Millau Viaduct, The World's Tallest Bridge

The Millau Viaduct (French: le Viaduc de Millau) is a cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France. Designed by the French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster, it is the tallest bridge in the world with one mast's summit at 343.0 metres (1,125 ft) above the base of the structure. It is the 12th highest bridge in the world, at 270 metres (890 ft) high below the road deck. The viaduct is part of the A75-A71 autoroute axis from Paris to Montpellier. Construction cost was approximately €400 million. It was formally dedicated on 14 December 2004, inaugurated the day after and opened to traffic two days later. The bridge received the 2006 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award.

History

Problems with traffic on the route from Paris to Spain along the stretch passing through the valley near the town of Millau, especially during the summer when the roads became jammed with holiday traffic, necessitated the building of a bridge across the valley. The first plans were discussed in 1987 by CETE, and by October 1991 the decision was made to build a high crossing of the Tarn River by a structure of around 2,500 m (8,200 ft). During 1993–1994 there were separate consultations with seven architects and eight structural engineers; and during 1995–1996 there was a second definition study with five associated architect groups and structural engineers. In January 1995 there was a declaration of public interest; and in July 1996 the jury decided in favour of a cable-stayed design with multiple spans, as proposed by the Sogelerg consortium (Michel Virlogeux and Norman Foster). The decision to proceed by grant of contract was made in May 1998; then in June 2000 the contest for the construction contract was launched, open to four consortia. In March 2001 Eiffage established the subsidiary Compagnie Eiffage du Viaduc de Millau (CEVM) and was declared winner of the contest and awarded the prime contract in August.

List Of Top 10 Tallest Buildings

Burj Kalifha
Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel
Taipei 101
Shanghai World Financial Center
International Commerce Centre
Petronas Towers
Zifeng Tower
Willis Tower
Kingkey 100

World's Tallest Building

Burj Khalifa (Arabic: برج خليفة‎ "Khalifa Tower"), known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest manmade structure in the world, at 829.84 m (2,723 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009.
The building officially opened on 4 January 2010, and is part of the new 2 km2 (490-acre) flagship development called Downtown Dubai at the 'First Interchange' along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai's main business district. The tower's architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago, with Adrian Smith as chief architect, and Bill Baker as chief structural engineer. The primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea.



The total cost for the project was about US$1.5 billion; and for the entire "Downtown Dubai" development, US$20 billion. In March 2009, Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman of the project's developer, Emaar Properties, said office space pricing at Burj Khalifa reached US$4,000 per sq ft (over US$43,000 per m²) and the Armani Residences, also in Burj Khalifa, sold for US$3,500 per sq ft (over US$37,500 per m²).

The project's completion coincided with the global financial crisis of 2007–2010, and with vast overbuilding in the country, led to high vacancies and foreclosures. With Dubai mired in debt from its huge ambitions, the government was forced to seek multibillion dollar bailouts from its oil rich neighbor Abu Dhabi. Subsequently, in a surprise move at its opening ceremony, the tower was renamed Burj Khalifa, said to honour the UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his crucial support.

Due to the slumping demand in Dubai's property market, the rents in the Burj Khalifa plummeted 40% some ten months after its opening. Out of 900 apartments in the tower, around 825 were still empty at that time

Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel

The Abraj Al-Bait Towers, also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower, is a building complex in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The complex holds several world records, such as the tallest hotel in the world, the tallest clock tower in the world, the world's largest clock face, and the world's largest building floor area. The complex's hotel tower became the second tallest building in the world in 2011, surpassed only by Dubai's Burj Khalifa. The building complex is meters away from the world's largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Masjid al Haram. The developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom's largest construction company.

The tallest tower in the complex stands as the tallest building in Saudi Arabia, and the tallest and largest hotel in the world, with a height of 601 meters (1,972 feet). It is the fourth tallest building under construction. Upon its official opening the structure would surpass Dubai International Airport having the largest floor area of any structure in the world with 1,500,000 m2 (16,150,000 sq ft) of floorspace. It also surpassed the Emirates Park Towers in Dubai as the world's tallest hotel.

Taipei 101

Taipei 101, formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. In July 2011, the building was awarded LEED Platinum certification, the highest award in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and became the tallest and largest green building in the world. Taipei 101 was designed by C.Y. Lee & partners and constructed primarily by KTRT Joint Venture and Samsung C&T. The tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening, and received the 2004 Emporis Skyscraper Award. Fireworks launched from Taipei 101 feature prominently in international New Year's Eve broadcasts and the structure appears frequently in travel literature and international media.

Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. The building was architecturally created as a symbol of the evolution of technology and Asian tradition (see Symbolism). Its postmodernist approach to style incorporates traditional design elements and gives them modern treatments. The tower is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. A multi-level shopping mall adjoining the tower houses hundreds of fashionable stores, restaurants and clubs.Taipei 101 is owned by the Taipei Financial Center Corporation (TFCC) and managed by the International division of Urban Retail Properties Corporation based in Chicago. The name originally planned for the building, Taipei World Financial Center, until 2003, was derived from the name of the owner. The original name in Chinese was literally, Taipei International Financial Center

Shanghai World Financial Center

The Shanghai World Financial Center is a supertall skyscraper located in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China. The Shanghai World Financial Center towers over all other structures in Eastern China, dominating the skyline. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by Mori Building. It is a mixed-use skyscraper, consisting of offices, hotels, conference rooms, observation decks, and ground-floor shopping malls. Park Hyatt Shanghai is the hotel component, containing 174 rooms and suites. Occupying the 79th to the 93rd floors, it is the second-highest hotel in the world, surpassing the Grand Hyatt Shanghai on the 53rd to 87th floors of the neighboring Jin Mao Tower.

On 14 September 2007, the skyscraper was topped out, at 492.0 meters (1,614.2 ft) making it the second-tallest building in the world and the tallest structure in the People's Republic of China at the time. It also had the highest occupied floor and the highest height to roof, two categories used to determine the title of "world’s tallest building". The SWFC will be exceeded in height by the nearby Shanghai Tower, which is due for completion in 2014.

The SWFC opened on 28 August 2008, with its observation deck opening two days later. This observation deck, currently the world's tallest, offers views from 474 m (1,555 ft) above ground level.

The SWFC has been lauded for its design, and in 2008 it was named by architects as the year's best completed skyscraper.

International Commerce Centre

The International Commerce Centre (abbr. ICC Tower) is a 108 floor, 484 m (1,588 ft) skyscraper completed in 2010 in West Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is a part of the Union Square project built on top of Kowloon Station. The development is owned and jointly developed by MTR Corporation Limited and Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's metro operator and largest property developer respectively. It is currently the world's fourth tallest building by height, world's second tallest building by floors, as well as the tallest building in Hong Kong.

Its formal development name is Union Square Phase 7 and the name International Commerce Centre was officially announced in 2005. International Commerce Centre was completed in phases from 2007 to 2010. The tower opened in 2011, with the Ritz-Carlton opening in late March and the observatory in early April.

Sun Hung Kai Properties also developed, along with another major Hong Kong developer, Henderson Land, the second-tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, the 2 International Finance Centre, which is located directly across Victoria Harbour in Central, Hong Kong Island.


Development

The height had been scaled back from earlier plans due to regulations that didn't allow buildings to be taller than the surrounding mountains. The original proposal for this building was called Kowloon Station Phase 7

Petronas Towers

The Petronas Towers (Malay: Menara Petronas, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers or Menara Berkembar Petronas in Malay) are twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. According to the CTBUH's official definition and ranking, they were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 until surpassed by Taipei 101, but remain the tallest twin buildings ever built, surpassing the World Trade Center.The building is the landmark of Kuala Lumpur with nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower.



Comparison with other towers

The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world for six years, until Taipei 101 was completed in 2004. The height of the towers is measured to the top of their structural components such as spires, but do not include antennas. Spires are considered actual integral parts of the architectural design of buildings, to which changes would substantially change the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. The Petronas Towers still remain the tallest twin buildings in the world.
The Petronas Towers and the Kuala Lumpur Tower dominate the skyline of Kuala Lumpur's Central Business District.
The Petronas's height compared to some other well-known tall structures

Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) and the World Trade Center towers were each constructed with 110 occupied floors – 22 more than the 88 floors of the Petronas Towers. Willis Tower’s tallest antenna is 75.41 m (247.4 ft) taller than those of the Petronas Towers, however, in accordance with CTBUH regulations and guidelines, the antennas of Willis Tower were not counted as part of its architectural features.The spires on the Petronas Towers are included in the height since they are not antenna masts. Therefore, the Petronas Towers exceed the official height of Willis Tower by 10 m (33 ft) even though the roof of Petronas Towers (378.6 m) is 63.4 m (208 ft) lower than the roof of Willis Tower (442 m).

History

Designed by Argentine architect César Pelli and Filipino-Malaysian Engineer Deejay Cerico under the consultancy of J. C. Guinto, and Filipino Designer Dominic "Minick" Saibo, the Petronas Towers were completed in 1998 after seven years of construction and became the tallest buildings in the world.They were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur's race

Zifeng Tower

Zifeng Tower (a.k.a. Greenland Center-Zifeng Tower or Greenland Square Zifeng Tower, formerly Nanjing Greenland Financial Center)[3][1] is a 450-metre (1,480 ft) super tall skyscraper completed in 2009 in Nanjing, China. The 89-story building comprises retail and office space in the lower section, and restaurants, a hotel, and a public observatory near the top. The tower’s stepping is functional, helping separate these sections.

Architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designed the building led by Adrian Smith

Willis Tower

The Willis Tower (formerly named the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, 1,451-foot (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1973, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years. The Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the seventh-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The skyscraper is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Chicago, and over one million people visit its observation deck each year.

Although Sears' naming rights expired in 2003, the building continued to be called the Sears Tower for several years. In March 2009, London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings agreed to lease a portion of the building, and obtained the building's naming rights. On July 16, 2009, the building was officially renamed the Willis Tower.

Planning and construction
Breakdown of the bundled tube structure of the Willis Tower with simplified floor plans.

In 1969, Sears, Roebuck & Co. was the largest retailer in the world, with approximately 350,000 employees. Sears executives decided to consolidate the thousands of employees in offices distributed

Kinkley 100

The Kingkey 100, whose former name is Kingkey Finance Center Plaza, is a supertall skyscraper in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. It is located in Shenzhen's Luohu District in an area which can be described as the financial district.

The mixed-use building is set to rise 441.8 metres (1,449 ft) and contain 100 floors for office space and a hotel.[2][4] Out of those 100 floors, 68 contain 173,000 square metres (1,862,157 sq ft) of Class A office space, 22 stories for a 35,000 square metres (376,737 sq ft) six-star business hotel and the top four floors of the skyscraper holds a garden and several restaurants. The building's lower levels feature the KK Mall, which opened its doors November 26, 2010, and contains luxury brand stores, restaurants and a supermarket. The KK Mall also hosts Shenzhen's first IMAX cinema.

Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) - World's Longest Tunnel

The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is a new railway tunnel beneath the Swiss Alps, expected to open in 2016. With a route length of 57 km (35.4 mi) and a total of 151.84 km (94.3 mi) of tunnels, shafts and passages, it is the world's longest rail tunnel, surpassing the Japanese Seikan Tunnel.

Its main purpose is to increase total transport capacity across the Alps, especially for freight, notably between Germany and Italy, and more particularly to shift freight volumes from road to rail to reduce environmental damage caused by ever-increasing numbers of trucks. A secondary benefit will be to cut the journey time for passenger trains from Zürich to Milan by about an hour and from Zürich to Lugano to 1 hour 40 minutes.

The project consists of two single-track tunnels. It is part of the AlpTransit project, also known as the New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA), which includes the Lötschberg Base Tunnel between the cantons of Bern and Valais and the under construction (late 2019) Ceneri Base Tunnel to the south. It bypasses the Gotthardbahn, a winding mountain route opened in 1882 across the Saint-Gotthard Massif, which is now operating at capacity, and establishes a direct route usable by high-speed rail and heavy freight trains.

The World Longest Bridge, Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge

The longest bridge of the world, Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge, is located between Nanjing and Shanghai in East of China. The cost of construction was about $8.5 bn and the construction completed in four years. This is a railroad bridge to connect cities through China’s ‘Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway’. The bridge is located in Qingdao, a city of Shandong. The bridge was officially inaugurated on 30th of June in 2011. The Span of bridge is 80m (260ft.) with a basement of 2000 pillars under to carry the longest bridge. The manpower of 10000 people worked to complete this mega project. The length of the Bridge is 540700 ft. (102 miles or 164 kilometers). A part of the bridge passes over the water and crosses Yangcheeng Lake having a length of 6 miles.

Danyang Kunshan Grand Bridge is the part of Jinghu Railrod, which is 819 miles (1317 km) long. Jinghu Railroad is also called ‘Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway’. The operating speed of this rail is 250-300 kilometers per hour with a maximum speed of 380 kilometers per hour. The railway train travels from Beijing south to Shanghai and covers a distance of 1304 kilometers. In the way of train from Beijing to Shanghai, there are 22 stations in different cities.