Asian skyscrapers, "the twins»

Petronas Towers - UNIQUE CONCRETE MASTERPIECE in far 1998, after completion of the double towers of the Petronas Towers (Petronas Towers) in Kuala Lumpur (Kuala Lampur), Malaysia, they hurriedly announced the two highest buildings in the world. Despite the fact that the validity of this statement was immediately challenged, it was impossible not to recognize this unprecedented success in building construction. The building consists mainly of concrete. Its height is 452 m to the top of the "architectural" spikes, 403 m - to the roof and 375 meters - to the highest habitable floor. Architectural firm, «Cesar Pelli & Associates», as well as the design engineers of companies «Thornton-Tomasetti Inc.» And «Ranhill BersekutuSdn. Bhd. », Opted for a concrete of very specific reasons. To begin with, that concrete was always more standard material for the regional contractors than steel. In Asia, as a rule, prefer to build high-rise buildings of concrete than steel. In particular, it refers to the islands in the South China Sea, where the concrete is preferred because the cost of imported steel is prohibitive. Of course, extreme seismic and wind loads, typical in this region are taken into account during the construction of any high-rise building here, so as the material is almost always used concrete high hardness. Its role in the choice of material economic factors have played. The main owner, the Malaysian oil conglomerate Petronas, had not planned to take a lot of premises, or rather, planned to donate a smaller amount in percentage terms than is usually done in similar skyscrapers. Therefore, having a significant cost-estimates, it was decided to use reinforced concrete frames and columns, inevitably more expensive than a steel structure. There is another interesting feature of this architectural masterpiece. Since the towers were supposed to connect the two-storey bridge at 41 th floor, stairs each tower can serve as an additional emergency exit for another tower. The size of each frame of the tower, therefore, could be reduced and build only one staircase. Similarly, additional space can be obtained by placing a mechanical service outside of each tower, two 43-storey buildings, or "pad", adjacent to the towers. Finally, concrete blocks can be minimized by selective use of the latest high-mix with a target strength of 80 MPa (11.600 lb/in2) - the first time in Malaysia. Over the entire period of the towers over such engineering solutions, it was a lot of interesting opinions. For example, one of the architects of the towers Petronas, Chesar Pelli (Cesar Pelli), described the resulting design of concrete frames and columns on the perimeter as the "plastic pipe". Two "plastic pipe" Petronas Towers rest on a concrete slab foundation of a thickness of three meters. What's unusual in this high-design? Since the solid rock under the ground is too deep for that before it could reach, base plate supports, in general, the lateral friction force. This friction is created by the massive 208 (3m x 1m) rectangular piles-Barrett with serrated sides. Piles driven into the underlying layer of the sand to a depth of 115 m. The group of 85 piles directly support each tower, while the remaining support "bustles". From the basement at 25 m below ground level are the concrete skeletons of each tower, with dimensions of 13m x 13m. The wall thickness of the frame varies from 76 cm at the base to 36 cm at the top. Along the perimeter of each tower is a concentric ring of 16 concrete columns with a super range of diameters from 2,4 m in the basement up to 1,2 m on the roof. Although ground-level super-columns and are separated by a distance of 10 m, center to center, with increasing altitude they lean toward the frame, to obtain the characteristic shape of towers. Occurring as a result of the convergence of the columns reduces the distance between them is up to 6,7 m at the top. At each level of the column related to each other through the arch-arc instant beams to form a complete and independent system of walls on the perimeter. Thanks to the strength inherent in the concrete, frame and super-columns connected with each other only a single layer cantilever beams: two-story concrete lattice girder of the 38 th floor. Bonded so that the frame and the super-columns form a "plastic pipe, so a firm to cross the efforts that the dampers are not required. Moreover, the required flexibility for wind loads is achieved by the lack of communication frames and columns around the perimeter above the average altitude mark, while the high-strength concrete blocks already have the required resilience to withstand seismic loads. The location of such a large amount of concrete in such a significant height above ground level was in itself a significant task, and contractors broke the world record by uploading concrete to a height of 380 meters of construction innovations used in the construction of the Petronas Twin Towers, were supplemented by the specification for custom bimetallic platform rapid manufacturing for floor plates and self-cleaning (!) cantilever elements of the facade. In addition, the original design and manufacturing technology have roofs made of stainless steel. In the construction of facilities, the sliding steel formwork for pouring the super-columns, as well as 29 high-speed double-deck elevators for each tower. And, of course, the most attractive and memorable feature of the structure is a suspension bridge length of 60 m and a height of 10 m and weighing in at 653,000 kg, which connects the two towers. The bridge was manufactured in South Korea and assembled on site and lifted in a continuous design to a height of 184 m. The bridge is set at 41 floor, directly above the cantilever beams towers. Unique characteristics of the bridge is a reference point. Allowable lateral displacement of these points - only 25 cm, amazing accuracy, made possible by the rigidity of the concrete. ______________________________________ Translated from English by T. Ponomarenko © Copy materials from the site is strictly prohibited! See also: Diamond in the Arab world is one of the most popular buildings in the Hollywood films High-altitude "bottle opener" Skyscraper, promoting foreign investment in Hong Kong Silver record the height of buildings in Hong Kong's tallest building architectural asymmetrical response "Chamberlain" small town fit inside the building despite the skyscraper to strike in Dubai has grown supergiant One of the most original Chinese beauties skyscrapers