I noticed these new decorative engraved sidewalk blocks on 16th and Valencia a couple of days ago and I was wondering how they were done. Turned out to be less high-tech than I thought: grinding by hand with an orbital sander.
Check ‘em out before they are covered in gum stains.
[See the full video on andy.brooks' Flickr]
I walk by these every day on my way to 16th & Mission. They may have polished or touched up the final result with an angle grinder, but the initial etching was done with sandblasting. For a day or two they had large cloth barriers up around the sidewalk areas and workers with hoses and breathing masks were obviously sandblasting the sidewalk.
I really like the dia de los muertos skeletons, but the floral pattern is meh.
Beautiful! I wish Austin would do something like this.
i wonder how all of the additions to valencia street will age. so far it looks amazing because its all new.
The skeletons are misplaced on Valencia at 16th, they are more appropriate on 24th. The effect, in context to location, is more Grateful than Day o’