Foundation, Concrete and Earthquake Engineering

Taipei 101: Construction Constraints

Taipei 101 received the 2004 Emporis Skyscraper Award and was hailed as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World ( Newsweek magazine, 2006) and Seven Wonders of Engineering ( Discovery Channel, 2005). This tower is designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed primarily by KTRT Joint Venture and numerous subcontractors including Samsung C&T. The icon of modern Taiwan Taipei 101 is a milestone skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei.

Erecting the building was not easy. It required lifting thousands of tons of steel and concrete into the sky. The contractors also had to deal with demanding construction directives due to the 101 Tower's proximity to Sungshan Airport. Concern about conflicts with flight paths threatened to limit the height when proposals were issued to increase the original 60-story scheme.
On March 31, 2002  a 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Taipei.This thrust earthquake occurred off the north-east shore of the island of Taiwan in a tectonicly complex region known as the Taiwan Collision Zone. This region is highly seismic. The high seismicity results from the convergence of the Philippine Sea plate and the Eurasian plate. The Philippine plate is moving NW at a rate of about 7 cm per year relative to the Eurasian plate. This earthquake during construction caused a crane to fall, killing several construction workers.
Magnitude 6.8 earthquake of Taipei March 31, 2002

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