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Neighborhood

 

GW Hillel

2300 H Street NW

 

Ongoing Pedestrian/Bus/Vehicle Impacts

Construction fencing has been installed at H and on 23rd Streets closing the sidewalk as shown on below traffic control plan for project and per signs posted at project, including barricades in the curb lane of H Street. Impacts to pedestrians and vehicles include:

  • A midblock crosswalk was installed in October to facilitate pedestrian traffic.
  • West side of 23rd Street between G & H Streets & the South side of H Street between 23rd & 24th Streets will be closed. Pedestrians should cross to the East side of 23rd Street in order to continue North or South of the construction site. 
  • The curb lane on 23rd Street in front of the Hillel project site will be closed Mon. thru Fri. from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm & Sat. from 7 am to 6 pm. 
  • Bus Stop – Starting Thurs. July 5th, the WMATA bus stop at 23rd & H Streets will be temporarily closed. Signage will direct pedestrians to the two nearest bus stops: at 24th & H Streets and at 23rd & G Streets.
  • These closures will last until the project is "at-grade" (which is projected to be in late 2019/early 2020) and then will potentially be replaced with a covered sidewalk on 23rd Street (pending DC approval) until the project's anticipated completion in Fall 2020.

Appropriate signage will be on site to direct pedestrians to the opposite side of the street and flaggers will be on site to assist with trucks entering/exiting the site. The signage will also include contact information for emergencies: Peter Chew, cell 410-598-3583. 

 

Construction Updates

2020

September 2020 
Permanent power, new water, and gas services connections have been connected into the building. The installations of the glass curtain wall and south exterior stone façade panels will be completed in September.  The emergency generator was hoisted onto the roof and connected into the building’s systems.  The installation of the elevators continue to progress.  Interior gypsum ceiling systems are progressing on all levels.  The ceramic tile and paint applications have commenced.  The project is expected to be completed in mid-November.

August 2020
Job site trailer was removed from the north side of the site and relocated into the office on the 3rd Floor of the new building. The TPO roof membrane was installed. The glass curtain wall and stone façade installations commenced on the north side in July and completed the east and partial south wall systems in August.  The interior gypsum wall system were finished and primed. The installation of the elevators commenced in August.

June 27, 2020
The concrete structure was completed in June and the mobile crane was removed from the site on Saturday, June 27. The construction team is on track to open the curb lane on H Street and remove the covered walkway in mid-August. 

The exterior wall framing and sheathing has progressed and will be completed in early July. The exterior panel system installations will follow, starting on the North façade, then moving to the East façade and finally to the South façade. MEP installations and wall framing has been progressing from the Lower Level up through the upper floors and will continue. The project is still looking to be completed during fall of 2020. 

May 22, 2020
The 4th floor concrete deck was poured on Saturday, May 16th. The 5th Floor / Penthouse level pour is scheduled for Wednesday, May 27th. Concrete activities will be substantially completed by mid-June. The tower crane will remain in place through most of June.

MIsc metal work is ongoing in preparation for the work to install the curtain wall systems in June and July. The exterior wall framing will begin in early June along with interior framing for the Lower Level. Masonry installations along the Amsterdam line will begin in June.

April 20, 2020
The project is currently restricting access to essential workers only with pre-screening and face mask and glove requirements for anyone that enters the site. All permits have been issued, including the Public Space Construction permit. Inspections are being performed as required by DCRA with approved 3rd party firms.

The Ground Floor concrete deck was poured on Tuesday, April 14th and the project is preparing for the concrete pour of the 2nd floor elevated deck early next week, weather depending. The topping out of the concrete structure is on schedule for the end of May. 

In mid-May, installation of the masonry walls along Amsterdam Hall and miscellaneous metal structures for the curtain wall systems will begin. The project is still on schedule for a late fall 2020 completion.

2019

November 29, 2019
The project is drilling and setting the steel piles throughout this week. By mid-week, they expect to begin the excavation along H Street to begin lagging installations. The excavator is back on site and working on removing sections of the old building footings and some foundation walls to in order to finish the pile installations and to begin our excavations later this week. They will also be removing the old slab on grade to facilitate the upcoming lagging and excavation work. There will be increased noise, vibrations and truck traffic. They will continue to monitor the vibration alarms, but do not expect to have any with this work. Residents may feel more vibrations in the building this week during working hours, which are 8am - 7pm Monday to Satuday.

November 8, 2019
With demolition of former Hillel structure completed, initial shoring/excavation preparation activities are underway and the following impacts may occur between Nov. 11-24:

Temporary Shoring Work - Intermittent mechanical noise as drilling begins into the foundation wall of the St Mary's Episcopal Church on 23rd Street. 

Noise from excavation machines and general equipment noise including beeps and the sounds of vehicles in the construction site.

August 19, 2019
Demolition of the south end of the structure continues with the 2nd floor slab and 1st floor walls removed. The large equipment that will be used to raze the main structure will arrive on site apx. Aug 21 and begin Aug. 22. It is expected that the main structure raze work will be completed early the following week, but may extend later into the week. Once demolition begins Aug. 22, pedestrian traffic flow will be stopped along the west side of 23rd Street between 8am-4pm. Pedestrians will be directed to cross 23rd Street at G & H streets to continue north or south on 23rd Street. Flag personnel will be positioned at the corners of H & 23rd Streets and G & 23rd Streets to direct pedestrians across 23rd Street or to 24th Street. The team on site may open the pedestrian curb lane during the lunch break or at other periods when the raze activities are stopped, but this will be an onsite discretionary decision made by the construction team.

August 5, 2019
Demolition continues of existing structure in the southern portion of site through mid-August with work intensifying apx. Aug. 12. Work hours are Mon-Sat from 7am-4:30pm, with some days work ending around 3pm. Noisy work such as jack hammers and debris removal are limited to start after 8am on weekdays and 9am on Saturday. The heavy equipment for main razing activities will be delivered between Aug 9-13 and work with this equipment is anticipated to begin Aug. 13. DDOT has approved the revised Traffic Control Plan (TCP) with the curb lane on 23rd Street used exclusively for pedestrian traffic. This will remain in effect through the end of September when a covered walkway on the sidewalk of 23rd Street is planned for installation so as to open up the curb lane for parking and rush hour traffic. The only exception to the revised TCP with pedestrian traffic using the curb lane on 23rd Street will be for 3 to 4 days when the heavy equipment is being utilized to raze the structure. During these work days, it will be unsafe to allow pedestrians to use the curb lane during working hours. When this heavy equipment is being utilized, flag personnel will be positioned at the northeast corner of H & 23rd Streets and also G&23rd Streets to direct pedestrian traffic to 24th Street or to cross to the east side of 23rd Street to continue north or south. This direction will remain in effect from 7 am to 4:30 pm during those specific work days.

July 25, 2019
Demolition work continues and includes elevated noise levels at intermittent times from jack-hammering and debris removal. This Saturday's (July 26) work will be exceptionally noise and will begin after 9 a.m.

July 8, 2019
Demolition is scheduled to begin the week of July 15 and will include elevated noise levels at intermittent times.

July 1, 2019
GW Hillel has received their raze permit for the demolition of the building. Site prep continues including sidewalk and lane closures that begin July 8 (see impacts below) and raze work beginning the following week. Please be aware that this phase will include elevated noise levels with the use of jackhammers and concrete saws inside the building.

Updates to sidewalk and lane closures:

Sidewalks and lane closures including the west side of 23rd Street.

The WMATA bus stop at 23rd and H Streets will be closed beginning on Monday and will remain closed during construction – signage will be installed directing pedestrians to the nearest bus stop.

The curb lane on 23rd Street in front of the Hillel project site will be closed Monday – Friday from 9:30am – 3:30pm and on Saturdays from 7am – 6pm if work is being performed on site.

Appropriate signage will be on site directing pedestrians to the opposite side of the street and flaggers will be on site to assist with trucks entering/exiting site.

June 6, 2019
Initial site preparations are now underway including pre-construction survey and monitoring of adjacent structures including properties owned by St. Mary's Church and GW. Work will begin late the week of June 17th on installation of construction fence, field office, storage containers, portable toilets, and dumpster as shown on attached preliminary site logistics draft. (click on the drawing for a enlarged view)

Sidewalks and lane closures including the west side of 23rd Street between G and H Streets and south side of G and H Street betweens 23rd and 24th Streets will begin the week of June 17, 2019 when the construction fence is installed and will last until the project is "at-grade" (which Hillel projects will be in late 2019/early 2020) and then will potentially be replaced with a covered sidewalk on 23rd Street (pending DC Government approval) until the project's anticipated completion in Fall 2020. Pedestrians leaving GW's Amsterdam Hall will be required to walk west to 24th Street to cross H Street and then head east to the center of campus. Also, the sidewalk on the west side of 23rd will be closed requiring pedestrians to cross to the east side of 23rd Street in order to continue north and south beyond the construction site. Access to St. Mary’s will remain open from G Street. Appropriate signage will be on site directing pedestrians to the opposite side of the street and flaggers will be on site to assist with trucks entering/exiting site. Also as shown on site map, to facilitate deliveries during weekday work hours of 9am-3pm and 7am-7pm on Saturdays, one lane of traffic adjacent the Hillel site will be closed on 23rd Street for staging purposes.  

WMATA/Metro has agreed to temporarily close the bus stop at 23rd & H Streets during construction and the contractor is working with DC Government to install signage directing pedestrians to other bus stops in the immediate area. There have also been requests for signage directing summer tourists traversing from the Foggy Bottom-GWU metro station to the national mall/monuments – the project team has agreed to follow up with the Park Service on this request.

Raze of the existing Hillel structure is anticipated for the second week of July and will continue into mid-August. Support of excavation and excavation activities will follow the building RAZE and are expected to continue through October 2019.