The Interchange

Its been so busy in the bay (especially the path over the Barrage and the container cafe and park out front) that i went for a walk into town the other week to get away from the crowds, much much quieter in the city center!

A little bit of excitement for me today (sad but true!) the first glimpse of construction above hoardings!! OK you've gotta look close! but steel now visible!! It seems the crane is delivering almost straight away!



Does anyone know how this building will be constructed? It seems to me that roughly speaking there are two methods of construction (I know I'm simplifying - but I have very little construction knowledge) Some structures seem to shoot up using what I jovially refer to as "the meccano method" HMRC was one such structure although the central cores shot up 1st (as I recall) and the other method seems to be more concrete based - the premier inn, under construction being an example of this. I'm really hoping that the Interchange development will be constructed adopting more of the "Meccano method" - this way it's main structure will shoot up rapidly. Just wondering if anyone with greater construction knowledge than me (not too difficult!) could share some info or opinion here

Is there just the one crane at the moment? It seems to be from
the images I'm seeing, and that is the Wood Street end yes?

You'd think there would be maybe 3 in total, maybe they are just getting started on that end first considering the height?

Yes this is the Wood Street end, there's certainly another 2 cranes required for the whole development but no signs of the crane bases at the moment, that doesn't mean 2 crane bases aren't in place it's just difficult to see into site now (first floor of Prince of Wales pub not presently open for beer or Interchange site progress observation!) Great to see some steel appearing above hoardings for the tower though!! How long have we waited for this!!!

What will be the official height of the Tower and how manny floors?

What will be the official height of the Tower and how manny floors?

83 metres from Paul's brilliant page below. I think around 27 floors.

http://www.cardiffwalesmap.com/CardiffDevelopments.htm

Look at the map, click on the image and it takes you to the planning page:

https://planningonline.cardiff.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=_CARDIFF_DCAPR_124399

As can be seen from photo the central core of the tower now very visible above hoardings



And if that's not exciting enough ( well I'm excited - we've waited a long time for this!) down at the south end is a viewing window in the hoarding, so people like myself for example can see the progression of the overall development. First pic here...



Also an information board about development progress etc. 2 things of note.. firstly it mentions 2nd tower crane being erected at the end of may (sounds like over the coming weekend hopefully) Also it mentions slipform for construction of the central core, now wasn't that the method used for zenith building? if so it means that central core will be shooting up at 2 or 3 levels daily. I maybe wrong and if anyone 'in the know' wants to comment then please be my guest here! . Anyway I shall be doing regular updates on progress.

Every morning I look out of my window and make a mental note of the positions of the cranes in the city centre. Later in the day I look again and if they have changed position I know some work must be continuing, which is a comforting thought in these strange times. So it is good to know that the interchange is making real progress and I will keep a watchful eye on the second crane. I've noticed on my daily walks that work has continued on many of the smaller construction sites (the housing next to Ikea, the drive-through at Cardiff Bay Morrisons) where it is presumably easy to maintain a 2m distance. One of the few good things about lockdown is that I have got to know my local streets very well indeed!

Hi David - The 2nd crane is being installed today. Check here later for photos!

Went pass today on the bike.