Posted on 09/15/2020 6:05:57 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Frank Lloyd Wright originally proposed The Mile-High Illinois in the 1950s. Innovations in construction materials and elevators are necessary to reach the one mile height and beyond. We may see the first mile-high skyscraper by the middle of the 21st century.
The undefeated champion of the skies right now is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands at 2,717 feet (roughly half a mile) and is the tallest building in the world.
Although take that with a grain of dusty salt—only 1,916 feet of the Burj Dubai is occupiable space, the rest is vanity height, meaning nearly 800 feet is non-occupiable space. That represents 29 percent of the building's
There are three major construction and stability aspects that must be dealt with if we're to reach a vertical mile. Those are:
Dampening wind sway
Elevator speed and length
Construction materials
(Excerpt) Read more at bigthink.com ...
5280 feet...say 10 to 12 feet per floor, allowing for 8-9 foot ceilings with the rest for structure and service distribution. That results in 528 to 440 floors, the rough equivalent of four or five 100 story towers. All concentrated on a single foot print.
So how do we feed this monster, setting aside the staging and materials handling needed for construction, are very complex timing and traffic pattern.
What's the total population load and distribution of that load, the determinants for all components?
So all subsurface have to be sized for the equivalent of the 4 or 5 100 story towers coming together to a single site. That's not a simple plug and play tie to existing utilities. Those need to be greatly increased...all the way back to points of input origin or output collection. That's shit load of urban digging well beyond the property lines very likely in already crowded subterranean public right of ways.
Then there is surface traffic, again 4 or 5 hundred story tower populations arriving and departing at a single site at roughly the same times, start of day, lunch hour, close of day. Same with private, commercial, and mass transit access. And massive amounts of daily delivery of package, mail, office supplies that occur throughout the day. Solid wastes, mostly paper are usually scheduled for non-business hours and even in regular towers are a non-
trivial problem.
Each of those issue solutions, in a civilized country must be reviewed by various municipal departments manned by bureaucrats with paper pushing drones suddenly encountering something totally alien to them and well beyond their professional skills set and their imaginations as well as being outside all previous guidelines. Job security is their number one goal. Good luck with that.
Then come the environmental impact statements and public hearings.
After all that, the insurance consultants will raise construction issues. Best practices and administrative codes currently make no provisions for gauging increased minimal fire safety requirements. How much longer should fire barriers withstand events to insure adequate evacuation of occupants, structural integrity. No one planned for jet fuel fire load, if that's even possible or reasonable....
Interesting problems before the first bit of earth is shoveled.
The people live and work in the same building. A NWO dream.
You would have to have reservoirs within the building. Essentially, a built in water tower.
If you’re getting that tall you’re probably also going to get very wide. And then you’re getting into buildings that are basically cities. Like Judge Dredd Blocks. Residence, shopping, jobs, entertainment. All in one massive building. People living their entire life in there, like folks who never get out of their city.
NO!!!! Just the picture gives me the willies!
Not that I will be around to collect, but I would be willing to bet money that in 50 years a substantial percentage of the human race will live underground.
The environmental movement is such that they think the weather is going to kill us and that mankind is destroying the planet’s ecosystem. Eating animals will soon be considered by a majority of the world to be akin to murder.
Of all the disasters that can wipe out humanity, nearly all can be survived by being underground. Solar flare - check. Nova of a nearby star - check. Giant asteroid or comet - check. Monster volcano - check.
We are not going up, but under.
I would be willing to bet money that in 50 years a substantial percentage of the human race will live underground.
A friend that started as a carpenter, then a residential builder... good size general contractor, says the problems are almost related to water.
Roof leak, plumbing leaks, basement leaks...
Just guessing that all the below grade activity will find new water problems.
All the waste and groundwater will need to be pumped out with increasing pressure and problems with the depth.
Lower heating and cooling costs, but where will you dump all the spoils from the needed excavation?
Kind of doubt it can all be CRUSHED into a useful product?
Essentially, a built in water tower.
Sometimes used for fire protection systems.
Usually for domestic water supply pressure regulators do the job.
For a mega building? A low bidder/low lost floor space would take it.
NB: The pipe chase eats floor space.
Imagine in a general power black out walking down a mile high worth of stairs.
“That’s not a simple plug and play tie to existing utilities. Those need to be greatly increased...all the way back to points of input origin or output collection. That’s shit load of urban digging well beyond the property lines very likely in already crowded subterranean public right of ways.”
I recall reading of the massive sew and water lines for a new stadium and how they needed to diversify the load to different treatment plants.
All at taxpayer expense.
Solid wastes, mostly paper are usually scheduled for non-business hours and even in regular towers are a non-
trivial problem.
IIRC Sears tower(WILLIS?) used a round table to load the refuse trucks and point them back out! Guessing Sears would be about 30% of the usable sq ft of a mile high mega and the problem increases at the square of the size.
“Each of those issue solutions, in a civilized country must be reviewed by various municipal departments manned by bureaucrats with paper pushing drones suddenly encountering something totally alien to them and well beyond their professional skills set and their imaginations as well as being outside all previous guidelines. Job security is their number one goal. Good luck with that.”
The answer for a mega building would clearly come from the top down. Probably 90%+ political. IMO.
“After all that, the insurance consultants will raise construction issues.”
A huge component in the civilized world.
Off in the Stans? Not so much. Notice the fires in the curtain wall problems... even a very deadly one in England???
Don’t overlook wind tunnel testing and...
Still, for most it comes down to the old cost-benefit ratio. Factoring in how macho this project is for some dear leader?
All that said, a fascinating thought problem.
Yes! And don’t bother with the lower floors. Just the low orbit platform. Go big of FU.
Burj Khalifa =2,909 stairs
In my neck of the woods, stairwell lighting is on the emergency generator circuit/ battery-powered lights.
And of course, the generators and battery system are ALWAYS well maintained. Always.
I'm not sure about a building that becomes structurally unsound if the power goes out, however.
“In my neck of the woods, stairwell lighting is on the emergency generator circuit/ battery-powered lights.”
That is not enough at a mile high. All the infrastructure, including the water system, HVAC and intenal “transport” - elevators and escalators, would need to be included in backup power demands. No one is going to get away with having mile high tenants stranded in a general blackout and suggesting they all use the stairs won’t cut it.
Just want to focus on foundation needs.
I've spec'd. wind tunnel testing of sites surrounding project buildings. interesting and surprising things happen in urban environments. The results of which can greatly affect the original design assumptions. Had to argue with firms partners for the need of the added cost and schedule effects. Client, a major bank, agreed with me. Net result, our monumental skylight designed with new positive and negative pressure loads survived hurricane Hugo with out damage while surrounding buildings had sections of damaged curtain wall. Big atta boy & bonus for that job.
;>)
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