Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ductility. The reinforcement is usually, though not necessarily, steel reinforcing bars and is usually embedded passively in the concrete before the concrete sets. However, post-tensioning is also employed as a technique to reinforce the concrete. In terms of volume used annually, it is one of the most common engineering materials. In corrosion engineering terms, when designed correctly, the alkalinity of the concrete protects the steel rebar from corrosion.
A ziggurat is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has the form of a terraced compound of successively receding stories or levels. Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, the Ziggurat of Aqar Quf near Baghdad, the no longer extant Etemenanki in Babylon, Chogha Zanbil in Khūzestān and Sialk. The Sumerians believed that the gods lived in the temple at the top of the ziggurats, so only priests and other highly-respected individuals could enter. Sumerian society offered these individuals such gifts as music, harvested produce, and the creation of devotional statues to entice them to live in the temple.
The Jin Mao Tower, also known as the Jinmao Building or Jinmao Tower, is a 420.5-meter-tall (1,380 ft), 88-story landmark skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai, China. It contains a shopping mall, offices and the Grand Hyatt Shanghai hotel which starts from the 53rd floor, which at the time of completion was the highest hotel in the world. Along with the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Shanghai Tower it is part of the Lujiazui skyline seen from the Bund. It was the tallest building in China from its completion in 1999 until 2007, when it was surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center which is located close by. The Shanghai Tower, a 128-story building located next to these two buildings, surpassed the height of both these buildings in 2015, creating the world's first trio of adjacent supertall skyscrapers.
Seismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. With better understanding of seismic demand on structures and with recent experiences with large earthquakes near urban centers, the need of seismic retrofitting is well acknowledged. Prior to the introduction of modern seismic codes in the late 1960s for developed countries and late 1970s for many other parts of the world, many structures were designed without adequate detailing and reinforcement for seismic protection. In view of the imminent problem, various research work has been carried out. State-of-the-art technical guidelines for seismic assessment, retrofit and rehabilitation have been published around the world – such as the ASCE-SEI 41 and the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE)'s guidelines. These codes must be regularly updated; the 1994 Northridge earthquake brought to light the brittleness of welded steel frames, for example.
Park Tower is a skyscraper located at 800 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Completed in 2000 and standing at 844 feet (257 m) tall with 70 floors — 67 floors for practical use, it is the twelfth-tallest building in Chicago, the 43rd-tallest building in the United States, and the 83rd-tallest in the world by architectural detail. It is one of the world's tallest buildings to be clad with architectural precast concrete. It is one of the tallest non-steel framed structures in the world—it is a cast-in-place concrete framed structure. This building was originally intended to be 650 ft (200 m) tall. But later, the ceiling heights were increased allowing it to reach 844 ft (257 m).
Southeast Financial Center is a two-acre development in Miami, Florida, United States. It consists of a 765 feet (233 m) tall office skyscraper and its 15-story parking garage. It was previously known as the Southeast Financial Center (1984–1992), the First Union Financial Center (1992–2003) and the Wachovia Financial Center (2003–2011). In 2011, it retook its old name of Southeast Financial Center as Wachovia merged with Wells Fargo and moved to the nearby Wells Fargo Center.
A multistorey car park or parking garage, also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade, parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed for car, motorcycle and bicycle parking in which parking takes place on more than one floor or level. The first known multistorey facility was built in London in 1901 and the first underground parking was built in Barcelona in 1904. The term multistorey is almost never used in the US, because almost all parking structures have multiple parking levels. Parking structures may be heated if they are enclosed.
The Mile-High Illinois, or simply The Illinois, is an unbuilt conceptual design by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright for a one mile-high skyscraper to be built in Chicago, Illinois. Wright described the project in his 1957 book, A Testament. The design included 528 stories, later revised to 365 stories, with a gross area of 18,460,000 square feet (1,715,000 m2). Wright stated that there would be parking for 15,000 cars and 100 helicopters.
The American Cancer Society Center is a large convention center and office building in downtown Atlanta, adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park. The building contains about 1,500,000 square feet (140,000 m2), including a partially underground parking garage and loading area. The building, originally called the Inforum Technology Center or Inforum, was designed by the prominent Atlanta architect John Portman, who previously designed the AmericasMart buildings.
The Broadway was a mid-level department store chain headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1896 by English-born Arthur Letts Sr., and named after what was once the city's main shopping street, the Broadway became a dominant retailer in Southern California and the Southwest. Its fortunes eventually declined, and Federated Department Stores bought the chain in 1995. In 1996, Broadway stores were either closed or converted into Macy's and Bloomingdales, some of which were sold and converted to Sears, including the Stonewood Center and Whittwood Town Center locations.
Torre del Caballito is a skyscraper located on the Paseo de la Reforma #10 at the Cuauhtemoc delegation in Mexico City. It was designed by Grupo Posadas de Mexico. It is 135 metres and 35 storeys tall. 33 of the floors are used as office space which measures 60,000 square meters. It also has 15 underground parking levels. The building's total area is 131,000 square meters.
Torre Altus is one of the tallest skyscrapers in Mexico City, Mexico. It is a residential condominium tower located on Paseo de los Laureles y Alcanfores in the Bosques de las Lomas district of the Miguel Hidalgo borough in the city. Bosques de las Lomas is one of the more exclusive residential and commercial districts in Latin America.
The Chet Holifield Federal Building, colloquially known as "the Ziggurat Building", is a United States government building in Laguna Niguel, California. It was built between 1968 and 1971 for North American Aviation/Rockwell International, and designed by William Pereira.
The Federal Office Building, Seattle, Washington is a historic federal office building located at Seattle in King County, Washington.
James E. Roberts was a noted American civil engineer. He was recognized with industry and government awards for his leadership in bridge engineering, especially in the area of seismic retrofit. He was the state bridge engineer at Caltrans during the Loma Prieta earthquake and Northridge earthquake. His public service career lasted more than 50 years in the US Army, US Army Reserves and Caltrans. Roberts career spanned over 50 years and covered some of the most active years for engineering experienced in California from the design and construction heyday of the 1950s and 1960s to his leadership during the reconstruction efforts and seismic retrofitting programs created after two significant California earthquakes the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
The Pyramids are three 11-story, pyramid-shaped office buildings that are part of a 200-acre (810,000 m2) commercial development in the College Park neighborhood area of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The structures occupy 40 acres of land situated next to a 25-acre (10-hectare) lake. They were constructed between 1967 and 1972 by the College Life Insurance Company using a design by architect Kevin Roche. They are noted for the abstract quality of the opacity of the concrete walls that face the nearby highway and the reflectivity of the glass curtain walls that face the landscaped grounds.
The Sacramento Masonic Temple, built between 1913 and 1918, is a five-story building on J Street in downtown Sacramento, California. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Signature Tower was a proposed skyscraper in Jakarta, Indonesia. The proposed height is 638 m (2,093 ft).
Overaa Construction is an American family-owned construction company based in Richmond, California, which provides general contracting and design/build services in Northern California. It is one of the largest contractors in California and since 1993, has been listed among ENR's top 400 contractors in the US.
The Minton–Capehart Federal Building is a United States federal building in Indianapolis, Indiana, that is named in honor of former U.S. Senator and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sherman Minton and former U.S. Senator Homer E. Capehart.
