How do They do That? Install the Large Paneled Terrace Windows on the 16th Floor
One of the glass inset panels is slowly making its way up to the 16th floor where it will be stored along with all of the other panels until it is time to install the window panels.
Time has come for the long-awaited phase in the construction process: The installation of the large paneled terrace windows that will be installed on the 16th floor. This long gapping horizontal section on the top floor of the Adult Hospital tower has been a curiosity to onlookers. One of the most frequent questions that I am asked is now that the cranes are gone: “How will the terrace windows be installed?” I too wondered how this feat would be accomplished. In the middle of June, just before the north crane was taken down, I posed the question to the glass foreman. His answer was short and to the point: “We are working on a plan.” Okay, I thought, I can wait. Shortly after that conversation, I noticed one early afternoon, a large window panel being lifted up toward the 16th floor near where the two short overhanging glass panels were missing. I quickly snapped a photo looking directly at the tip of the boom and into the sun. It suddenly dawned on me why the overhanging panels were missing: The crane’s cable could touch the steel beam as it lowered the glass panels to where they would be offloaded onto the 16th floor. Why hadn’t I thought of that earlier?
Getting to that Stage
The window panels for the 15th floor are approximately four-feet taller to accommodate the safety glass, which will form the transparent railing along the 16th floor. On June 7, 2019, these window panels along with the safety were set. The first image in this post illustrates how the window was fabricated and how high they are once set.
A fifth-floor window panel is being lowered into place. When the install is completed, the top section will serve as the transparent security panel.The transparent security wall as viewed from the interior of a room off of the terrace.Back in June, a crude outline of the approximate placement of the terrace inset windows and doors was included in the post. Click on the following link, which will help to place the rest of this post into context. https://docuvision2020.com/index.php/2019/06/07/the-16th-floor-and-the-parapet-wall/
The Unique Process of Installing the Window Panels
Even before I got on the site, I could tell when looking up at the terrace that the glazers (glass installers) were hanging the first panel. By the time I got to the 16th floor via the aerial lift, the first narrow panel had been placed and a glazer (center right) was anchoring the panel to the top rail. Another glazer (upper left) was removing a strap that was used to right the panel. Yours truly, the chronicler, caught sitting down on the job. My namesake, Dennis, a glazer with Tower Glass took my camera and took a picture as I sat in a chair trying to fathom how the team would install the windows. Not a bad view! A closeup of the first panel that was installed. Note the reflection in the panel. imagine the full-frame reflection once all the panels are up.Anchoring the first panel.While their buddies were anchoring the first panel, the rest of the crew were checking the inventory to stage the next install.The glazer team checks out a piece of glass lifting equipment that includes four (4) vacuum suction cups. There was some concern that the manual equipment would be too labor-intensive.
A very interesting video that shows how the Tower Glass crew installs large window panels on the 16th-floor terrace.
After graduate school Dennis accepted a position at Loma Linda University. He worked there for 42 years in the areas of administration and financial management, also teaching accounting and management to dietetic students at the School of Public Health. Through the years Dennis has chronicled the growth of the campus, including the construction of the Drayson Center and the Centennial Complex and the razing of Gentry Gym. He is the author of "The Mound City Chronicles: A Pictorial History of Loma Linda University, A Health Sciences Institution 1905 - 2005." dEp 09.30.2016 🔨
