World's Tallest Building
The Taipei Tower is located in Taiwan and has been the world’s tallest building for quite some time, but that all changed when plans for the Burj Dubai were set into action. This tower is under construction and will be built in Duabi, United Arab Emirates. The building is being built by the South Korean Samsung Corporation.
The soon to be tallest building in the world is being built carefully and will not be completed until sometime in 2008. Building a structure of this size takes time and careful logistical planning. Those that designed the building have designed a shape that will help minimize the effects of the wind on the completed tower, and this design and all it incorporates takes time and precision so that the structure will remain sound well into the future.
Burj Dubai: Tallest Building in the World
The Burj Dubai, which will be the world’s tallest building, will measure over 800 meters tall. That is just five meters short of half of a mile! This is much taller than the Taipei Tower, which will measure in more than 300 meters shorter than the Burj Dubai. The building is three sided and will go upwards in a series of stages, always around a support central core. In all, the Burj Dubai will have 160 floors, which will be accessible with double elevators. Many have described the building plans more like many buildings put together than just one tower that reaches into the sky, which will essentially make it a more stable building in the future. Those interested can learn more about the Burj Dubai at http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6781 where very detailed information is given, as well as a picture of what the building will look like when it is complete in 2008.
Living in the World’s Tallest Building
Unlike a lot of the other tall buildings in the world, the new tallest building in the world will be home to many people. The building will contain residential apartments, retail space, as well as office space. The world’s tallest building will also be a tourist destination, as there will be things to do and people to see just about anywhere you go in the building. Many Dubai residents as well as people from all over the world are lining up to buy residential apartment space in the Burj Dubai, and even more people are ready to get in on the retail and office space.
World's Largest Mall
Which is the World’s Largest Mall?
For 23 years the largest mall in the world was the West Edmonton Mall, but that is no longer the case. Today, the world largest mall is located in China. The mall is known as South China Mall and is located in a suburban area call Dongguan. The South China mall replaced the West Edmonton Mall as the largest when it was built, though it has been reported that the South China Mall doesn’t have the kind of traffic to it that the West Edmonton mall is. With new and bigger malls being built faster than the shoppers can get there, time will only tell if South China Mall will remain the world largest shopping mall.
How Big is the World’s Biggest Mall?
The South China Mall is huge! The mall is somewhat of an engineering marvel, because it has leasable space for more than 1,500 stores that make up more than 6.5 million square feet! The mall features 10,000 parking places, which isn’t as many as the West Edmonton Mall, but it still provides plenty of parking for cars, trucks, and buses. The 10,000 limit parking area has never been filled to capacity, so it appears that those that planned the big construction project planned well.
Does World’s Largest Mean Most Shopped?
Many would assume that because it is the largest mall in the world it is the most shopped, but this simply is not the case. While the South China Mall is the largest shopping mall in the world, it was not built in the best place to attract shoppers. Much of the problem is that the stores in the mall simply have prices that are out of the question for most those that live in the area. The mall is also only convenient for those that have their own cars, and many in the area rely on public transportation, as they don’t have vehicles. While the mall offers retail space for more than 1,500 stores, much of the space is empty. One unofficial count stated there were just 20 customers in the mall in the span of three hours, and many sales clerks say that it’s not odd when they don’t make a sale all day. Forecasters believe that the mall will need to be open for five years for retailers to start making a profit. The fact is, right now the largest mall in the world is not the most shopped.
World's Largest Bridge
Where is the world’s largest bridge?
The answer to this question rather depends on your definition. There is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes the size of a bridge. Generally, though, two types of measurement are considered when trying to determine which is the world’s largest bridge; the total distance between the two shores connected by the bridge, and the length of the main span between the two towers on the largest suspension bridges.
If the first definition is used, the largest bridge in the world is the Lake Pontchartrain Bridge just outside New Orleans, which connects the north and south shores of that lake – a total distance of nearly 24 miles. Most record books tend to consider the largest bridges in the world to be suspension bridges, however, and by this measure, the world’s largest bridge is the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, in Japan, which has a central span of over six and a half thousand feet.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Akashi_Bridge.JPG)
Why is it an engineering marvel?
The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge took twelve years to complete, and in order to build it, the engineers had to overcome a number of serious issues. Not the least of these was the Kobe earthquake of 1995, which in addition to leveling the nearby city of Kobe and killing over six thousand people, moved the two towers then under construction further apart by nearly a meter. Fortunately, the world’s largest bridge was designed to withstand massive seismic events, and the structure was mostly undamaged. Building across one of the busiest sea lanes in Japan caused problems all its own, and to make matters worse, the straits in which the bridge is situated have some of the worst weather in the world, with hurricanes and heavy seas a constant problem.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/akashi_kaikyo.html
Are there any larger bridges planned?
Although there are many large bridges under construction all around the world, few are expected to be longer than the largest bridges in the world currently. A project to build a bridge connecting Sicily with the mainland of Italy would have been the largest bridge in the world, with a 2-mile main span. However, this project was abandoned in late 2006 due to concerns over costs and safety. Another contender for the title of largest bridge in the world is also unlikely ever to see the light of day: the Bering Strait Bridge, which would connect Alaska with Siberia across the 50 miles that separate the USA from Russia across the frozen straits. However, the immense technical challenges, cost, and sparse population of the two regions mean that this project is unlikely to get the green light in the foreseeable future.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bering_Strait_bridge
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