Skyscrapers

 Tall continuous habitable building having multiple floors.

 1880’s  10-20 floors, nowadays 40-50 floors.
 For different heights
1. H>50m  High rise,
2. H>300m Super tall,
3. H>600m mega tall.
 Earlier SC’s- steel framework + load bearing walls.
 Modern SC’ssteel framework + CURTAIN WALLS

1. Non-structural outer covering generally

glass (allows natural light to penetrate
deep inside), other common infills include:
stone veneer, metal panels, louvers, and
operable windows or vents.
2. Typically designed with extruded
aluminium members, although the first
curtain walls were made of steel .
3. Carry only its Self-wt.; no DL from the
building.
4. It transfers horizontal wind loads incident
upon it to the main building through
connections at floor or columns.
5. Resist air and water infiltration, sway
induced by wind and seismic forces acting Glass Curtain wall (parking glass berlin)
on the building, and its own dead load weight forces.

 Modern SC’s often have TUBULAR STRUCTURES.

 resist lateral loads by designing it as a hollow cantilever perpendicular to the ground
Breakdown of the bundled tube structure of the Willis Tower

Willis Tower, completed in 1973, introduced the

bundled tube structural design and was the world's
tallest building until 1998 In US Chicago.

 To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure,

and in order to transmit more daylight to the ground,
many skyscrapers have a design with SETBACKS.

Completed in 2009, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai (United

Arab Emirates), is currently the tallest skyscraper
inthe world,with a height of 829.8 metres (2,722 ft). It
shows a typical skyscraper feature: setbacks.
The Construction Process
The following steps give a general idea of the most common construction techniques.

The substructure:
 Construction usually begins with digging a pit that will hold the foundation. The depth of the
pit depends on how far down the bedrock lies and how many basement levels the building
will have. To prevent movement of the surrounding soil and to seal out water from around
the foundation site, a diaphragm wall may be constructed before the pit is dug. This is done
by digging a deep, narrow trench around the perimeter of the planned pit; as the trench is
dug, it is filled with slurry (watery clay) to keep its walls from collapsing. When a section of
trench reaches the desired depth, a cage of reinforcing steel is lowered into it. Concrete is
then pumped into the trench, displacing the lighter slurry. The slurry is recovered and used
again in other sections of the trench.
 In some cases, bedrock lies close to the surface. The soil on top of the bedrock is removed,
and enough of the bedrock surface is removed to form a smooth, level platform on which to
construct the building's foundation. Footings (holes into which the building's support
columns can be anchored) are blasted or drilled in the bedrock. Steel or reinforced concrete
columns are placed in the footings.
 If the bedrock lies very deep, piles (vertical beams) are sunk through the soil until they are
embedded in the bedrock. One technique involves driving steel piles into place by
repeatedly dropping a heavy weight on their tops. Another technique involves drilling shafts
through the soil and into the bedrock, inserting steel reinforcing rods, and then filling the
shafts with concrete.

A. Diaphragm wall. B. Footing. C. One type of foundation for a skyscraper uses steel piles to secure the
foundation to the ground. D. The slip form method of pouring concrete.
  A foundation platform of reinforced concrete is poured on top of the support columns.

The superstructure and core:

Once construction of a skyscraper is underway, work on several phases of the structure proceeds
simultaneously. For example, by the time the support columns are several stories high, workers
begin building floors for the lower stories. As the columns reach higher, the flooring crews move to
higher stories, as well, and finishing crews begin working on the lowest levels. Overlapping these
phases not only makes the most efficient use of time, but it also ensures that the structure remains
stable during construction.

 If steel columns and cross-bracing are used in the building, each beam is lifted into place by
a crane. Initially, the crane sits on the ground; later it may be positioned on the highest
existing level of the steel skeleton itself. Skilled workers either bolt or weld the end of the
beam into place (rivets have not been used since the 1950s). The beam is then wrapped
with an insulating jacket to keep it from overheating and being weakened in the event of a
fire. As an alternative heat-protection measure in some buildings, the steel beams consist
of hollow tubes; when the superstructure is completed, the tubes are filled with water, which
is circulated continuously throughout the lifetime of the building.
 Concrete is often used for constructing a building's core, and it may also be used to
construct support columns. A technique called "slip forming" is commonly used. Wooden
forms of the desired shape are attached to a steel frame, which is connected to a climbing
jack that grips a vertical rod. Workers prepare a section of reinforcing steel that is taller than
the wooden forms. Then they begin pouring concrete into the forms. As the concrete is
poured, the climbing jack slowly and continuously raises the formwork. The composition of
the concrete mixture and the rate of climbing are coordinated so that the concrete at the
lower range of the form has set before the form rises above it. As the process continues,
workers extend the reinforcing steel grid that extends above the formwork and add
extensions to the vertical rod that the climbing jack grips. In this way, the entire concrete
column is built as a continuous vertical element without joints.
 In a steel-skeleton building, floors are constructed on the layers of horizontal bracing. In
other building designs, floors are supported by horizontal steel beams attached to the
building's core and/or support columns. Steel decking (panels of thin, corrugated steel) is
laid on the beams and welded in place. A layer of concrete, about 2-4 in (5-10 cm) thick, is
poured on the decking to complete the floor.
The exterior:
 In most tall buildings, the weight of the structure and its contents is borne by the support
columns and the building's core. The exterior walls themselves merely enclose the
structure. They are constructed by attaching panels of such materials as glass, metal, and
stone to the building's framework. A common technique is to bolt them to angle brackets
secured to floor slabs or support columns.

Tall building concept --

Thick stone/brick wall is replaced by Thin steel
framework
 HOME INSURANCE BUILDING
(Equitable Life Building)

 Today, the Home Insurance

Building is considered the "father
of the skyscraper."
 Constructed in 1884
in Chicago(US), Illinois, and was
the first tall building to
use structural steel( partially in its
frame).
 It weighed only a third as much in
iron and steel as it would have in
stone.
 It had 10 stories and rose to a
height of 138 ft (42 m)[6] In 1890,
two additional floors were
added*(54.9m).
 Tallest in the world from 1884 to
1889 and demolished in 1931.
 Designed by engineer William
LeBaron Jenney.
 Frame: Steel, formed by square
pillars filled with concrete and
covered with terracotta as fire
protection, the slabs were
supported by rolled steel type IPN
containing the slabs prefabricated
support of each plant.
 The frame consisted of cast-iron columns supporting wrought-iron beams,
together with two floors of rolled-steel beams that were substituted during
construction
 In the main body of offices; large glazed spaces left for better lighting.
 3 main frames on each face, pillars as an outgoing, emphasized the classic
Corinthian column with use of brick as a masonry and glass for windows.
 The large glazed spaces, which give up the wide-load bearing wall, were the
basis of what later became the traditional "curtain wall", present to this day.
 Cost $800,000
 A type of Caisson foundation was employed , A cylindrical shaft braced with
board sheathing was hand-dug to bedrock and filled with concrete to create a
solid pier to receive the heavy loads of the steel columns.
 EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

 102 story Skyscraper located on Fifth Avenue

between West 33rd and 34th Streets in Midtown,
Manhattan, New York City.
 It stood as the world's tallest building for nearly
40 years, from its completion in early 1931 until
the topping out of the original World Trade
Center's North Tower in late 1970. The Empire
State Building is currently the fifth-tallest
completed skyscraper in the United States and the
29th-tallest in the world.
 It has been named as one of the Seven Wonders
of the Modern World by the American Society of
Civil Engineers.
 Construction period (1930-1931).

1. Architect Shreve, Lamb and Harmon

2. Developer John J. Raskob
3. Structural engineer Homer Gage
Balcom[10]
4. Main contractor Starrett Brothers and
Eken
 Cost $40,948,900.Rapid construction ;took only 14 months for its complete construction.
 Floor count 102; It has 6,500 windows and 73 elevators, and there are 1,860 steps from
street level to the 102nd floor. It has a total floor area of 2,768,591 sq ft (257,211 m2);
the base of the Empire State Building is about 2 acres (8,094 m2).
 Roof h=381m; with antennae=443m.
 The building weighs 365,000 tons and its volume is 37 million cubic feet.
 The exterior of the Empire State Building is composed of 200,000 cubic feet of Indiana
limestone and granite, 10 million bricks and 730 tons of aluminum and stainless steel.
 A substantial concrete base was laid as a foundation to take the weight of the steel
framework of the building. All the steel sections were prefabricated, that is,
manufactured in a steel mill and transported to the construction site. The sections were
manufactured to exact sizes to within 2mm tolerance and prepared so that they could
either be bolted together or joined with rivets.
 It was built using a hot riveted steel frame (steel I beams). This means the joints are
stronger than any weld or bolt, as the hot rivets apply pressure between the two
surfaces.
 A digging was of 55-feet (16.8 m) down to the pure granite bedrock beneath the site
was done for its foundation, The bedrock underneath was ideal for tall, heavy buildings.
The granite was considered “nature’s sturdiest structural support.”[8]
  Utilized explosions ,steam shovels ,drills and jackhammers for excavation.
 The base of the building consists of two square acres (0.33 ha2) of solid concrete, 55
feet (17 m) below street level. A forest of giant steel columns rose from the ground.
They rested on concrete bases called piers and were sunk deep into the bedrock below.
The first columns were massive, standing 16 feet (4.9 m) tall and weighing 44 tons, each
one required to support 5,000 tons of skyscraper.[10] Then hundreds of smaller
horizontal beams attached to the columns to form a three-dimensional grid.
 After the columns and beams were sealed, concrete was poured to create a strong,
smooth surface for the flooring. The concrete also protected the steel structure from
fire, which would weaken the framework and endanger the building.
 The curtain façade designed by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon used pale Indiana limestone(a
common base), shiny nickel-steel strips called mullions, and aluminum panels known as
spandrels. Each piece was prefabricated for simple attachment.
 Behind the curtain wall, an inner brick wall was laid. Since the bricks would be hidden,
there was no need to pay attention to appearance, but simply put it together as quickly
and efficiently as possible. The Indiana limestone was then placed overtop of the brick.
The aluminum spandrels were laid on top of the limestone, and the red-framed windows
sat atop the spandrels. Lastly the silvery mullions were placed to cover the rough edges
of the limestone, spandrels, and windows.
 The tower constructed on top of the Empire State Building was designed with a mooring
mast for dirigible (large air blimps) docking.

Materials

 10 million bricks
 200,000 cubic feet of Indiana limestone and granite
 730 tons of aluminum and stainless steel molding
 50 miles of radiator pipe
 70 miles of water pipe
 2.5 million feet of electrical wire
 1,060 miles of telephone cable
 7,450 tons of refrigeration equipment
 3,194,547 light bulbs
 2,500 toilets and sinks
 10,000 tons of plaster
 328,000 square feet of marble
 Construction process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc6WipNVQh8
 World Trade Center*(1973–2001)
 Incredible breakthrough in design of
skyscrapers with newer techniques.
 Large complex of seven buildings,
featured twin tower (1WTC and 2WTC)
in Lower Manhattan, New York City,
United States, opened on April 4, 1973,
and were destroyed in the September
11 attacks.
 At the time of their completion, the
"Twin Towers" — the original 1 World
Trade Center(North tower), at 1,368
feet (417 m); and 2 World Trade
Center(South tower), at 1,362 feet (415
m) — were the tallest buildings in world
from 1971 to 1973. (110 stories each)
 The other buildings in the complex
included the Marriott World Trade
Center (3 WTC), 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC,
and 7 WTC.
 Engineer Worthington, Skilling,
Helle & Jackson,Leslie E. Robertson
Associates .Main contractor Tishman Realty & Construction Company.

Position of Tc’s and design concept

 28% built-up area for WTC towers.
 A major issue of elevators i.e.
taller the building, more no. of
elevators thereby more space-
consumption for elevator
banks, is solved (by Yamasuki –
lead architect)here by using a
new system with two "sky
lobbies"—floors where people
could switch from a large-
capacity express elevator to a
local elevator that goes to each
floor in a section.
 Located on the 44th and 78th
floors of each tower, the sky
lobbies enabled the elevators
to be used efficiently,
increasing the amount of
usable space on each floor Spandrel
from 62 to 75 percent by plates
reducing the number of
elevator shafts. Altogether, the
World Trade Centre had 95
express and local elevators.
 The tube-frame structure
system used in twin towers,
was a new approach that
allowed more open floor plans Vierendeel trusses
than the traditional design that
distributed columns
throughout the interior to
support building loads.
 The World Trade centre towers used high-strength, load-bearing perimeter steel
columns called Vierendeel trusses that were spaced closely together to form a strong,
rigid wall structure, supporting virtually all lateral loads such as wind loads(so designed
to resist over 13000 tons of wind pressure), and sharing the gravity load with the core
columns.
 The perimeter structure containing 59 columns per side was constructed with
extensive use of prefabricated modular pieces, each consisting of three columns, three
stories tall, connected by spandrel plates. The spandrel plates were welded to the
columns to create the modular pieces off-site at the fabrication shop. Adjacent
modules were bolted together with the splices occurring at mid-span of the columns
and spandrels. The spandrel plates were located at each floor, transmitting shear
 stress between columns, allowing them to work together in resisting lateral loads. The
joints between modules were staggered vertically, so that the column splices between
adjacent modules were not at the same floor.
 The World Trade Center site was located on man-made water-clogged landfill that had
accumulated over centuries, providing an extension of land out onto the Hudson River
from the original Manhattan shoreline, with bedrock located 65 feet (20 m) below.
 The Bathtub foundation method was used, with a slurry wall around the West Street
side of the site, to keep water from the Hudson River out. The slurry method involved
digging a trench, and as excavation proceeded, filling the space with a "slurry" mixture
composed of Bentonite(absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate clay) and water, which
plugged holes and kept groundwater out. When the trench was dug out, a steel cage
was inserted and concrete was poured in, forcing the "slurry" out. It took fourteen
months for the slurry wall to be completed.
 The Bathtub encompasses a large, roughly rectangular excavation down to bedrock
surrounded by reinforced concrete walls. It contains a 16 acres (65,000 m2) site,
including seven basement levels. The waterproof walls are 3 feet (0.91 m) thick and 70
feet (21 m) high.

1969 view of the original WTC bathtub looking northeast. The frame of the south tower is on the left. PATH
eastbound tunnel F can be seen in the center, penetrating the slurry wall on its way up Cortlandt Street to Hudson
Terminal.
 In addition to the twin towers, the plan for the World Trade Center complex included
four other low-rise buildings, which were built in the early 1970s. The 47-story 7 World
Trade Center building was added in the 1980s, to the north of the main complex.
Altogether, the main World Trade Center complex occupied a 16-acre (65,000 m2)
superblock.
 The North Tower became the tallest building in the world at 1,368 feet (417 m) by the
time of its completion, When completed in 1973, the South Tower became the second
tallest building in the world at 1,362 feet (415 m); the South Tower's rooftop
observation deck was 1,362 ft (415 m) high and its indoor observation deck was 1,310
ft (400 m) high. Each tower stood over 1,350 feet (410 m) high, and occupied about 1
acre (4,000 m2) of the total 16 acres (65,000 m2) of the site's land.
 Construction process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwc49cZKunQ
 ANATOMY OF FAILURE

 On sept 11,2001 Al-Qaeda-affiliated hijackers(Islamic terrorist) flew two Boeing 767

jets into the complex, 1st plane crashed into northern façade of North tower at 8:46
a.m. btw 93rd and 99th and 2nd plane crashed into the southern facade of the South
Tower, striking it between the 77th and 85th floors.
 South tower collapse after burning for 56 minutes and North tower after 102 minutes
after being stuck by the plane.
 The fire caused steel structural elements, already weakened from the plane impact,
to fail. The impact from Boeing 767(200 tonne air plane with 400miles/hour )
demolished outer perimeter of steel structure(which is being designed to withstand
under consideration of Boeing 700’s weight) and the interior core steel frame
structure (comprising of elevator system and slabs) is being collapsed due to over
burning of structure for larger period fire proofing material failed and initially slab
(truss slab which is weaker) near the fire got collapsed and fallen into the lower slab
smashing it , results in collapsing other slabs one by one demolishing the whole
structure.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo1WZ9g1IJ4
TRUSS SLAB WITH END
CONNECTION
 Sears Tower (now Willis Tower)
 It stood as the world's tallest building for 24 years,
from 1974 until 1998 and now second-tallest building
in the United States and the 14th-tallest in the world.
 Architect  Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
Fazlur Rahman Khan
Bruce Graham
 108-story, 1,451-foot (442m and 527m with a tip)
skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Covers
416000 m2 of floor area with 104 lifts alongwith 16
double-decker elevators.
 First steel was put in place in April 1971. The structure
was completed in May 1973. The construction cost
about US$150 million at the time, equivalent to $810
million in 2017 and building weighs more than
222,500 tons.
 The Willis Tower was the first building to use Khan's
bundled tube structure; a cellular tube frame system.
Building was designed as 9 square tubes(75 foot by 75 foot)
clustered in a 3×3 matrix forming a square base with 225-
foot (69 m) sides. All nine tubes would rise up to the 50th
floor of the building. At the 50th floor, the northwest and
southeast tubes end, and the remaining seven continue up. At the 66th floor, the northeast
and the southwest tubes end. At the 90th floor, the north,
east, and south tubes end. The remaining west and center
tubes continue up to the 108th floor.
 This innovative iconic setback design was structurally
efficient and economic: at 1,450 feet, it provided more
space and rose higher than the Empire State Building,
yet cost much less per unit area.
 Black bands appear on the tower around the 29th–
32nd, 64th–65th, 88th–89th, and 104th–108th floors. These are louvres that allow
ventilation for service equipment and obscure the structure's belt trusses.
 There was a proper fire sprinkler system with around 40,000 sprinkler heads in the
building, installed at a cost of $4 million.
 It achieved sufficient lateral stiffness with an economic use of steel.
 Willis Tower consists of a structural steel frame
that was pre-assembled in sections and then
bolted in place on the site. The lightweight
building skin — a black aluminum and bronze-
tinted glare-reducing glass curtain wall — serves
as an insulator between the interior and exterior
structure to maintain a relatively constant
temperature, in turn minimizing the expansion
and contraction of the frame.
 The tower is composed of nine bundled
structural tubes resting on reinforced concrete
caissons that go down to bedrock. The caissons
are tied together by a reinforced concrete mat.
 Each square has 5 columns per side spaced 15
feet on centers, with adjacent squares sharing
columns.
 These tubes are independently strong but are
further strengthened by the interactions
between each other through truss connections.
 While the tubes connect at each floor level with
beams and floors trusses, several large trussed
levels act as the main horizontal connectors in
the buildings. These trussed levels, which also Seven of the nine ‘tubes’ discontinue at
contain the mechanical systems for the building, certain levels creating various floor plans.
The dark bands represent the truss levels.
appear as black horizontal bands on the façade.
 The closely spaced interior and exterior columns are
tied at each floor with deep spandrel beams. At the truss levels, these tubes are tied
together. These ties resulted in a stiffer structure, as the building acts as a
unified system of stiffened tubes. The interaction between the individual tubes and
the belt trusses at mechanical levels allows the building to attain its extreme height.
 These trusses serve an additional purpose beyond stiffening the tube structure
against winds. Due to the drop offs, the gravity loading on the system is not evenly
distributed along the height of the building. These trusses take the gravity loads from
above and redistribute them evenly onto the tubes below. This is particularly
important for the uppermost section of the tower, due to its asymmetry about the
central axis of the building. Because the section is offset, its weight causes columns
on one side of the building to experience a greater load than those on the other side.
The presence of the belt trusses help to mitigate these effects of differential
settlement, which cause the building to tilt.
 Due to the rapid construction
process, prefabrication was one of
the most important principles
employed during its construction.
 Structural units called ‘Christmas
trees’ were welded offsite and
consisted of a two-story column
with half-length beams welded to
either side of the column. On site,
the units only needed bolted splice
plate connections between beams
and web bolted connections for the
column splices.
 Only the finest materials are used
throughout the buildings common
areas to highlight the property’s
prestige, such as the lobby’s walls of
travertine highlighted with stainless
steel trim, polished granite
flooring, and decorative ceiling
lighting.
 There are 50000 miles of electric wires, 25000 miles of plumbing, 80
miles of elevator cable and a 145000 light fixtures.
 The foundation wall call for the 3 foot thick wall to be dug around the perimeter of
the building site. Bentonite clayey slurry; an aqueous mixture of insoluble clay was
poured into the excavation panels as they were dug to prevent ground collapse and
more infiltration. The panels reached over 5 storeys into the ground, the slurry was
later displaced by concrete and pumped out of the foundation wall. With the
concrete wall foundation in place, the entire site was then excavated to the depth of
over 50 feet. To complete the foundation 114 reinforced concrete cassion which
varied in diameters from 6 to 10 feet had to be dug in additional 50 feet into the
earth(lone of these located under each column). A 5 foot thick concrete mat was
poured at the bottom of excavation site , this mat tied all the cassions together and
became the bottom floor of the searls tower.
 The stiffening element was the X bracing in the columns , these diagonals reduced
lateral drift due to winds by about 15%.
 The steel superstructure was coated with fire retardants . asbestos fire proofing
material was not used because it causes cancer.
 Stack effect was also encountered :- The interior air in the building is heated and
exterior air is very cold and therefore the warmer air in the building raises up,
Besides being unpleasant , the draft affect many of the operational process inside the
buildings especially elevators and the entranced doors. To minimize the problem
lobby was designed with revolving doors , an integrated air lock system was
incorporated at the loading ducks to control the amount of air inflow at the ground
flow.
 Construction process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubS4Fy7zDUU&t=768s.
 MODERN SKYSCRAPERS
 Modern skyscrapers are built with steel or reinforced concrete frameworks and
curtain walls of glass or polished stone with the use of mechanical equipments such
as water pumps and elevators.
 Skyscraper projects after World War II typically rejected the classical designs of the
early skyscrapers, instead embracing the uniform International style of architecture.
( Common characteristics of International style include rectilinear forms; light,
taut(stretched) plane surfaces that have been completely stripped of applied
ornamentation and decoration; open interior spaces; a visually weightless quality
engendered by the use of cantilever construction. Glass and steel, in combination
with usually less visible reinforced concrete. )
 Modern building practices regarding supertall structures have led to the study of
"vanity height". Vanity height, according to the CTBUH(Council on Tall Buildings and
Urban Habitat), is the distance between the highest floor and its architectural top
(excluding antennae, flagpole or other functional extensions).
 Vanity height first appeared in New York City skyscrapers as early as the 1920s and
1930s but supertall buildings have relied on such uninhabitable extensions for on
average 30% of their height, raising potential definitional and sustainability issues.
 The current era of skyscrapers focuses on sustainability, its built and natural
environments, including the performance of structures, types of materials,
construction practices, absolute minimal use of materials and natural resources,
energy within the structure, and a holistically integrated building systems approach.
LEED(Leadership in energy and environmental definition) is a current green building
standard.
 Architecturally, with the movements of Postmodernism, New Urbanism and New
Classical Architecture, that established since the 1980s, a more classical approach
came back to global skyscraper design, that remains popular today.
 Other contemporary styles and movements in skyscraper design include organic,
sustainable, neo-futurist, structuralist, high-tech, deconstructivist, blobitectural,
digital, streamline, novelty, critical regionalist, vernacular, Neo Art Deco and neo-
historist, also known as revivalist.

 Neo- futurismIt could be seen as a departure from

the attitude of post-modernism and represents an
idealistic belief in a better future and "a need to
periodize the modern rapport with the technological"

A neo futurist table

 DeconstructivistIt gives the impression of the
fragmentation of the constructed building.

 Blobism buildings have an organic, amoeba-shaped.

 3 September is the global commemorative day for skyscrapers, called "Skyscraper

Day".
 PETRONAS TWIN TOWER

 Twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia, tallest buildings in the
world from 1998 to 2004.
 Designed by the Argentine architect
Cesar Pelli who chose postmodern
architectural style for this 21st
century iconic structure.
 The complete construction got
completed in four years from 1992 to
1996 with a total expenditure of US
$1.6 billion.
 It raises upto a total height of 451.9 m (1,483 ft) with Floor count of about 88(+5
below ground), floor area 395,000 m2 (4,252,000 sq ft) and elevators of 40 each.
 Excavation involved moving 500 truckloads of earth every night to dig down 30
metres (98 ft) below the surface. Test boreholes found that the original construction
site effectively sat on the edge of a cliff. One half of the site was decayed limestone
while the other half was soft rock. The entire site was moved 61 metres (200 ft) to
allow the buildings to sit entirely on the soft rock. Because of the depth of the
bedrock, the buildings were built on the world's deepest foundations. 104 concrete
piles, ranging from 60 to 114 metres (197 to 374 ft) deep, were bored into the
ground. The concrete raft foundation, comprising 13,200 cubic metres (470,000 cu ft)
of concrete was continuously poured through a period of 54 hours for each tower.
The raft is 4.6 metres (15 ft) thick, weighs 32,500 tonnes (35,800 tons) and held the
world record for the largest concrete pour until 2007.
 The Petronas Towers' structural system is a tube in tube design, invented by Fazlur
Rahman Khan.