NEW YORK | One World Trade Center | 1,776' Pinnacle / 1,373' Roof | 108 FLOORS

[STR]

^Not as good of an example as it might seem at first. The crane operators were actually sued for negligence in the wake of that collapse. A better one would be Tokyo Tower earlier this year, especially as a narrow TV mast will sway much more than a wider, heavier, bulkier office tower.

Given that the top of this building is subjected to 70mph winds, an earthquake is not going to be that much of a challenge. This isn't a 4 story solid brick townhome that can't flex a quarter inch without cracks showing up. Buildings like this are always in motion. Always bending, always flexing. They're not going to crack or crumble. Absolute worst case, which would happen in either a Cat 5 hurricane or a quake much larger than what the east coast peed itself over yesterday, would be some blown out windows.

The cranes are anchored to the building, and so long as they're tied down, they'll do just fine as well.

[chris123678]

Does anyone know when they are going to clad the base?

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Not to be paranoid or anything, but don't they design pretty much every modern skyscraper for any sort of ground movements? I know NYC wouldn't have building codes like in L.A. but I just wanted to be sure it's something they consider in the design process regardless of where a building is built.

Quite a bit. You already have plenty of gaps, hinging, and sliding to account for temperatures and wind.

I think the biggest issue is not so much the buildings themselves rather how they interact with their neighbor during motion. Our cities vary dramatically in building types with modern flexible steel skyscrapers next to rigid load bearing masonry structures. Sometimes right up against each other or have an inch or two of space between. There's no doubt buildings will apply some lateral force against one another.

I noticed here in Chicago how common walls never meet anymore. They'll leave a 2-4 inches of space and just insert a thin filler strip to hide the gap.

[STR]

Originally Posted by chris123678

Does anyone know when they are going to clad the base?

They start next year.

[steveve]

Originally Posted by STR

They start next year.

frown...... the tower will be basically topped off by then, we're left with this mess till then...

[animatedmartian]

WTC 7 and 1 August 22 by terryballard


Reflection of a golden sunrise by pmarella


WTC tower from Red Hook, Brooklyn by Dumbo711


Memorial for Jersey City, NJ Residents who died on Sept. 11, 2001 (11) by Fonseca Fotography


Memorial for Jersey City, NJ Residents who died on Sept. 11, 2001 by Fonseca Fotography


20110821 WTC by chromewaves

[shakman]

Originally Posted by steveve

frown...... the tower will be basically topped off by then, we're left with this mess till then...

Next year is only a couple months away... ...it is hard to comprehend September starts next week.

Besides, I have witnessed this practice many times; even on a ten story building in Downtown DC I was a part of from 2004 into 2005.

[RockMont]

Originally Posted by STR

They start next year.

Looks like they've started the preliminary part of that all ready.

[MadGnome]

I know that the forces in a quake are a lot different than in a hurricane, because it's the buildings own inertia you have to worry about in the quake, but I remember Zen saying that the force of an 80mph wind hitting the building would be far greater than those of a 7.0 quake.
It kind of made sense to me since quake forces would be prevented from reaching extreme instantaneous levels by the flex of the building, while wind forces, being static, wouldn't have that limitation.

[Traynor]

Wind forces are generally lateral only and act on the building only in one plane. That is: Back and forth horizontally either in one direction (the point on the top of the tower would scribe a straight line) or in two directions at the same time (a point at the top of the tower would scribe a circle, oval or ellipse or even a figure 8). The structure of the tower would flex to accommodate these movements.

However in an earthquake one must also account for the vertical movement of the ground in addition to the lateral movement (a point at the top of the tower may scribe a figure 8, a helix, a phugoid or any of the several other 3 dimensional pathways initiated by the seismic wave.

Fortunately architects, designers and engineers factor all of that into the structure as well.

[37TimPPG]

With a powerful Hurricane projected to pass close to, or maybe even strike NYC, when does the decision get made to shut the site and lash the tower cranes down? Thanks for any insight

[animatedmartian]

WTC on Facebook.

[Otie]

and on Twitter, views from the 70th fl:

[animatedmartian]

Oh man, they should know better than to take pretty pictures at sunset from the tallest building in Lower Manhattan, soon to be all of Manhattan.

[NYguy]

Lehman College Alumni Association









Proper King





Ben Cobb Photos

[IntoTheLens827]

Nice pictures of Liberty in the harbor & the top of 3WFC! :-) Like the sunset shot alot! :-)

Originally Posted by Otie

and on Twitter, views from the 70th fl:

Nice shots! I love seeing the view of Miss Liberty in the Harbor. The sunset with the top of 3WTC is great also! :-) GOOD JOB! Thank you for building this tower who-ever took this shot! I am very proud of everyone who is working on the entire New World Trade Center Project! I am glad to see the New York that I used to know prior to 9-11. I can now say that New York is Pretty Again! good job!

[Otie]

Freedom Tower Aerial by jazzybeatles, on Flickr

[patrick989]

Originally Posted by NYguy

I've read some people who say that 1 WTC and Beekman look like twins, and I always scoff. But in this particular pic...yeah, they do.

[Plokoon11]

^ AHA! Got you red handed.

[Traynor]

Hard to believe how much more there is still to come: