[Prometheus The Supremo]

Glass floors offer nice upskirt opportunities, y'know

how long before someone gets arrested for using a telescope to peep through the glass floor from the base of the CN tower?

"giggity giggity gig-gi-ty, oh, hi officer, i was just inspecting the support structure to see if i can find some cracks in the underside.... GIGGITY!"

 

[theowne]

I am never, ever going to get on that thing.

 

[Chuck]

I just saw a program today about the Hoover dam. It said that the weight of the dam and the lake only (my emphasis added) approx 7 inches. I don't buy the Taipei 101 unless it really hit the bedrock in the right spot.

More things to consider regarding skyscrapers and plate tectonics:
-Lake Mead has 35 cubic km of water
-Hoover Dam has 3.3 million cubic metres of concrete
-Lake Mead weighs 4400 times more than Hoover Dam
-Possible weight of Taipei 101: 700,000 tons
-Hoover Dam weighs 11 times more than Taipei 101.

If you make some assumptions, albeit bad ones, then here's even more to consider:
-Sinkage of continental plate from Lake Mead plus Dam: 175mm
-Contribution of Hoover Dam: 0.04mm.
-Therefore, sinkage from Taipei 101: 0.0036mm.
-Diameter of human hair: 22 times larger.

 

[TKTKTK]

More things to consider regarding skyscrapers and plate tectonics:
-Lake Mead has 35 cubic km of water
-Hoover Dam has 3.3 million cubic metres of concrete
-Lake Mead weighs 4400 times more than Hoover Dam
-Possible weight of Taipei 101: 700,000 tons
-Hoover Dam weighs 11 times more than Taipei 101.

If you make some assumptions, albeit bad ones, then here's even more to consider:
-Sinkage of continental plate from Lake Mead plus Dam: 175mm
-Contribution of Hoover Dam: 0.04mm.
-Therefore, sinkage from Taipei 101: 0.0036mm.
-Diameter of human hair: 22 times larger.

Except that's not really how it works It doesn't take anything more than a fractional amount more than the area's limit. The world is made up of different things in different places. I'm still not convinced, but the idea behind it is golden

(from one of the articles, though nothing's been written about this recently)

Using the construction information, Dr Lin has calculated how much pressure Taipei 101 exerts on the ground. The weight of steel and concrete came to more than 700,000 tonnes. This is spread over an area of 15,081 square metres (3.7 acres), meaning that it exerts a huge pressure of 4.7 bars on the ground below. "The construction of Taipei 101 is totally different to many other high-rise buildings because it used hybrid structures made of both concrete and steel, to give it added protection from earthquakes and fire. Therefore it has a huge vertical loading on its foundation," says Dr Lin.​

Also, the size comparisons are super interesting - but they ignore that man-made objects have created earthquakes and massive-geologic reactions:

One of the most convincing examples is the Koyna Dam earthquake, which occurred in 1967. More than 120 people died and many more were injured when a magnitude 6.5 earthquake shook the ground around the recently constructed dam in Maharashtra state, India.

It is thought that the huge weight of water changed the stresses in the ground. Closer to home, the magnitude 5 earthquake in May 2001 in the North Sea is thought to have been caused by a release in pressure from oil and gas extraction.

In 1967, mountains of waste that had been injected into the Rocky Mountains set off a magnitude 5.5 earthquake under Denver in Colorado. A similar earthquake under a nuclear waste store would be disastrous.​

It sounds incredible - but, so did (and to some, still) the idea that we could have a lasting effect on our environment.

 

[Edward Skira]

The program did say the Lake Mead project did cause some small earthquakes.

 

[Brian69]

Went up to 360 the other night and the talked to the elevator operator about it. She wasn't looking forward to operating the glass one when it comes--I believe she said two of them would be glass-bottomed. Without Willy Wonka standing beside me I doubt I'll be trying it.

 

[junctionist]

We need a word for "fear of glass floors". If it's of any help, nelophobia is the fear of glass.

 

[lokyin]

when are they unveiling this glass-bottom elevator thing?

 

[gei]

I'm surprised there are so many people who would be afraid of this.

I'm hoping it's more reflective of the type of people who visit forums related to "urban toronto" as opposed to the average Torontonian in general.

 

[Edward Skira]

Next time you're up there go and check out the area where the glass floor currently exists. You'll clearly notice there are people that can walk on it and those (like me) that can't.

 

[TKTKTK]

Next time you're up there go and check out the area where the glass floor currently exists. You'll clearly notice there are people that can walk on it and those (like me) that can't.

I can't either. I can hardly even look out the window of the elevator, especially going up. I did manage to step out onto the glass floor, but I think even then I was walking on the metal supports between the panes and I doubt I got very far.

I know it's safe, I know it's not going to fail, I know it's 5 times stronger than the floor at the mall, and probably 10 times stronger than the floors of my apartment - but still, when I'm there, I KNOW I'm going to crash through and fall to my death

 

[Mongo]

I can believe tectonic effects would effect the area under Lake Mead, as at 35 km^3, it adds a whopping 35 billion tonnes of weight of water. I had heard about those microquakes too.

The Konya Dam reservoir too, might have had an impact, despite its smaller volume of 2.76 km^3, since it is in a particulary tectonically stressed area. (Although I do not see how to establish causation -- given the tectonics of the region, that earthquake would have eventually happened with or without the reservoir. Did the reservoir cause the earthquake to happen earlier than it would have happened otherwise? There's no way to know.)

But Taipei 101? It weighs one-fortieth of one percent of the Konya Dam reservoir, which was already on the small side of what is physically plausible to have an effect.

The 'pressure' arguement is just ridiculous, as that full additional pressure only exists right at the surface ground level. At a depth where the additional pressure might have an impact on the tectonics (several km), that 700,000 tonnes is spread over several square km, for an additional pressure increment of around 165 kg per square metre (By way of comparison, a single 50mm rainfall event adds 50 kg per square metre over the entire rainfall area. Taipei regularly is hit by typhoons that dump up to 1200mm of rain.)

 

[TKTKTK]

I can believe tectonic effects would effect the area under Lake Mead, as at 35 km^3, it adds a whopping 35 billion tonnes of weight of water. I had heard about those microquakes too.

The Konya Dam reservoir too, might have had an impact, despite its smaller volume of 2.76 km^3, since it is in a particulary tectonically stressed area. (Although I do not see how to establish causation -- given the tectonics of the region, that earthquake would have eventually happened with or without the reservoir. Did the reservoir cause the earthquake to happen earlier than it would have happened otherwise? There's no way to know.)

But Taipei 101? It weighs one-fortieth of one percent of the Konya Dam reservoir, which was already on the small side of what is physically plausible to have an effect.

The 'pressure' arguement is just ridiculous, as that full additional pressure only exists right at the surface ground level. At a depth where the additional pressure might have an impact on the tectonics (several km), that 700,000 tonnes is spread over several square km, for an additional pressure increment of around 165 kg per square metre (By way of comparison, a single 50mm rainfall event adds 50 kg per square metre over the entire rainfall area. Taipei regularly is hit by typhoons that dump up to 1200mm of rain.)

How much is the fault line under Taipei 101 moving each year? What's the ground composition? How much weight can Taiwan bear? How big does Taipei 101 need to be before it has an effect on its surrounding area? I think you're missing the point if you're still trying to refute the idea, as it isn't a dead-serious claim, it's presented more as a thought experiment: could our built environment have geologic side-effects? The answer is yes. Is Taipei 101 an example of that? Probably not. Are you interested in the idea at all? No? Oh well, see you later

 

[Jayomatic]

I'm the same. While I have no problems at all pressing my face up against the elevator glass or the skypod glass, I just can't seem to walk on the glass and nothing pisses me off more than when I finally get the courage to walk on the glass and some kid just starts jumping up and down on the piece i'm standing on.

 

[adma]

I'm surprised there are so many people who would be afraid of this.

I'm hoping it's more reflective of the type of people who visit forums related to "urban toronto" as opposed to the average Torontonian in general.

I don't notice a huge trend of screaming fear in the posts thus far--what's "surprising"?

Especially since "the average Torontonian in general" isn't necessarily all *that* inclined t/w CN Tower visiting, whether for agoraphobic or tourist-trap reasons...