For downtown commuters in Wheeling, W. Va., the eye-catching spectacle of the new $12.3 million Market Street Parking Garage has been impossible to miss, and the construction site will soon be abuzz with even more activity than usual when a massive undertaking unfolds on the job site.
A 20-hour continuous pouring of concrete is slated to take place Feb. 16 to install the base from the ground level to the first deck of the structure that will become a six-story parking garage once completed, the Wheeling Intelligencer/News-Register reported Feb. 10.
City Manager Robert Herron said this phase of the construction — one in which about five football fields worth of concrete will be poured — promises to be a considerable undertaking.
"It is required because of the nature of the construction of the parking structure, [and] it all has to be poured at the same time," he told the Wheeling City Council at its last meeting. "Cables will be put into the cement as they go.
If there is inclement weather on Feb. 16, the concrete pour will be moved to the next day, Herron noted. In any case, the task will begin at 4 a.m. and continue for the next 20 hours, with trucks coming in and out of the site during that time.
He told the Wheeling news outlet that although the site will be busy with activity throughout the day, the pour should take place without too much disruption to residents, businesses and commuters in the downtown area. Fully loaded trucks will enter the work site at 11th and Chapline streets to deliver the concrete on the east side of the property away from the regular flow of downtown traffic.
"The pour will be for the transition from the ramp to the first elevated level of parking," Herron explained. "It is the area above the retail commercial space. There is a significant amount of shoring there."
Motorists passing by the construction site can see the structural supports for the parking garage that were installed in recent weeks.
"The parking structure on Market Street is moving along nicely," Herron added. "It is on schedule for the most part. There were some [problems] with a generator that needs to be delivered, and it may be a little bit late, based on supply chain issues."
The expected completion date for the new downtown parking structure is slated for Oct. 1.
Pittsburgh's Carl Walker Construction is the general contractor for the new parking garage, which is designed to encompass approximately 300 spaces, charging stations for electric vehicles, bicycle parking, fully automated parking payment systems, and 10,000 sq. ft. of street-level retail and commercial space. Besides its public parking, the building also is likely to be dedicated to space for tenants of the future Historic Wheeling-Pitt Lofts.
The Intelligencer/ News-Register noted that when the parking garage is complete this fall, the structure's facade should blend with the exteriors of Wheeling's other existing downtown business district buildings.
Another Market Street Project Moving Forward
On another matter, Wheeling city officials said despite concerns over the apparent lack of visible activity, Ohio-based Coon Restoration's work on transforming the 12-story former Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel headquarters on Market Street into a revitalized apartment complex with lower-level retail space is still moving forward. Building owner John Johnson of Access Infrastructure LLC and developer Steve Coon have committed to bringing the long-awaited $30-million-plus project to fruition.
The newspaper was told that the building has been cleared of its contents and its interior gutted to prepare for the rehabilitation.
Click here to view the live construction progress.
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