COTA Austin - construction and infrastructure

[hairy_scotsman]

So had the India construction, and we're talking about the pit buildings. They were at similar stages at 10 and 5 months out respectively. Austin is ahead now. Ergo, Austin pit construction has progressed at more than twice the pace.

The pit building foundation was also started more than 5 months ago. My post doesn't attempt to address pace of construction. It only concerns relative completion at a given point.

We know because we've seen photos of ductwork, conduit, piping, and rooftop mechanical equipment in the Austin project. And since that work can only begin in sections that are topped out, we know that none of that work had begun in India.

We've also seen photos with about the same amount of time left that show portions of Buddh's pit building topped. They also have concrete walls in place, hiding anything that might be inside.

Series vs parallel, as I discussed. And they weren't ahead as a whole.

So tell me then about all these other buildings that will be built in Austin.

Those shacks with the laundry hanging on them are exactly where the medical center goes.

In the google earth photo from Jan 16, the medical center is clearly visible exactly where it should be.

Sorry, but you just don't get construction. I do this for a living, and I can tell you with certainty that the Austin grandstands will be farther along than India's in a few of weeks.

It may well be hard for you to comprehend, but it is true nonetheless. The relative simplicity of the Austin facilities is in fact one of the reasons why, which I'd thought was too obvious to have to point out.

Wow. You really can't resist the odd nasty jab, can you?

Again, the smaller scope is one of the reasons.

That "smaller scope" is newfound. The relative simplicity is a direct result of cuts made to catch up in the schedule and to save money. Of course any project could continually lop significant items off the plan when behind, then yell to the mountaintops "We're on schedule", just as you and COTA do.

But I think you know all of that, it just doesn't fit the story you want to tell.

There you go again. Throw out supposition after supposition, twist & torture them, and call them fact. Then call me a liar. You're nothing if not consistent.

[Corporate666]

I have been reading F1-Technical for years, but never signed up until now... I have been following the Austin "situation", and wanted to comment on this thread.

I actually spent a chunk of the weekend reading through the whole thing.

Pup, you most definitely come across as snarky and defensive and the only reason I can see why you do that is because others are giving factual information that doesn't make the project look good.

I'm on a few other forums where we are discussing Austin and I've talked with people who are working on the project as well as people who know their stuff, and it's indisputable that Austin is in a pretty precarious position.

I had said all along (not on here, obviously) that the COTA project was underfunded and those heading it didn't grasp the magnitude of their undertaking - especially on the front of dealing with Bernie and attracting fans.

It's still very much hanging in the balance whether COTA will get the facility done on time, but if they do, I think it won't be long until (more) lawsuits fly. New Jersey is going to come online the next year and will be the destination that foreigners want to visit, not Austin.

[Pup]

OK, HS. We've reached the usual point where I've reached the limits of stamina and time. So I'll leave you the last word. As usual.

On a good note, new construction photos...

[Pup]

So, looking at those photos, I'm thinking that I was wrong about the scaled down grandstand after all. Given the location of the retaining walls and the CMU walls going up now, it looks to me more like they're building this...



...and not this...



Which makes sense, since the civil work doesn't jibe with that plaza. And we also have this rendering of the other side of the grandstand, which I'd missed, and which matches both the larger design and the civil work...



So I guess I got it wrong. I'd assumed from the two renderings that they'd cut back, when it appears I got the sequence backwards and they've actually expanded the design. Which I'm sure is evidence of doom, somehow.

Not only, but when I was looking at track construction photos, I realized that the smaller grandstand design looks surprisingly similar to the one in Korea...



So I'd bet most of my pocket change that when Tilke did that first rendering that they just grabbed the preliminary CAD work from Korea and plugged it in. Assuming they're the ones who did the rendering, of course...

[hairy_scotsman]

Pup...those new renderings are of the smaller design for the GS. See how much shorter the GS is than the pit building?

If you look at the GS in relation to the bend in the runoff wall on the west end, it appears the position of the GS is unchanged, but the upper portion has been cut off on that end, not that the lower GS has been extended. On the east end, the lower GS that extends beyond is a temp bleacher setup.

Even COTA is saying there will only be ~9000 seats along the front straight. I believe they mean on both sides, and there is stadium-style seating on the top of the pit building. Even at 9000 in the GS itself, that's down from the 14,000 or even 15,000 we heard for some time.

[Pup]

On the team suites, what I'm talking about is the work going on where the first suite would be, on the left rear of the paddock building...



It looks to me like they've run a plumbing trench, added a bit of fill, and there's what looks like a bit of concrete work around what I'm guessing to be plumbing stub ups. A lot of pixel peeping there, but it all follows.

Thinking about the staging, it makes sense that they wouldn't start those buildings until now, since in the renderings it doesn't look like there's too much space between them and the paddock, so they'd have to wait until the cranes are gone...

[Pup]

HS, the 14,000 figure includes the 5,000 seats on the paddock building. Which will be some darn nice seats if you can get 'em.

This is from an interview with the architect in January...

The three-story grandstand the firm has designed will seat slightly fewer than 9,000 race fans. An additional 5,000 fans will be accommodated in the upper floors of the paddock...

Also, the rendering of the current grandstand has been used since at least last April when they announced the name.

[hairy_scotsman]

Also, here's a new culturemap release from Kevin McCauley with 19 nice new photos of construction:

http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetai ... sf_twitter

[Pup]

Kevin McCauley likes his bleach bypass filter.

[hairy_scotsman]

HS, the 14,000 figure includes the 5,000 seats on the paddock building. Which will be some darn nice seats if you can get 'em.

This is from an interview with the architect in January...

The three-story grandstand the firm has designed will seat slightly fewer than 9,000 race fans. An additional 5,000 fans will be accommodated in the upper floors of the paddock...

Also, the rendering of the current grandstand has been used since at least last April when they announced the name.

You may be right about the seating figures.

The renderings you see out there with the red tower, however, were released in the last couple of months. I was at the April press conference. Those renderings are the older ones with the white tower.

ETA: I just looked at the renderings in the packet they passed out at that Press Conference. On the facility map, the GS's shape at the north end is the same as you now see in renderings, but the seating capacity listed on the GS is "~11,900 Spectators".

[munudeges]

Given the scale of the work they should be comfortably ahead of where India was now. They are clearly not. As HS said, completion at a given point. Then there is the totally unsolved access and infrastructure issues that will make any other work null and void as well as the location and funding.........

It ain't happening.

[Pup]

[munudeges]

Which will be some darn nice seats if you can get 'em.

Sorry, I just have to laugh at that one.

[Pup]

I knew you'd like that.

[Pup]

As an aside, have I mentioned how crappy the stonework is on this project?



And I'm damned glad they put in those expansion joints, because I'd hate to see any cracks in that wall.

And whoever specified that mortar color, or didn't, should be fired on the spot.