13-Mar-15 – The three-day weekend of May 23-25 is still when the city expects to open its new Riverwalk to the public. A new spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Transportation confirmed the target date on Thursday.

Most of the construction of the Riverwalk should be finished by the end of March, according to CDOT. After that, crews will work on landscaping and other finishes.

“We expect this landscaping and other work to be complete and to open the new sections of the Riverwalk by Memorial Day weekend,” said Mike Claffery, director of public affairs for CDOT. “We are on track to meet this schedule.”

There have been no official updates from the city on construction progress since the first week of February. Based on the most recent update, work on the Riverwalk includes installing electric wiring, light fixtures, plumbing, mechanical systems, and glass in the arcade spaces under Wacker Drive.

On Tuesday, between Clark Street and LaSalle Street, the first concrete was poured onto the slope from Wacker Drive down to the Chicago River. The stretch of Riverwalk, called River Theater, required a massive amount of wooden forms, into which the concrete was poured, and rebar to reinforce the concrete.

(Above) After months of building forms and laying out rebar, the first concrete is poured onto the slope at River Theater on Tuesday morning. Seen here from the Clark Street Bridge, workers prepare to quickly distribute the concrete. It arrived at the Riverwalk in the concrete mixer at upper left. A spiral blade inside the truck forces the concrete out of the red and white drum. A conveyor belt carries it to the pump at upper right and down a flexible hose, where a worker guides the concrete to the right spot. (Click on image to view larger version.)