ENGR 183EW- Engineering and Society

Group Presentation
Topic: Very Tall Buildings
Team members:
Blake Rocheleau
Isaac Carrera
Jon Zukowski
Kenji Guntur
Frederick Michael Alfian
Overview
● Historic Buildings
● Modern Skyscrapers
● Buildings as a Target for Terror
● Future of Tall Buildings
● Conclusions
Great Pyramid of Giza
● Constructed in 2580 BCE
● 481 feet tall, sides 754 feet
● Originally shining white color
● Tallest man-made structure
for over 3800 years
● Emperor Khufu’s tomb
● Designed by Vizier Hemiunu
● 285 blocks placed daily for
time frame of 20 years
● One of three great pyramids

https://www.ancient.eu/img/r/p/500x600/6190.jpg?v=1485682731
Great Pyramid Construction Techniques

https://www.cheops-pyramide.ch/khufu-pyramid/ramp-models.html
Gothic Cathedral Architecture and Construction
● Rivalry between cities
● Community effort,
building for God
● Range of laborer
expertise
● Cruciform plan
○ Nave, transept Laon Cathedral (Notre-Dame)
French Early Gothic, begun 1160
● Master builders,
learned through
apprenticeship
● Hands on creativity

https://web.archive.org/web/20090624065547/http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~hart205/Cathedrals/Plan/plan.html
Lincoln Cathedral
● Construction
commenced 1088
● Reached tallest
height in 1311
● Spire (flèche) was
250 feet tall
● Fleche: wooden
framework covered
with lead or copper
http://thelincolnite.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Model_Spires_Lincoln_Cathedral.jpg ● Spire collapsed in
https://buildingfailures.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/lincoln-2.jpg 1548
Eiffel Tower
● 1,063 feet tall
● Opened 1889
● Gustave Eiffel company
designed tower
● 7000 metric tons of
puddling iron
● Criticisms of design
● Worldwide icon

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?
q=tbn:ANd9GcRtDu67bpCCgBULq8pb81USdDWnl4o2z8hfPb2AMVWGhj
Ptq9Je
Old Construction Purposes
● Display of power
● Technological achievement
● Religious purposes
Modern Skyscrapers
1. Safety mechanism
2. Construction technique and innovation
3. Purpose
4. Drawbacks
5. Evacuation
6. Occupants safety

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Burj_Khalifa
Safety Mechanism
General requirements

1. Fire alarm system

2. Portable fire extinguisher, fire sprinkler system
3. Emergency stairways
4. Smoke control system
5. Fire resistant materials on certain parts of the building
6. Proper maintenance

The taller a building is, the more challenging it is in case of emergency

Safety Mechanism : Burj Khalifa
1. Automatic sprinkler and smoke control system
2. Fire resistant and smoke proof construction that can isolate
floor to floor firezone.
3. Fire alarm voice communication system
4. Refugee floors, fireproof and smoke resistant for certain
amount of time
5. Accessible elevators in case of emergency
6. Crisis response plan
a. Response team
b. Response strategies
c. Response procedure http://global.ctbuh.org/resources/papers/download/1300-burj-
dubai-life-safety-and-crisis-response-planning-

d. etc. enhancements.pdf
Construction Technique & Innovations
General process

1. Materials selection
2. Wind effect
3. Prototype to be analyzed on wind tunnel http://www.archiexpo.com/prod/ancon-building-products/product-69643-

4. The taller a building is, more elastic it should be

1358451.html

5. Structure that supports dead load and live load

6. Design translated into detailed plan that can be constructed
7. Construction process :

base/foundation → superstructure & core → walls & floors → exterior & interior
Construction Technique & Innovations : Burj Khalifa
1. “Y” shaped base, spiraling “Y” shaped plan
a. Minimize wind force by encouraging disorganized vortex
b. Very stable tower
c. Simple structure and foster constructibility
2. Foundation
a. 3.7 meter thick of concrete
b. 194 bored piles, each support 3000 metric tons
3. Able to withstand earthquake up to 7.0 SR

https://csengineermag.com/article/design-and-construction-of-the-
world-s-tallest-building-the-burj-dubai/
Purpose of Skyscrapers
1. Provide extra spaces in land scarcity area
2. Aesthetic value
a. Modernize and beautify the cityscape, improve the city’s identity
3. Political value
a. Demonstrate strength of the city
b. Stands for city’s prosperity and development
c. Soul of the city
4. Economic value
a. Tourism destination
b. Increase the surrounding land value
c. Create numerous job opportunities

https://csengineermag.com/article/design-and-construction-of-the-world-s-tallest-
building-the-burj-dubai/
Drawbacks

● Cost
● Environmental Impact
● Safety
Cost
● Over-budget
Environmental Impact
● Street Canyon Effect 28% more NO
39% more BC
70% more NO2

http://web.mit.edu/nature/archive/student_projects/2009/jcalamia/Images/pollution.jpghttp://
web.mit.edu/nature/archive/student_projects/2009/jcalamia/Images/pollution.jpg
Safety
● “Unlike cars, buildings cannot be crash-tested” (Rybczynski 2002)
● External factors

http://world-visits.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/World-Trade-Center-Attack-2.jpg
Evacuation
Case Study: Shanghai Tower

● 632 meter
● Second tallest building in the world
● Fully operational in January 2017

Evacuation plan:

● Evacuation Elevators
● “Lifeboat Evacuation” mode
● Additional emergency stairs
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Shanghai_Tower_2015.jpg
Occupant Safety
● “Building occupants also need to play a role in their own safety” (RAND 2002)
● Human factor
● Only 10% WTC survivors had ever entered stairwell as a part of emergency
drill
● Education and Training
The City of Chicago
● City Council passed an ordinance in 1998
● Safety assessment of every tall buildings
● High-risk buildings will receive help from
FBI, Police, and Fire Department
http://www.hotelroomsearch.net/im/2015/02/chicago-illinois.jpg
Buildings as a Target for Terror
Buildings come with the risk of attacks

Case Studies:

● Attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City

● Oklahoma City Bombing
1993 Attack on WTC
● February, 1993
● Attackers detonated bomb in underground
parking lot of north tower
● ~40,000 people inside
● Explosion cut off all electricity and emergency
systems
● Extremely slow evacuation
● 6 deaths and over 1000 hospitalized

Image source: https://buildingfailures.wordpress.com/1993/02/26/world-trade-center-bombing/

2001 Attack on World
Trade Center
● 9/11/2001
● Hijacked passenger planes were crashed into the
Twin Towers
● Stairwells became cutoff
○ Impossible to descend if above the crash site
● Fire from burning jet fuel and force of impact ruined
structural integrity
● Both towers collapsed, killing all still inside
● 2,973 people killed

Image source: https://www.onthisday.com/photos/9-11-attack-on-world-trade-towers

Oklahoma City Bombing
● April, 1995
● Attackers parked van full of explosives next to the
building entrance
○ Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
● Damaged everything within a 3 square mile area
● 168 deaths and 490 people hospitalized

Image Source: https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/oklahoma-city-bombing

Analysis of Buildings as a Target for Terror
● Buildings chosen as targets held significant societal importance
○ WTC is headquarters for international trade
○ Alfred P. Murrah Building was office space for many important government agencies
■ DEA, Social Security Agency, many more
● Additionally, each building held a large amount of people (high capacity)
● Despite modern safety techniques and upgrades, the buildings were not able to withstand attack
● Buildings provide terrorists a simple medium to:
○ Harm as many people as possible
○ Make a defiant statement against a country/community/group of people
Future of Tall Buildings
Growth Rate of Tall Buildings Above 150m and 40 Floors
Extrapolating to 2050
Floor-to-Height
Ratio
Predicted height of the tallest building in 2050 is
1,134 meters
Building Automation Systems
Electromagnetic Elevators
Carbon Fiber and Kevlar Hoist Cables
Drones for monitoring and inspecting construction
progress
Robotic Elevator Construction
Lift Wing for Construction Cranes
Wood Composite Building Material
Air Purifying Concrete
 Green Buildings:
Bosco Verticale - Milan, Italy
Open green spaces promote a better social environment
Conclusion
● Historic Buildings
● Modern Skyscrapers
● Buildings as a Target for Terror
● Future of Tall Buildings

Despite the drawbacks of tall buildings, their technological improvements and

societal role make them feasible and important. Therefore, very tall buildings are
necessary and should be pursued in the future.