Residents at AMLI 900 in the South Loop listened to nearly two months of steel striking steel as pilings were hammered into place last April and May to support the new AMLI Lofts immediately to the north.
Residents who stayed on may have been dreading the start of construction for the new apartments at 1000 S Clark, immediately south of the building. Their concerns would have been unfounded: a very different technology for drilling the pilings is being deployed at 1000.
When I stopped by yesterday an 80-foot high auger was, fairly quietly, drilling one of more than 100 pilings currently in place at the site. According to the drilling contractor’s website, the “pile is backfilled with grout through the hollow stem while retracting the auger.” For “grout,” read concrete.
Previously installed pilings were being stress-tested by being subjected to extremely heavy loads.
As I was leaving a muscular Mack truck arrived with a load of concrete and a very striking message promoting breast cancer awareness.