. Crews are also continuing to install the underground utilities at the site.
Looking ahead, we anticipate the commencement of deep foundation work in June, a significant milestone.
May 16, 2024
Let’s talk about soldier piles and lagging walls
If you have seen the construction site in the last week, you probably have seen the large crane and drills onsite. This equipment will be used to set the soldier piles and lagging walls, basically the shoring structures I referenced in past updates. These shoring structures are designed to limit the horizontal movement of soil during the excavation process. So, what are soldier piles and lagging walls? Soldier piles are usually steel h-shaped beams driven vertically into the ground. These beams are spaced in a straight line about 6 to 10 feet apart, and then horizontal wood or concrete is placed between the soldier piles, called lagging walls. The walls transfer the horizontal pressure to the soldier piles, creating a safe excavation area.
May 8, 2024
New equipment has arrived
The shoring contractor arrived on site Monday. The first few days were spent assembling the crane and getting the materials on location. Next up is the deep foundation and shoring work. As I have said, this part is noisy, and if you work at the Raleigh Municipal Building, you will probably feel some vibrations as they drill, dig, and drive the steel supports into the ground. The good news is that this part will not be as dusty as the demo was.
The back exit reopened to Hargett Street.
The underground utility work that necessitated the temporary closure of the back Exit Only door at the Raleigh Municipal Building has been successfully completed. We are pleased to announce that the protected pedestrian facilities are back in place and the back exit to Hargett Street is now open for your convenience.
