by Roy -

The Xihoumen Bridge (simplified Chinese: ?????; traditional Chinese: ?????) is a suspension bridge built on the Zhoushan Archipelago, the largest offshore island group in China. The main span was completed in December 2007. The entire bridge, along with Jintang Bridge, was opened to traffic on a test basis on 25 December 2009. It is the second-longest suspension bridge ranked by the length of the centre span. The opening date was put off because of a ship collision on 16 November 2009 that slightly damaged the side of Jintang Bridge.

The 5.3-kilometre-long suspension bridge connection has a 2.6-kilometre-long main bridge with a central span of 1, 650 metres. The approaches total 2.7 kilometres. When it opened, there was only one bridge with a larger span, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan. However, there are several other bridges planned or under construction that will also be larger.

The bridge was built by the province of Zhejiang, at a cost of 2.48 billion yuan (approximately US$363 million). Construction began in 2005, and the first traffic crossed the bridge on 25 December 2009, at 11:58 p.m., local time.

The Xihoumen Bridge links Jintang and Cezi islands. Another bridge, the 27-kilometer-long cable-stayed Jintang Bridge, links Jintang Island and Zhenhai of Ningbo. The two bridges are the second phase of a huge project started in 1999 to link the Zhoushan Archipelago to the mainland with five bridges. Construction of the other three bridges has been completed.

Source: Wikipedia

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 214 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

by Roy -

The Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge (Portuguese: Ponte Juscelino Kubitschek), also known as the President JK Bridge or just the JK Bridge, is a steel and concrete bridge that crosses Lake Paranoá in Brasília. It links the southern part of the lake, and St. Sebastian Paranoá the Pilot Plan (or the central and original part of the city), through the Monumental Axis. Inaugurated on December 15, 2002, the structure of the bridge has a total length of 1, 200 metres (3, 900 ft), a width of 24 metres (79 ft) and two carriageways with three lanes in each direction, two walkways on the sides for cyclists and pedestrians 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) wide, and three spans of 240 metres (790 ft).

It is named for Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, former president of Brazil, who in the late 1950s decided to build Brasília as the new capital of the country. It was designed by architect Alexandre Chan and structural engineer Mário Vila Verde.

The main span structure has four supporting pillars submerged under Lake Paranoá, and the deck weight is supported by three 200-foot-tall (61 m) asymmetrical steel arches that crisscross diagonally. The decks are suspended by steel cables alternating at each side of the deck, interlacing in some kind of twisted plane (parabolic like). The entire structure has a total length of 1, 200 metres (3, 900 ft), and it was completed at a cost of US$56.8 million (R$160 million – Brazilian Reais, current 2003). The bridge has a pedestrian walkway and is accessible to bicyclists and skaters.

The main characteristics of the structure are:
Total length: 1, 200 m
Deck Width: 24 m (three lanes in each direction)
Lateral sideways for pedestrians and bicycles: 1.5 m (on each side)
Rise: 60 m
Clearance: 18 m
Arch span: 240 m for each of 3 spans

Source: Wikipedia

 

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 217 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

by Roy -

Willis Tower / Sears Tower – Chicago – USA

Willis Tower, formerly named Sears Tower, is a 108-story, 1451-foot (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1974, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years. The Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world, as well as the fifth tallest building in the world to the roof.

Although Sears’ naming rights expired in 2003, the building continued to be called Sears Tower for several years. In March 2009 London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, Ltd., agreed to lease a portion of the building and obtained the building’s naming rights.On July 16, 2009, the building was officially renamed Willis Tower.

Amenities:

The Salseria Grill & Cantina, Willis/Sears Tower

Willis Tower offers a comprehensive suite of amenities which includes seven restaurants, such as Starbucks, Corner Bakery, Augustino’s Rock & Roll Deli, Market Creations, Dunkin Donuts, The Met Club Cafe, Venice Cafe and Salseria Grill & Cantina. The private members-only Metropolitan Club offers one of Chicago’s finest business dining and meeting facilities. It is located on the 66th and 67th floors with spectacular views of the city. The Metropolitan Club offers four dining alternatives as well as seventeen private dining rooms available for special functions accommodating up to 1, 000 people. Other convenient services include full-service banking and ATM facilities; 160-space executive parking garage with car detailing services, a fitness center, hair salon, newsstand, florist, bookstore, copy store, dentist and chiropractor. In addition, U.S. Post Office, FedEx, DHL, UPS drop boxes and building messenger services are also available.

Size:

Willis Tower is a 110-story trophy office tower containing a total enclosed area of approximately 4.56 million gross square feet (SF) and has a rentable area of 3.8 million SF. Willis Tower’s 4.56 million gross square feet would cover 105 acres if spread across one level. This is the equivalent of 16 city blocks in Chicago. Within the building, there are 25 miles of plumbing, 1, 500 miles of electric wiring, 80 miles of elevator cable, and 145, 000 light fixtures. The building weighs more than 222, 500 tons, and it cost more than $175 million to build.

The Property’s rentable space consists of 107 office levels (including eleven levels containing mechanical spaces and broadcast equipment), one above grade retail level, one lobby grade retail level and three below grade levels that contain a mix of office, retail, storage space, service area and a garage. The property contains 160 parking spaces located in five levels in an executive parking garage.

The Property is situated on a square-shaped site bounded by South Wacker Drive to the west, Adams Street to the north, Franklin Street to the east, and Jackson Boulevard to the south. The site size is approximately 2.96 acres of land. The Property consists of three lower levels and a 110-story high-rise tower.

Interior/Exterior:

The Sears Tower Curtain Wall

The architect and structural engineer designed the Tower’s curtain wall with a modernistic masterwork of glass and aluminum. The curtain wall system consists of bronze-tinted vision glass and black anodized aluminum spandrel panels captured in a striking black anodized aluminum framing. Granite panels, with aluminum-framed glass storefront windows, accent the ground level façade on the east, north and south building elevations. Building setbacks are provided on the building’s northwest and southeast corners at the 50th floor, the northeast and southwest corners at the 66th floor, and the north, south and east elevations on the 90th floor. The structural framing consists of steel columns and beams in a “mega-module” system consisting of nine modules. The foundation system consists of belled, reinforced concrete caissons with reinforced caisson caps. The Franklin Street entrance has a beautiful large glass, aluminum and steel canopy which was added to the Property in the mid 1990’s.

Universe: The wall art by Alexander Calder

The Property’s impressive three-story lobby welcomes visitors and tenants with sculptor Alexander Calder’s Universe, a mobile of varied shapes, colors and movements suggesting the infinite potential of human creativity. Willis Tower lobbies are exquisitely modernistic, with transparent walls and escalators piercing the vertical space. The nearly $70 million lobby refurbishment in 1992 by DeStefano & Partners incorporated elaborate finishes and emphasized the sheer size of Willis Tower. The lobby is further characterized by polished granite flooring and travertine walls with stainless steel column covers. Soffit, column and ceiling mounted fluorescent, incandescent and high intensity lighting fixtures create a glowing well-lit environment. The main lobby of Willis Tower contains one entrance on the east side of the building and one entrance on the west side of the building. The Wacker Drive lobby serves as the primary entrance to the Property providing access from the street. The east entrance is accessed directly from Franklin Street.

Technology Features:

Superior Telecommunications

•State-of-the-art broadcast facilities on the rooftop, which allows for 100% of digital TV requirements for the Chicago area broadcast market.
•Access for multiple competitive local exchange carriers (CLECS).
•Expansive telecommunications risers.

Modern Elevator Technology

•104-car elevator system divided into three zones for efficient transportation.
•High speed elevators with superior ride quality.

Floor Flexibility

•Four distinct floor plates divided into 75-foot column free squares.
•Floors contain under floor duct system for power and communication.

Electrical Capacity/Backup

•Four 150 MVA transformers which supply a 13.2 KV distribution system with redundant capability between two separate risers servicing the building.
•Two 2100KW diesel powered emergency generators.

Antenna Facts:

East Antenna 253? tall
West Antenna 283? tall
12? diameter at base.

On top of each antenna there is a TLD (Tuned Liquid Dampener). Its purpose is to counteract the sway of the antenna from the wind.

The airplane warning lamps blink 40 times per minute. The night intensity level drops to one quarter of the daytime level at dusk.

Antenna Lighting:

March St.Patrick’s Day Green
May Mother’s Day Pink
July 4th of July Red and Blue
October Halloween Orange
December Holidays Red & Green

Text Source: willistower.com

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 172 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

by Roy -

The Henderson Waves Bridge – Singapore

Henderson Waves is a 274-metre (899 ft) long pedestrian bridge. At 36 metres (118 ft) above Henderson Road, it is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. It connects Mount Faber Park and Telok Blangah Hill Park. It was designed by IJP Corporation, London, and RSP Architects Planners and Engineers (PTE) ltd Singapore.

The bridge has a wave-form made up of seven undulating curved steel ribs that alternately rise over and under its deck. The curved ribs form alcoves that function as shelters with seats within. Slats of yellow balau wood, an all-weather timber found in Southeast Asia, are used in the decking. The wave-forms are lit with LED lamps at night from 7pm to 2am daily.

Description

Henderson Waves springs from a scenic location off Mount Faber and spans some 284 meters above Henderson Road, a six-lane freeway running through the south coast of the island state. This man-made structure, the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia, is smoothly integrated into the landscape.
It has seven spans, six of typical size (3.5 meters high, 24 meters long), and a larger one (6 meters high, 57 meters long). The upside spans unfold above deck level and house temporary activities, such as seating, lounging and sight-seeing. The remaining spans unfold below deck level and are not accessible –simply ensuring the continuity of the structure.
Two inclined decks extend the bridge at both ends, linking it with existing pathways and plazas. The full length of the bridge runs close to 284 meters, and the difference in elevation between springing and landing is equal to the full height of a seven-story housing block.
The design concept of Henderson Waves is based on a folded three-dimensional surface-form created by means of simple mathematics. The architect of the project used proprietary mathematical techniques to define its form simply and rigorously. Hence the form bends, undulates, and ascends by twenty-one meters in one movement; in the process it also deforms to provide adequate egress, sloping, shelter, and scenic viewing to pedestrians and cyclists.

Materials
The surface-form of Henderson Waves is made of steel and timber. Steel is needed for structural purposes, whereas timber celebrates the beauty of natural forms.

Steel
The primary structure of the bridge features a sequence of steel arches and catenaries (or down-facing arches) joined across, and resting upon, reinforced concrete pylons. These pylons (the tallest of which reaches 38m) sit between waves as it were, at the point where the surface-form self-intersects and tapers down to a single beam.

Timber
The 1, 500 square meter timber deck sitting on top of the steel structure is the centrepiece of the project.
The complex, doubly-curved portions of this large expanse of tropical hardwood form a tapestry of 5000 modular boards, each varying by a single degree every 10m –and many tapered to measure.
The entire deck being supported on a steel sub-frame with vibration dampeners, the coordination of steel and timber became a challenging task. Using its proprietary equations, the architect issued precise numerical descriptions of the surface at regular 500mm intervals, and provided dimensional coordinates that greatly assisted the production of the timber manufacturer’s shop drawings.

Coda
The Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong inaugurated the newly completed project on Saturday May 10, 2008. This stunning piece of public infrastructure is one of three new linkways built by the Urban Redevelopment Authority in the Southern Ridges, at a total cost of S$25.5 million.

Architect IJP Corporation and RSP Architects Planners and Engineers PTE Ltd, SIngapore. Engineer RSP Architects Planners and Engineers PTE Ltd, SIngapore. Concept and scheme design engineering by Adams Kara Taylor Consulting Civil and Structural Engineers, UK.

Source: Wikipedia

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 272 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]