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The 730 ton stabilizing ball that keeps the tallest building in the world standing
The Taipei 101 building in Taiwan has held the title of the tallest, completed building in the world since 2004. With great height comes great responsibility; namely, making sure that the thing doesn't topple under the assault of high winds and ground tremors — and the Taipei 101 building stands just 600 feet from a fault line.
To counteract the forces working against it, architects installed a $4 million, 730 ton tuned mass damper, which is a big ball 18 feet in diameter, made of 41 steel plates, and suspended by strong cables 3½ inches thick. It's said to cut down on the swaying of the building by almost 40%. It isn't the first skyscraper to include one as other buildings, such as the Citicorp Center in Midtown, Manhattan, have them as well.
In May, the horrible earthquake which rocked China also reached the foot of Taipei 101, putting its integrity to the test. Click Continue to see the video of the 730 ton tuned mass damper in action during the quake.
Popular Mechanics, via DeputyDog
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By Fik at 9:17 PM ON 06/24/08
Am I missing something, or the people in the video didn't even noticed there was an earthquake going on?
By itazurakko at 11:06 PM ON 06/24/08
I dunno, my Chinese is pretty crappy but I think I heard some people saying about 地震 di4zhen4 around 45s ish or so (when it starts moving), and someone says in Chinese too "I don't know"
But it's hard to hear and I only can pick out a few words.
By Snidely at 4:23 AM ON 06/25/08
There's no way they' couldn't have known SOMETHING was up. That thing is seriously moving.
By Booger at 5:55 AM ON 06/25/08
I was waiting for Long Duck Dong to appear upside down and saying, "What's up hot stuff?"
By Dizhen at 2:53 AM ON 06/26/08
After the screaming died down, somebody made a phone call asking the other person asking if there was an earthquake.
By George Bush at 6:11 AM ON 06/26/08
I don't know, my communist is pretty crappy, but I am certain I heard plotting to overthrow the US.
By Nickmeister at 6:51 PM ON 06/26/08
@ "George Bush":
"HURP DURP DURP! I R FUNNY! MAKING FUN OF THE PRESIDENT IS SO 'IN!' I'M SURE TO BE COOL AND LOOKED UP TO NOW!"
That's you! That's how dumb you sound!
@ FIK: I don't have sound enabled on my computer ATM, but if it seems like they didn't notice the earthquake, it could have been from the stabilizing ball itself, keeping the building still.
Maybe.
By asdf at 7:30 PM ON 06/26/08
@George Bush
Taiwan is not communist.
By Samuel at 3:02 PM ON 06/27/08
The crowd probably went there to see why the tuned mass damper is shaking.
The guys taking the video suspected there's earthquake because of the vigorous shaking, and called to asked. In the end, they are still not sure if there was earthquake.
This shows how much the damper stabilized the building
By dylan at 2:45 PM ON 06/28/08
U guys are just as stupid for making fun of the george bush guy as he is for saying that
By J. Lemons at 6:17 PM ON 06/30/08
Does this ball wrk the same way that Focault's pendulum works only in sort-of reverse meaning the building moves and the pendulum stands still?
By Epileptic_Skeptic at 8:47 PM ON 08/17/08
What they need there is some good steadycams tuned on the mass... The guy that made the video is moving to much himself. I saw some faint moving, but with a hand more steady, something could sure could have ben seen...
By jhollowayj at 5:21 PM ON 08/22/08
J. Lemons... Yes.
By Jason at 6:02 PM ON 08/24/08
Awesome so so very awesome!
By Bob at 3:19 PM ON 09/05/08
I agree with Jason. George Bush's comment was awesome! Damn pinkos are always up to something!