Mon November 7, 2011 How The World's Tallest Skyscrapers Work
When the Empire State Building was constructed in 1931, it stood
1,250 feet tall. The famous skyscraper was the world's tallest
building — and held that title for more than 40 years. Today the
world's tallest building is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It
stretches more than 1,000 feet above the Empire State Building —
2,717 feet into the air. The Burj Khalifa smashed the record
held by Taiwan's Taipei 101, a landmark skyscraper with 101
floors. And at 1,666-feet, Taipei 101 tops the Petronas Towers
in Kuala Lumpur by 183 feet. Designing these massive skyscrapers
is a huge challenge for structural engineers. Builders must
account for potential natural disasters like earthquakes and
hurricanes. They also must take everyday weather occurrences
into consideration. Even on a normal day, wind forces can reach
more than 100 mph at the very top of very tall buildings. "There
are wind currents that when we're down below [on the ground] we
don't even notice," sa