Workers poured concrete for a new at-grade slab that will serve as the floor for Amtrak baggage and office space at the station. Wooden frames were used to create openings for connecting the slab to underground piles and future plaza structural steel above. Photos documented the pouring process over a long day, showing concrete being supplied via crane and the surface being finished smooth.

1. Phase 2A
In this slide show:
Concrete pour for
at-grade slab
November 1, 2010 Update

2. Preparation for pouring a new concrete floor for the station’s first level.

3. The re-bar frame for an at-grade slab in what will be Amtrak baggage and office space.

4. The diamond-shaped wood frames leave an opening to attach plaza structural steel to deep
piles drilled down to bedrock beneath the station.

5. A view facing east before the slab is poured. This floor will be covered by the new plaza above.

6. The concrete for the area shown here was poured all at once to form a smooth, level surface.

7. A trench is dug for a grade-beam seismic foundation. Details about other grade-beams poured
on the first floor can be seen in a video on the home page and past slide shows.

8. A close up of the wooden frames that will leave openings in the concrete slab for the plaza’s
structural steel.

9. Another view facing north.

10. The concrete pour has begun.

11. Finishing work makes the surface smooth.

12. Concrete pours out of the black tube on the right. A two-by-four is used to work the surface
smooth behind the pouring.

13. Concrete is supplied from the west side of the station via a crane-type machine.

14. Looking south along a support beam that helps keep the brick plaza walls
in place while the steel structure is re-built.

15. The mechanical arm reaches over the wall to deliver concrete right to where it’s needed.

16. Progress is made during a long day of concrete pouring.

17. Here’s a view of an earlier at-grade slab concrete pour after it has dried. A real upgrade from
earlier muddy conditions.

18. An elevator connecting the first, second and third floors will fill this space.

19. A small room under the grand staircase is revealed.