About 2,000 trucks full of concrete will be descending upon Los Angeles tomorrow to pour the foundation for what will be the tallest building west of the Mississippi.
The New Wilshire Grand, which will include a convention space, office suites and a 900-room hotel in the signature tower, will be 1,100 feet above Los Angeles. In true L.A. fashion, the top 73rd story will have a garden terrace and swimming pool but the building and its construction have significance.
The concrete pour will be the largest continuous pour ever — Guiness World Records will be present — and the trucks delivering the mixture are going to shut down a portion of a city that already causes a lot of traffic headaches. At least the pour is happening over this weekend.
Trucks are expected to arrive on site at 5 p.m. and the pouring is expected to last nearly 20 hours, according to the Los Angeles Times. Wilshire Boulevard and 7th and Figueroa streets in the vicinity of the construction site will be closed from noon Saturday to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Logistically, the continuous pour is incredibly complicated but engineers insisted it be done to improve its strength.
Months of planning has gone into this weekend's pour. Many errors would be considered a disaster given its size.
"There are so many variables in projects like these," said Gerard Nieblas, president of the engineering firm Brandow and Johnston, which designed the structure. "You try to minimize them as much as possible. We're lucky if we get 99% of them, but with the foundation, we want to hit 100%."
Of course, the city that is home to Hollywood and other stars is making a show of it. The USC marching band is performing the hour before the pour begins. Yang Ho Cho, chairman of Korean Air, which is developing the project; Chris Martin, chief executive of AC Martin Partners, the project's architect; Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez; state Sen. Kevin de León; Mayor Eric Garcetti; and City Councilman Jose Huizar are all giving speeches.
In fairness to them, it is the first major addition to the metropolis in years and based on appearances alone, it doesn't look like much has been done up leading up to tomorrow.
"There has been a great deal of construction to get us here," Michael Marchesano, general superintendent with Turner Construction Co., which is building the New Wilshire Grand, told the Los Angeles Times. "But it's not been particularly rewarding because it has all been below grade. This pour allows us to go vertical, which makes everyone happy."
Prior to the new construction, the city block was home to rubble from the old 16-story Wilshire Grand Hotel.
The new project is estimated to cost more than $1 billion and is expected to open in 2017.
