Special to The Kemptville Advance
December 2003
When I enter the Taipei subway system every weekday morning on
my way to work, I stand in the shadow of what has just been named the tallest
building in the world. By its completion in the fall of 2004, the giant known
as Taipei 101
will have reached 1667 feet at the tip of its 197 foot spire. Thirty-four
double decker elevators will lift people at a rate of 37 miles per hour, or
approximately two floors per second.
101 stories will house 12,000
office workers, along with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Mayor Ma Ying-jeou says that he has
no doubt “the tower will bring Taipei to the
world and the world to Taipei ”.
But in the aftermath of the World Trade
Center terrorist attacks,
in which over 2800 souls were lost, many people the world over are scratching
their heads.
Do we really need another
skyscraper?
Ying-jeou answered this query with
the explanation that Taipei
was not likely to be the target of a terrorist attack. Indeed, the biggest
danger to a structure of this size on the island of Taiwan
is terror of another kind.
Earthquakes and typhoons are
fairly common in this country, as it sits on a stretch of high seismic activity
in the Pacific basin. In September 1999, 2,400 people died and 50,000 buildings
were damaged or destroyed in a horrific earthquake that registered 7.6 on the
Richter scale.
A 900-ton damper in the shape of a
massive sphere will be suspended at the top of the building, on the 87th
floor - this will serve to reduce the lateral movements brought about during
earthquakes and high winds. Visitors will be able to see this impressive ball from
the restaurant or the observation deck for a nominal fee.
In addition to state-of-the-art
fire extinguishing equipment and non-flammable construction materials,
architects included a fire-safe room on each floor and a refuge balcony on
every eighth floor. In terms of safety, designers claim that Taipei 101 exceeds all standards.
The construction of this
modern-day Tower
of Babel hasn’t gone
without incident, however. In March of 2003, an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the
Richter scale caused a crane to fall from the 58th floor, killing
five construction workers. Several fires occurred during the construction
process as well.
On November 21, just one week
after the grand opening of the shopping mall at the base of the tower, high
winds caused a swing crane to drop a load of steel plates from the 90th floor onto unsuspecting pedestrians below. Four
people were injured and two taxis were damaged but it could have been far
worse: more than 60 of the steel plates fell into a vacant primary school play
yard, located 300 metres away.
The builder was fined for using a
crane on high rise construction during winds that exceeded 10 metres per second. At the time of the accident, the wind
was measured at 22 metres per second.
Construction crews were back at
work just three days later, and a throng of visitors crowded around the
building’s entrance, waiting their turn to be allowed in to view Asia ’s newest global landmark. Much to the dismay of the
retailers, however, most of the people admitted to the shopping complex were
just there to look, and not to do their Christmas shopping.
"Taipei 101 Tuned Mass Damper 2010" by Armand du Plessis - Own work. |
No comments:
Post a Comment