shanghai tower – Shanghai Metal Corporation

The Tallest Skyscrapers Made of STEEL

skyscrapers clouds — Skycrapers above clouds – source: missions haringknowledge.com

The term skyscraper was originally used to describe buildings of 10 to 20 stories,

The increase in urban commerce in the United States in the second half of the 19th century augmented the need for city business. So the story of skyscrapers began in second part of the 19th century when steel became one of the cornerstones of the world’s industrial economy. Steel became available in large quantities and at low price and was quickly the material of choice for building construction. but by the late 20th century the word skycraper was used to describe high-rise buildings of unusual height, generally greater than 40 or 50 stories.

Thanks to Steel framing and steel reinforced concrete made curtain-wall architecture possible and the use of the material made the evolution of skyscrapers possible by allowing them to reach new heights.

in 1895 The 10-storey (42 m high)Home Insurance Building was built in Chicago and was considered the first tall building to be supported by a steel skeleton of vertical columns and horizontal beams.
As skyscrapers grew taller, architects and engineers were faced with a new enemy: wind. They had to experiment with new styles and building methods in order to build taller and more innovative structures.

The following buildings are today’s 3 tallest buildings in the world and have all been possible thanks to the amazing properties of steel and the hard work of engineers and architects that brought many innovations in the metal field.

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE (829.8 m – 163 foors)

Burj Khalifa is the tallest man-made structure in the world it uses a bundled tube design (which is a system that uses a number of interconnected tube frames) and a composite of steel and concrete to hit its record height. Approximately 39,000 tonnes of steel bar were needed for the construction and 15.500 m² of embossed stainless steel for cladding. Proportionally, the design uses half the amount of steel used in the construction of the Empire State Building thanks to the tubular system.

Tokyo Skytree (634m – 29 floors)

tokyo skytree tower - source: wikipedia.org — tokyo skytree tower – source: wikipedia.org

The tower is the primary television and radio broadcast site for the Kantō region.
The structural steel columns of the tower are diagonally jointed at different angles, and their shapes differ from one another. Under these stringent conditions, engineers were required to solve the kind of problems that they have never experienced in past projects

Shanghai Tower, Shanghai (632m – 128 floors)

Shanghai Pudong Panorama - source: wikipedia.org — Shanghai Pudong Panorama – source: wikipedia.org

The Shanghai Tower is the tallest building in China and the second-tallest in the world, surpassed only by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. high strength steel, ultra-thick plates of over 100mm in thickness and other high-end construction steels have been used for the construction of the tower. In addition to that The design of the tower’s glass facade, which completes a 120° twist as it rises, is intended to reduce wind loads on the building by 24%. This reduced the amount of construction materials needed; the Shanghai Tower used 25% less structural steel than a conventional design of a similar height saving approximately US$58 million in material costs.

source : http://www.worldsteel.org, wikipedia.org

Steel is an amazing material that is both economic and sustainable. That’s why Shanghai Metal Corporation manufactures and distributes a large range of Steel products of high quality all over the world.
For more information, you can visit the company’s website or contact us for any inquiry.

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Houria // SMC Editor

Folks enjoying extremely risky climbing

Do you like climbing? Do you have a crazy smile on your face when you are somewhere high? Then you will love two young Russian folks Vadim Makhorov and Vitaliy Raskalov, who were probably so bored that they started climbing the most towering structures in the world.

All this idea of climbing came with a passion about taking pictures. Few years ago they took a picture with their phone camera, they liked it and decided to buy a real camera. But why they just don’t take pictures of flowers and nature with feet on the ground? Too boring.

They like challenges and that’s why they picked Shanghai Tower in China, 650 meters high tower, still under-reconstruction. Shanghai Tower is the second-tallest tower in the world surpassed only by Burj Khalifa in Dubai. (source)

“Aware of the strict Chinese law, we prepared carefully and picked an appropriate date, the Chinese New Year day,” Rascalov said. According to his words, security was less watchful, cranes didn’t work and people were on vacations.

They got to the crane at around midnight, first it took them 2 hours to get on the 120th floor by foot and then they were waiting 18 hours for better weather on the top of the building. I am surprised they didn’t change their mind…

Of course authorities don’t share the excitement with them and they often running into problems with law. They were arrested when they climbed pyramids in Giza or while ascending to the top of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.

While climbing they don’t use any climbing tools, gears, safety belts, nothing! They just have their cameras and a courage. Let’s see where they end up next time!

Stainless steel climbing gears are widely used by climbers, by those who want to be secured and don’t want to take a risk. In Shanghai Metal Corporation we offer high-quality stainless steel or other steel and metal products. For more information visit the main website or send us inquiry and English speaking staff will help you to choose the best product for you. Download a new application by scanning QR code below.

Silvia M.//SMC Editor

Read more articles written by this author here.

Credits : wikipedia.org, theatlantic.com, huffingtonpost.com, googleimages

The Make-up Artist of Buildings

The Shanghai Tower is a super high-rise building under construction in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. It is designed by Marshall Strabalar as Chief Architect and Director of Designs for Gensler. Along with Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center, it is the tallest of a group of three adjacent supertall skyscrapers in Pudong. The Shanghai Tower began constructions in November 2008, the building stands about 632 meters high and has 121 stories. It will be open to the public in 2015. For its simple but elegant outer wall, it uses the reflection glass curtain wall which normally applies to high-rise buildings.

Someone climbs the Shanghai Tower. Dangerous! Do not imitate! — Someone climbs the Shanghai Tower.
Dangerous! Do not imitate!

Reflection glass curtain wall is a fashionable and attractive method to decorate building wall, and it symbolizes the modern high-rise buildings era. The modern high-rise building glass curtain wall uses hollow glass which are made up by mirror glass and common glass, and the interlayer between the two glasses is inflated dry air or inert gases. Hollow glass has two layers and three layers. Two layers of insulating glass consist of two layers of glass adding sealing framework, which forms an interlayer space. Three layers of glass are made up of three layers of glass and form two interlayer space.

Hollow glass has the advantage of sound and thermal insulation, proofing frost and damp and can resist heavy wind pressure etc. It measures when outdoor temperature is minus ten degrees Celsius, the temperature before the single-layer glass window was minus two degrees Celsius, while using three layers hollow glass, the inside temperature could be 13 degrees Celsius. In hot summer, two layers hollow glass can resist about 90% solar radiation. Sunlight can still shine through the hollow glass but people will not feel so hot. It can be fairly mild in winter and rather cool in summer if using the hollow glass curtain wall.

Shanghai Metal Corporation offers Curtain Wall which is designed for modern residential building that can be integrated with different doors and windows system. For our full list of products that we offer check out our website here. Be sure to join the conversation in our LinkedIn group, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Try also our new mobile application by scanning the QR code below.

Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Center

Pictures: image.baidu.com

Annette X.//SMC Editor

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

Could You Abseil Down Big Ben?

It seems unimaginable, but this is the typical day in the life of this team of experts hired to maintain the iconic Elizabeth Tower, better known as the Big Ben.

A team of experts has begun a job that requires a head for heights and the ability to keep a close eye on the clock at one of Britain’s most famous landmarks. The specialists abseiled by rope to clean and inspect the faces of the Great Clock at the Palace of Westminster, and they wear ear defenders to protect their hearing from the chimes of Big Ben. A working week has been set aside for the job, one day for each of the four clock faces, with a contingency day in case the weather makes it too risky to work on the 95.7 metre high Elizabeth Tower. There are steel girders and lintels to support the tower, with copper clock hand that have been frozen in place to avoid injuring the cleaners.

This prompts memories of the photograph of eleven men eating lunch, seated on a steel girder with their feet dangling 256 meters (840 feet) above the New York City streets without harnesses. The Daily Mail recently reported that, although the models were real workers, the moment was staged by the Rockefeller Center to promote their new skyscraper 80 years ago. Nonetheless it was no mean feat.

Another daring act that I am sure required the same bravery would be the two Russian men Vadim Makhorov and Vitaly Raskalov who scaled Shanghai Tower. The building is set to be completed in 2014 to be China’s tallest building at 632 metres (2073 feet), and the second tallest in the world. Shanghai tower used 25% less structural steel than a conventional design of a similar height. As a result, the building’s constructors are expected to save an estimated US $58 million in material costs. In an interview, Vadim claims the ascent was ‘to see the city from an unusual angle’, as part of his photography, and not a feat to be proud of or to have repeated by others.

If you’re interested in these buildings or how they are made, why not check out our website, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code. Shanghai Metal manufactures value added steel products used when building skyscrapers. As Stainless Steel Industry Professionals, we take pride in the manufacturing of those products which are held to such esteem in the architecture industry .

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