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September 20, 2017

Work platform installed for Space Needle redo

Photo by Dave Mandapat/Space Needle LLC [enlarge]
It took about 4 hours to raise the platform from the SkyLine level to just below the Tophouse.

Nocturnal Seattleites may have been doing double-takes last Friday night if they were watching a ring-shaped platform inch its way up the legs of the Space Needle.

The 28,000-pound platform will support work crews during a multi-phase $100 million remodel of the Needle.

It took four hours for the platform to travel 400 feet — from the 100-foot SkyLine level to just below the Needle's Tophouse.

Raising the platform took a crew of 25 from the scaffolding company Safway and general contractor Hoffman Construction. Twelve of the workers were perched atop the platform as a dozen motors reeled up the ropes supporting it.

Safway is using a product called Quick Deck, which allows workers to build platforms off the ground. Quick Deck is typically used for bridge construction and has never been used on a structure like the Needle. It took about a week to assemble.

“This renovation project will be a giant game of three-dimensional chess,” said Karen Olson, chief marketing officer of the Space Needle, in a news release. “Getting the elevated platform in place was our first big move. This hasn't been done before. Our construction partners had to use a great deal of ingenuity and creativity to develop this plan. That plan — and great weather — allowed us to have a successful platform raising, which will allow us to remain open during construction.”

Crews will take about a month to build an enclosure around the workspace, creating a safe, weatherproof work site that is separated from visitors. Most of the observation deck will remain open during construction but the restaurant on top and the SkyLine level will be closed. Hoffman has set up construction offices in the SkyLine space.

The plan is to keep at least 70 percent of the observation deck open, so crews will work in enclosed wedge sections, starting with the northeast side.

Crews also will install a gantry crane next month on the Needle's roof to hoist materials, including 176 tons of glass that will be added to the observation deck and restaurant level. Glass panels will come in 10 different varieties. Some will be 11 feet tall, 7 feet wide and weigh 2,300 pounds.

Image from Space Needle [enlarge]
The top of the Needle will be enclosed to provide a safe worksite.

Using the platform will allow the Needle to remain open during construction, instead of having to close if a full scaffolding system were used.

Crews will update systems on the 605-foot structure, and redo the restaurant and observation areas. Initial work includes demolition and removal of materials from the restaurant level.

The job is expected to keep crews busy around the clock, with between 100 and 170 workers in 18 different trades onsite any given day.

Initial renovation is expected to be finished in May 2018. Safway will then lower the platform back to the 100-foot level for disassembly.

Later phases could include additional interior work on the new restaurant and lounge, elevator updates and repainting the structure.

Olson Kundig is the architect and Seneca Group is development manager. Tihany Design is working on interiors for the restaurant and lounge.

A Space Needle spokesman said New Year's Eve fireworks will still be shot off from the Needle, but the launch points will be altered to accommodate the platform.

The Needle attracts more 1 million visitors a year.

Drone video of the hoist can be viewed at www.spaceneedle.com/centuryproject-liftoff.




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