Kashcheeva K.
Historic skyscrapers
The first skyscraper to appear in the United States is The Home Insurance Building, which was built in 1885 in Chicago. Initially, the architect William Le Baron Jenney planned to make this building a ten-story building, but later 2 more floors were added to it. Nowadays, in the USA, a skyscraper is considered to be a building above 150 meters. The first building that fits this definition was built in 1913 in New York. This is the Woolworth Building. To this day, it is one of the main decorations of the metropolis, stretching up to 241 meters, or, measuring in a modern "skyscraper" language - 57 floors.
Broadway is crazy.
Run and run.
Houses
break from heaven
and hang.
But even between them
see Woolworth.
corset box
floors under sixty
V. Mayakovsky "The Young Lady and Woolworth"
Now New York can rightly be called a city of skyscrapers. There are exactly 140 of them here - buildings made of concrete and steel, of different heights, of different styles and purposes, which cut through the sky of the American "big apple".
|
flatiron building |
Built in 1902, the Flatiron Building, New York's oldest skyscraper and once a favorite haunt of respectable American gentlemen (the air currents created lift the dresses of passing ladies), is now eclipsed by taller buildings.
Such, for example, as the Chrysler Building - a building 319 meters high, owned by the Chrysler company, was built in 1930 and has become one of the symbols of New York. Interestingly, the spire of the skyscraper was the first man-made object to exceed 312 meters of the Eiffel Tower, which held the height record since 1889.
It is believed that every person, having visited New York, is obliged to do several things - take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty, walk along the Brooklyn Bridge and climb the 86th floor of the Empire State Building - the most famous skyscraper in the United States. Few people know that in 1945 a B-29 bomber crashed into a skyscraper. Although the steel frame withstood the impact, damage was estimated at $1 million and 14 lives.
|
Empire State Building |
As one of the largest office centers in the United States, the skyscraper is the place of work for several thousand people. All of them must be delivered to their workplaces on time, for which there are 72 elevators in the building - all of them are connected to a special mechanism, which itself calculates when and on which floor each of them should stop. On average, New Yorkers are accustomed to waiting for an elevator no more than 17 seconds. After this time, they press the button a second time. And after 30 seconds they begin to resent.
From the moment the skyscraper was built in 1931 until 1972, it was the tallest building in the world, rising to 381 meters or 102 floors. After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, Empire State once again became the tallest building in the city. The events of that day shocked the whole world. World Trade Center - a complex consisting of seven buildings, was destroyed as a result of terrorist attacks and 3,000 people were buried under steel and a meter layer of dust. The central structures of the complex were considered to be two 110-storey twin towers - North (417 meters high) and South (415 meters high). Now, in their place, the construction of a new complex of the World Trade Center, namely its main building - the Freedom Tower, is underway. Completion of construction is planned for 2013. The height of the skyscraper together with the spire will be 541 meters.
In addition to New York in the United States, there is another metropolis in which high-rise buildings can be found everywhere. Chicago is the only city in the world that has completed more than one building with over 100 floors. It is here that the tallest skyscraper in the United States of America, the Willis Tower, is located. Once the tallest building in the world, at 443 meters or 110 floors, with a total area equal to 57 football fields, it now occupies only seventh place.
|
Willis Tower |
A few months ago, the construction of another skyscraper was completed in Chicago - the 96-story hotel of media mogul Donald Trump - Trump International Hotel and Tower. The height of the spire of this building reaches 415 meters, which makes it the second tallest skyscraper not only in the metropolis, but in the entire United States.
The tallest building located west of Chicago is the U.S. Bank Tower is a bank built in 1989 in Los Angeles. It is the eighth tallest building in the United States and also the tallest skyscraper in the state of California. At an altitude of 310 meters, on the roof of the building, there is a helipad.
As one of the world powers, the United States often creates new trends in various fields. So, for example, in 2003 a number of projects of environmentally friendly skyscrapers were presented. One of them is the Bank of America Tower, which was completed in 2009. Its environmental friendliness lies in the use of special solar-sensitive lamps that can provide the building with electricity from daylight. However, the Hearst Tower, built in 2006, is considered the most environmentally friendly building in New York. 80% of the steel used for construction came from recycled materials. Also, the facade of the building is not just a design component, but also a clever move that allows more sunlight to penetrate inside. And finally, on the roof there are tanks for rainwater, which is subsequently used for fountains, cooling systems and watering plants.
The Aon Center was built in Chicago in 1972. It consists of 83 floors and has a height of 346.3 meters. Once built, the skyscraper was the tallest building in the world with marble cladding, which later began to crumble under the influence of weathering. In 1992, the Aon Center was resurfaced with white granite, at a cost of half the money spent on construction.
6. Bank of America Tower (New York)
The Bank of America Tower is a 55-story skyscraper in Manhattan with a height of 365.8 meters. The maximum height of the tower was reached on December 15, 2007, when the top block with a 77.9-meter spire was placed on top of the building. The skyscraper has a rainwater collection and purification system, an air filtration system, and a system that produces ice at night to use it to cool the building during the day.
5. Empire State Building (New York)
The Empire State Building is a National Historic Landmark in the United States. The legendary 103-storey skyscraper with a height of 381 meters is located in Manhattan and from 1931 to 1970 was one of the tallest buildings in the world. In 2001, when the towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, the Empire State Building again became the tallest building in New York until 2012,
4. Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago)
The skyscraper hotel named after the elected president of the United States has 96 floors and 415.1 meters in height. In 2001, Trump announced that the skyscraper would become the tallest building in the world, but after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, construction plans were cut and the tower's design underwent some changes by 2009. The skyscraper consists of three parts in the style of Chicago building architecture, and the height of each of them is at the level of the neighboring building to ensure visual continuity with the surrounding landscape.
3. 432 Park Avenue (New York)
At 426 meters high, 432 Park Avenue is the tallest residential building in the world. In terms of roof level, the skyscraper is the tallest building in the United States, but a couple of skyscrapers overtake it in total height due to spiers. Each of the building's 85 floors is square with six windows on each side. The height of each floor is 3.84 meters, and the penthouse on the top floor with six bedrooms and for some reason seven bathrooms is worth $95 million.
2. Willis Tower (Chicago)
Built in 1974, the 110-storey skyscraper with a height of 443.2 meters became the tallest building in the world and held this record for 25 years. The structure consists of nine square pipes that rise to 50 floors, seven of them go to the 66th floor, five rise to the 90th, and only two pipes form the remaining 20 floors. Until 2009, the Willis Tower was called the Sears Tower - after the name of the former tenant.
1. World Trade Center 1 (New York)
World Trade Center 1, also known as the Freedom Tower, is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The total height of the skyscraper is 541.3 meters, and there is a 104-story tower in the northwest corner of the site, which was located on the previous World Trade Center complex, destroyed on September 11, 2001, including the famous twin towers. The construction of the skyscraper was completed in 2013 with the installation of a metal 124-meter spire weighing 758 tons.
For many years I was haunted by this photograph, often found on posters and covers. And today everything is clear. Specifically, the question inside me was: how did these men get on the beam. I'm afraid of heights. Not to the point of insanity, but my rare surreal dreams are associated with this phenomenon of fear. When viewing photos and reading text, my palms naturally sweat from fear.
The bulk of the material is rudzin
, the owner of the most interesting diary
"Lunchtime atop a Skyscraper" - photo from "Construction Workers Lunching on a Crossbeam - 1932" series by Charles C. Ebbets
Such a miracle as a skyscraper would not have been possible without the invention of the steel frame. Assembling the steel frame of a building is the most dangerous and difficult part of construction. It is the quality and speed of assembly of the frame that determines whether the project will be implemented on time and within budget.
That is why riveters are the most important profession in the construction of a skyscraper.
Riveters are a caste with their own laws: the salary of a riveter for a working day is $ 15, more than any skilled worker at a construction site; they do not go to work in the rain, wind or fog, they are not on the contractor's staff. They are not alone, they work in teams of four, and if one of the team does not go to work, no one comes out. Why, in the midst of the Great Depression, is everyone turning a blind eye to this, from an investor to a foreman?
On a platform of boards, or simply on steel beams, there is a coal stove. In the oven, the rivets are 10 cm long and 3 cm diameter steel cylinders. The "cook" "cooks" the rivets - drives air into the oven with small bellows to heat them up to the desired temperature. The rivet has warmed up (not too much - it will turn in the hole and have to be drilled; and not too weak - it will not rivet), now you need to transfer the rivet to where it will fasten the beams. It is only known in advance which beam will be fastened when, and it is impossible to move a hot furnace during the working day. Therefore, often the attachment point is located 30 (thirty) meters from the "cook", sometimes higher, sometimes lower by 2-3 floors.
The only way to pass a rivet is to drop it.
The “cook” turns to the “goalkeeper” and silently, making sure that the goalkeeper is ready to receive, throws a red-hot 600-gram blank with tongs in his direction. Sometimes there are already welded beams on the trajectory, you need to throw it once, accurately and strongly.
The "goalkeeper" stands on a narrow platform or simply on a bare beam next to the riveting site. His goal is to catch a flying piece of iron with an ordinary tin can. He cannot move without falling. But he must catch the rivet, otherwise it will fall like a small bomb on the city.
"Shooter" and "emphasis" are waiting. The "goalkeeper", having caught the rivet, drives it into the hole. "Stop" from the outside of the building, hanging over the abyss, a steel rod and its own weight holds the head of the rivet. "Shooter" with a 15-kilogram pneumatic hammer rivets it from the other side within a minute.
The best team does this trick over 500 times a day, the average - about 250.
In the photographs - the best brigade in 1930, from left to right: "cook", "goalkeeper", "emphasis", and shooter.
The danger of this work can be illustrated by the following fact: masons at a construction site are insured at a rate of 6% of their salary, carpenters - 4%. Riveter's rate - 25-30%%.
One person died at the Chrysler building.
Four people died on Wall Street 40.
Empire State has five.
The frame of the skyscraper consists of hundreds of steel profiles several meters long and weighing several tons, the so-called beams. There is nowhere to store them during the construction of a skyscraper - no one will allow organizing a warehouse in the city center, in conditions of dense development, on municipal land. Moreover, all structural elements are different, each can be used in one single place, so an attempt to organize even a temporary warehouse, for example, on one of the last floors built, can lead to great confusion and disruption of construction deadlines.
That is why, when I wrote that the work of riveters is the most important and most difficult, I did not mention that it is also the most dangerous and difficult. The work is harder and more dangerous than theirs - the work of the crane crew.
The order for the beams was agreed with the metallurgists a few weeks ago, trucks bring them to the construction site to the minute, regardless of the weather, they need to be unloaded immediately.
Derrick crane - an arrow on a hinge, is located on the last floor built, the installers are on the floor above. The winch operator can be located on any floor of an already constructed building, because no one is going to stop lifting and distract other cranes to lift a heavy mechanism several floors higher for the convenience of installers. Therefore, when lifting a multi-ton channel, the operator does not see either the beam itself, or the car that brought it, or his comrades.
The only guideline for control is the strike of the bell, given by the apprentice at the signal of the foreman, who, along with the entire brigade, is dozens of floors above. Blow - turns on the winch motor, blow - turns it off. Several crews of riveters work nearby with their hammers (have you ever heard the sound of a jackhammer?), other crane operators raise other channels at the commands of their bells. It is impossible to make a mistake and not hear the blow - the channel will either ram the crane boom, or throw the installers preparing to fix it from the installed vertical beam.
The foreman, controlling the derrick through two operators, one of whom he does not see, achieves the coincidence of the holes for riveting on the installed vertical beams with the holes on the raised channel with an accuracy of 2-3 millimeters. Only after that can a couple of installers fix the swaying, often wet channel with huge bolts and nuts.
In New York on 6th Avenue there are monuments to these guys, installed in 2001. The most famous photo became the model, she is the first in the preview here. So, at first they made a monument exactly like in the photo, i.e. 11 dudes are sitting on a beam. And then the most extreme on the right was removed under the root. And only because of the fact that he has a bottle of whiskey in his hands!!! I understand if this was done in our country during Gorbachev's time, but they had it in 2001!! Apparently they did not want to destroy the legend about the brave guys. Now these are 10 quite decent guys sitting on a steel beam. Fine. But somehow it's embarrassing.
The names of all these heroes are known, thanks to relatives, you can read
The first skyscraper in the history of building skyscrapers appeared in the United States in 1885. The ten-story building adorned Chicago with its slender forms and for a long time allowed America to believe that it was the world leader in the field of "skyscraper construction". But at the end of the 20th century, they began to appear one after another in China, then in the United Arab Emirates, then in Hong Kong, pushing the United States into the background.
However, we want to pay tribute to the American cause and spirit of patriotism and dedicate our issue to the tallest skyscrapers in US history. So, the majestic top 10 are America's tallest skyscrapers.
1 Willis Tower
It was built by Chicago in 1973. The height of the high-rise building is 442 meters with an additional 85 tower spire. The skyscraper has more than a hundred floors, because it is considered the tallest building in America.
2 Trump Tower Chicago
This skyscraper was built in 2009. Taking into account the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the architecture of the building underwent some amendments, as a result of which it was “reduced” to 92 floors.
3 Empire State Building
The skyscraper was built in 1931. It stands in New York, towering 381 meters and 102 floors above the ground. The spire of the skyscraper was originally planned to be used for "catching", but the idea later seemed unsafe.
4 Bank of America Tower
Another high-rise building of America, built in New York in 2009. Beauty 366 meters tall, embodied in 54 floors. The skyscraper has 2 spiers, which are located at different levels, while one of them generates electricity that is useful for the population of America.
It was built in Chicago in 1973, thanks to which the skyscraper rose above the ground by as much as 346 meters. The skyscraper has only 83 floors, but the view of the city from its highest windows is simply amazing!
6 John Hancock Center
This skyscraper stands in Chicago, the date of construction is 1969. It is 344 meters high or 100 floors. But the highlight of the skyscraper is not in this, but in the fact that here are the highest premises intended for housing.
7 Chrysler Building
The next building has been towering like a proud bird over the mortal world of New York since 1930. It is 319 meters and 77 floors, which glorify the skyscraper as the tallest brick building in the world.
8 New York Times Building
This skyscraper has been scratching the New York sky since 2007. 319 meters high or 52 floors - confident, stylish and very exciting!
9 Bank of America Plaza
The skyscraper from Atlanta comes from 1992. Pretty high - as much as 312 meters and 50 floors. And people are not afraid to soar so high above the gray reality?
10 US Bank Tower
Our top skyscraper from Los Angeles completes. It was built a long time ago, in 1989. It is slightly inferior in height to its predecessors: 310 meters and 73 floors, but this building is considered the tallest in the world, which has its own helipad.
Kashcheeva K.
Historic skyscrapers
The first skyscraper to appear in the United States is The Home Insurance Building, which was built in 1885 in Chicago. Initially, the architect William Le Baron Jenney planned to make this building a ten-story building, but later 2 more floors were added to it. Nowadays, in the USA, a skyscraper is considered to be a building above 150 meters. The first building that fits this definition was built in 1913 in New York. This is the Woolworth Building. To this day, it is one of the main decorations of the metropolis, stretching up to 241 meters, or, measuring in a modern "skyscraper" language - 57 floors.
Broadway is crazy.
Run and run.
Houses
break from heaven
and hang.
But even between them
see Woolworth.
corset box
floors under sixty
V. Mayakovsky "The Young Lady and Woolworth"
Now New York can rightly be called a city of skyscrapers. There are exactly 140 of them here - buildings made of concrete and steel, of different heights, of different styles and purposes, which cut through the sky of the American "big apple".
|
flatiron building |
Built in 1902, the Flatiron Building, New York's oldest skyscraper and once a favorite haunt of respectable American gentlemen (the air currents created lift the dresses of passing ladies), is now eclipsed by taller buildings.
Such, for example, as the Chrysler Building - a building 319 meters high, owned by the Chrysler company, was built in 1930 and has become one of the symbols of New York. Interestingly, the spire of the skyscraper was the first man-made object to exceed 312 meters of the Eiffel Tower, which held the height record since 1889.
It is believed that every person, having visited New York, is obliged to do several things - take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty, walk along the Brooklyn Bridge and climb the 86th floor of the Empire State Building - the most famous skyscraper in the United States. Few people know that in 1945 a B-29 bomber crashed into a skyscraper. Although the steel frame withstood the impact, damage was estimated at $1 million and 14 lives.
|
Empire State Building |
As one of the largest office centers in the United States, the skyscraper is the place of work for several thousand people. All of them must be delivered to their workplaces on time, for which there are 72 elevators in the building - all of them are connected to a special mechanism, which itself calculates when and on which floor each of them should stop. On average, New Yorkers are accustomed to waiting for an elevator no more than 17 seconds. After this time, they press the button a second time. And after 30 seconds they begin to resent.
From the moment the skyscraper was built in 1931 until 1972, it was the tallest building in the world, rising to 381 meters or 102 floors. After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, Empire State once again became the tallest building in the city. The events of that day shocked the whole world. World Trade Center - a complex consisting of seven buildings, was destroyed as a result of terrorist attacks and 3,000 people were buried under steel and a meter layer of dust. The central structures of the complex were considered to be two 110-storey twin towers - North (417 meters high) and South (415 meters high). Now, in their place, the construction of a new complex of the World Trade Center, namely its main building - the Freedom Tower, is underway. Completion of construction is planned for 2013. The height of the skyscraper together with the spire will be 541 meters.
In addition to New York in the United States, there is another metropolis in which high-rise buildings can be found everywhere. Chicago is the only city in the world that has completed more than one building with over 100 floors. It is here that the tallest skyscraper in the United States of America, the Willis Tower, is located. Once the tallest building in the world, at 443 meters or 110 floors, with a total area equal to 57 football fields, it now occupies only seventh place.
|
Willis Tower |
A few months ago, the construction of another skyscraper was completed in Chicago - the 96-story hotel of media mogul Donald Trump - Trump International Hotel and Tower. The height of the spire of this building reaches 415 meters, which makes it the second tallest skyscraper not only in the metropolis, but in the entire United States.
The tallest building located west of Chicago is the U.S. Bank Tower is a bank built in 1989 in Los Angeles. It is the eighth tallest building in the United States and also the tallest skyscraper in the state of California. At an altitude of 310 meters, on the roof of the building, there is a helipad.
As one of the world powers, the United States often creates new trends in various fields. So, for example, in 2003 a number of projects of environmentally friendly skyscrapers were presented. One of them is the Bank of America Tower, which was completed in 2009. Its environmental friendliness lies in the use of special solar-sensitive lamps that can provide the building with electricity from daylight. However, the Hearst Tower, built in 2006, is considered the most environmentally friendly building in New York. 80% of the steel used for construction came from recycled materials. Also, the facade of the building is not just a design component, but also a clever move that allows more sunlight to penetrate inside. And finally, on the roof there are tanks for rainwater, which is subsequently used for fountains, cooling systems and watering plants.
