Prairie Material And Mchugh Construction Top Out Country’s Tallest Concrete Building

James McHugh Construction and Prairie Material Sales staff staged a ceremonial top-out pour in mid-August for Chicago’s 1,134-ft. (1,361 ft. with spire)

CP STAFF

James McHugh Construction and Prairie Material Sales staff staged a ceremonial top-out pour in mid-August for Chicago’s 1,134-ft. (1,361 ft. with spire) Trump International Hotel and Tower. The Western Hemisphere’s tallest reinforced concrete building, the 92-floor Trump project has seen market leader Prairie Material deliver upwards of 180,000 yd. of high performance and conventional mixes. On the North American concrete height-record log, it succeeds a nearby skyscraper, the 963-ft. 311 South Wacker Drive, completed in 1990.

Trump International’s concrete milestones have included 1) a September 2005 mat foundation pour, where 5,000 yd. of self consolidating mixes were placed in 30 hours, marking the largest North American SCC placement on record; and, 2) June 2007 pours involving 16,000-psi SCC mixes specified for outrigger beams at a 28-29th level transition, marking the highest design strength to date for a commercial SCC application.

Although much of the Trump International Hotel & Tower concrete has been pumped, two top-out pours entailed the hoisting of a flag-bearing bucket. The second pour, three days after the first, was staged for project principals. They included lead architect/engineer Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP of Chicago, for whom 2008 brings accomplishments in concrete practice unlikely to be repeated. In addition to 92-story Trump International, which sets a new height record for a reinforced concrete building in North America, SOM Chicago has led the design and engineering for Burj Dubai, overlooking the Persian Gulf, which has surpassed 1,900 ft. toward a yet-to-be disclosed final height and top-out date. Also built of reinforced concrete, the 160-plus level tower is the world’s tallest free-standing structure.