Knowledge (XXG)

Vaulted sidewalk

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hold a new sidewalk at the new street level, and an empty space was left between the original and the new sidewalks. This process gave building owners a choice: raise their buildings to the new street level, or relocate the main entrance to the second floor of the building to match the new street level. Many buildings chose the latter option, opting to use the vaulted area for storage. As recently as 2001 there were still over 2,000 vaulted sidewalks in Chicago
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started in 1855 as a response to the muddy conditions of the streets and because of epidemics of cholera. The raised streets needed new, raised sidewalks to match them. In the case of vaulted sidewalks, which might be 5 feet (1.5 m) or more over the original street level, a structure was built to
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that are not placed directly on the ground. Rather, there is an empty space below them where the ground level used to be. This may happen where the street level has been raised over time, or where basements are extended, or as
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Sidewalk vaults may be protected as historical architecture, or filling them required for planning permission.
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In New York, basements may extend beneath the sidewalk and drivers are warned "HOLLOW SIDEWALK, DO NOT PARK".
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Today the old vaulted sidewalks are visible mostly during construction and cause increased costs of
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Two-stage refraction system for basement lighting; prism wall below center, shop above left. Note
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As of 2022, several sidewalk vaults, or "hollow walks," remain in Milwaukee's
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A basement daylit by sidewalk prisms (prisms out-of-shot to the left)
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The same system used to light a salesroom inside a hollow sidewalk;
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Pavement type where the open area denotes a subterranean level
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and increase the cost of street and sidewalk reconstruction.
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allows sidewalk vaults to provide daylight to the basement.
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Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
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This is a vaulted sidewalk under construction in Chicago
221:, Institute for Public Service, Seattle University, 199:Vaulted sidewalk in front of a store in Chicago 8: 215:Seattle Prism Light Reconnaissance Study 204: 135: 7: 320:www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org 392:Jannene, Jeramey (April 7, 2022). 281:10.1061/(ASCE)SC.1943-5576.0000032 228:from the original on 27 March 2016 14: 411:Denton, Jack (29 October 2020). 212:Marie Wong; et al. (2011), 178: 158: 138: 1: 54:A sidewalk vault in Chicago, 439:Dever, Jim (14 June 2017). 497: 263:Khudeira, Soliman (2009). 316:"Street Grades, Raising" 200: 86: 63: 198: 84: 53: 126:Use for daylighting 116:Seattle Underground 96:Historic Third Ward 201: 87: 68:raising of Chicago 64: 169:is on the right, 20:Vaulted sidewalks 488: 460: 459: 457: 455: 436: 430: 429: 427: 425: 408: 402: 401: 389: 383: 382: 380: 379: 370:. Archived from 360: 354: 353: 351: 350: 336: 330: 329: 327: 326: 312: 306: 305: 300:Nugent, Walter. 297: 291: 290: 288: 287: 260: 254: 253: 251: 250: 236: 230: 229: 227: 220: 209: 182: 162: 142: 496: 495: 491: 490: 489: 487: 486: 485: 466: 465: 464: 463: 453: 451: 438: 437: 433: 423: 421: 410: 409: 405: 398:Urban Milwaukee 391: 390: 386: 377: 375: 368:DNAinfo Chicago 362: 361: 357: 348: 346: 344:gapersblock.com 338: 337: 333: 324: 322: 314: 313: 309: 299: 298: 294: 285: 283: 262: 261: 257: 248: 246: 244:gapersblock.com 238: 237: 233: 225: 218: 211: 210: 206: 193: 186: 183: 174: 163: 154: 143: 128: 118:sidewalks have 112: 104: 92: 48: 24:sidewalk vaults 17: 12: 11: 5: 494: 492: 484: 483: 478: 468: 467: 462: 461: 431: 403: 384: 355: 331: 307: 292: 275:(3): 100–104. 255: 231: 203: 202: 192: 189: 188: 187: 184: 177: 175: 164: 157: 155: 144: 137: 131:Prism lighting 127: 124: 111: 108: 103: 100: 91: 88: 78:maintenance. 76:infrastructure 47: 44: 37:utility vaults 22:, also called 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 493: 482: 479: 477: 474: 473: 471: 450: 446: 442: 435: 432: 420: 419: 414: 407: 404: 399: 395: 388: 385: 374:on 2017-09-07 373: 369: 365: 359: 356: 345: 341: 335: 332: 321: 317: 311: 308: 303: 296: 293: 282: 278: 274: 270: 266: 259: 256: 245: 241: 235: 232: 224: 217: 216: 208: 205: 197: 190: 181: 176: 172: 168: 161: 156: 152: 148: 141: 136: 134: 132: 125: 123: 121: 117: 109: 107: 101: 99: 97: 89: 83: 79: 77: 72: 69: 61: 57: 52: 45: 43: 40: 38: 33: 29: 25: 21: 452:. Retrieved 444: 434: 422:. Retrieved 416: 406: 397: 387: 376:. Retrieved 372:the original 367: 358: 347:. Retrieved 343: 334: 323:. Retrieved 319: 310: 295: 284:. Retrieved 272: 268: 258: 247:. Retrieved 243: 234: 214: 207: 171:vault lights 151:masonry wall 129: 120:vault lights 113: 105: 93: 73: 65: 60:vault lights 41: 27: 23: 19: 18: 302:"Epidemics" 470:Categories 454:9 November 424:30 October 378:2017-06-26 349:2017-06-26 325:2017-06-26 286:2017-06-27 249:2017-06-26 191:References 167:prism wall 481:Sidewalks 476:Pavements 90:Milwaukee 32:sidewalks 223:archived 102:New York 58:through 28:areaways 449:KING-TV 110:Seattle 46:Chicago 445:KING 5 418:Curbed 173:above. 147:I-beam 62:, 1880 56:daylit 226:(PDF) 219:(PDF) 114:Some 456:2021 426:2020 149:and 66:The 30:are 26:and 277:doi 472:: 447:. 443:. 415:. 396:. 366:. 342:. 318:. 273:14 271:. 267:. 242:. 39:. 458:. 428:. 400:. 381:. 352:. 328:. 304:. 289:. 279:: 252:. 153:.

Index

sidewalks
utility vaults
Cross-section of a road and adjacent building, showing the basement extending under the sidewalk and part of the road. Sunlight is shining through the sidewalk into the basement.
daylit
vault lights
raising of Chicago
infrastructure
This is a vaulted sidewalk under construction in Chicago
Historic Third Ward
Seattle Underground
vault lights
Prism lighting
Diagram of prisms in a pavement bending light to hit a wall of glass prims lying directly under and in line with the basement wall, which bend the light further to the horizontal
I-beam
masonry wall
A brightly-lit room with the inside edge lined with carrell desks. The ceiling is made of pendant prisms, supported by a very unobtrusive frame (which is in turn supported at wide intervals by slender diagonal braces from the walls). The wall over the desks is made of prism tiles.
prism wall
vault lights
A black-and-white photo of an unfurnished basement, horizontally lit with diffuse light. It has a pale coffered ceiling, with thickish round pillars supporting the intersections of the beams. The lower half of both pillars and walls is covered with dark wood panelling. The bare floor is pale grey.
Vaulted sidewalk in front of a store in Chicago
Seattle Prism Light Reconnaissance Study
archived
"City Streets: How Chicago Raised Itself Out of the Mud and Astonished the World Gapers Block: Ask the Librarian"
"Chicago's Vaulted Sidewalks: History and Structural Rehabilitation"
doi
10.1061/(ASCE)SC.1943-5576.0000032
"Epidemics"
"Street Grades, Raising"
"City Streets: How Chicago Raised Itself Out of the Mud and Astonished the World Gapers Block: Ask the Librarian"
"Uptown Plaza With Outdoor Concert Stage, Revamped Broadway In The Works"

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