Photo courtesy of Turner Construction Co. The Pike Place Market renovation required Turner Construction to excavate 10 to 20 feet below the column footings of an occupied building.

Pike Place Market is composed of historical buildings, many of which are 100 years old, and Turner Construction’s renovation was complicated by the age and diversity of systems within the buildings.

The project involved structural upgrades, accessibility improvements, and the repair and replacement of the infrastructure of the mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems.

To maintain the historical integrity of the market, the work was accomplished without changing the physical appearance of the buildings. The project site was only 7,200 square feet.

Among the many challenges addressed by Turner was the excavation for a new Seattle City Light electric vault that required excavating 10 to 20 feet below the column footings of an occupied building. To do so, Turner installed micropiles around existing columns prior to the excavation, transferred the load from the existing column footings to the new micropiles and surgically excavated below.

More than 100 survey points were monitored daily to ensure the existing structures had no unanticipated movement.