Reply With QuoteThe TKTS booth has been at the same spot in Father Duffy Square for ~ 30 years ...
Has a car ever barreled through the crowds in line there?
Another safety concern that I'd like to add is the need for bollards all around the square.
Imagine an out-of-control vehicle barreling through this place with all those people standing on the TKTS line.
The TKTS booth has been at the same spot in Father Duffy Square for ~ 30 years ...
Has a car ever barreled through the crowds in line there?
Not sure but that's not the point.
Many places with security and/or pedestrian safety barriers did not do so because an incident had happen at the spot.
You don't always wait for something to happen before implementing them.
Call it paranoia, but I just look at the whole square and it just seems ripe for a vehicle to jump that curb at some point.
Besides, they've got bollards (albeit plastic ones) all over the place there, what's a few more?
I'm not saying bollards here are necessarily a bad idea -- but they just removed all the ones that were installed post-9/11 at the southern end of Times Square because they were determined to be pointless in terms of truck-bomb security and were just bottling up the pedestrians.
Those were the bulky-globe ones in front of TS tower. They do take up too much space.
The ones I'm advocating however, are the slim cylindrical ones - although for this location it should be more elegant than those we normally see.
nothing
Originally Posted by ablarc
i think it's a cantilevered beam anchored at the base, not such a huge load to pickup, especially if there is a beam anchored horizontally at the bottom of the structure.
Not exactly a light load either.
Didn't you read about the 1000 people capacity?
likely it's being designed for a typical live load capacity
live load plus dead load plus a safety factor, using a theater seating criteria.
the structure explained
I am actually the structural engineer for this project...I work for a firm called Dewhurst Macfarlane.
The primary load path of the structure is completely glass. The front and mid walls are made from 2" thick glass, and carry the weight of the structure above. The rafters sit on the walls, and are overlap spliced glass beams. The treads are glass planks with a red interlayer. Sadly, we were forced to put a little bit of steel in there, but it is only secondary. It is the largest glass structure in the world (that I know of).
In respect to wintertime slipperiness, it has a ceramic frit which will give it the stickyness of a skateboard, and there is radiant heat underneath the treads that melt snow.
Well that answers that question. Thanks Structure99, very cool. And welcome to the forum.
Yes, welcome!! I'm so excited by this project. It's structure, but also it's philosophy. It is EXACTLY what Times Square needed.
structure99: Thanks so much for the info.
I think this is one of the coolest projects going in NYC right now -- and will continue to sneak my camera over the plywood fence to get shots as it progresses.
Welcome aboard -- and feel free to post whatever you like that will give us all a better picture of what you and your team are doing.
structure99 - thank you, that's excellent info. Any idea when we should be able to access this glass staircase?
more structural stuff
I think on the current schedule we are looking at being open for June or July this year. The stainless steel fittings are all done, and right now the glass is being fabricated at Eckelt in Austria.
Also, to answer the question about the design load - its designed to the NYC building code, which in the instance is interpreted as 100psf live load (same as a nightclub basically). Its also designed for earthquakes, stadium loads, and a 50 year storm.
I've attached a photo of some of the glass beam components.
What caused the completion date to fall so far behind schedule?
I know they had anticipated a Dec. 2006 finish date.
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