Photographer: Angel Nunez Ortiz
Submitted By: Jaimee Robinson, Business Development & Marketing, Gannett Fleming, Phoenix

The city of Phoenix, Gannett Fleming and DNG Construction have been working to replace a below-grade exhibition hall shoring wall for the Phoenix Convention Center. The narrow workspace lies between the convention center and an active light rail track. The project employs innovative design and excavation techniques to install tie-backs and remove soil to a depth of 45 ft below street level without disturbing adjacent structures.

“The workspace is very tight, narrow and deep,” says Angel Nunez Ortiz with Gannett Fleming. “We really wanted to try to capture that and all of the structural elements in it with the cityscape behind it, but it was difficult to do with either a ground view or an aerial photo.” Ortiz took this photo using his mobile phone.

“The ground view I captured shows the complexity of building a shoring wall—drilling, digging, welding, post-tensioning, shotcreting, etc.—45 feet below ground level in a dense urban location,” Ortiz says.