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Snack street to be wiped out by skyscrapers
By Jeanne Wu |
February 27, 2009, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BY the end of this year - as the city "pretties up" for World Expo 2010 - all traditional snack shops on Wujiang Road E. will be wiped out. In their place, five glorious skyscrapers. Enlightened planners have already done away the shops on Wujiang Road W.
Now, two office buildings - 170 meters high and 250 meters high - as well as three 100-meter-high hotels will be erected, according to the Oriental Morning Post on February 18.
While skyscrapers are modern, and modernity is all-important, they can pose serious potential security problems.
High-rise fire fighting has long been the most challenging problem for fire departments in China and other countries.
The inferno that caused one death and seven injuries earlier this month in one high rise of the new headquarters of China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing is still fresh in the minds of many.
It took nearly 600 firefighters six hours to bring the blaze at the partially completed, 30-story (around 90 meters) building under control.
The main problem was the fire department's inability to pump water higher than 60 meters outside the building.
By contrast, the flames reached as high as 80-100 meters, said www.caijing.com on February 11.
Shanghai fire department's most advanced aerial ladders can reach up to 90 meters, about the height of a 30-story building, said Zhang Jianyu, a fire station officer told Shanghai Daily.
The most widely used aerial ladders, however, usually reach only around 30 meters, Zhang said.
The Caijing report also said Shanghai's German-made fire trucks may spray water up to 375 meters, the highest in China, and perhaps world.
However, Zhang said that the premise is that firemen carry the water hoses to the same height.
This can take a long time if the fire has rendered the skyscraper's elevators inoperable.
Flying flames
Some years ago, a group of robust firemen were told to run downstairs at full speed through the staircases of the 88-story Jinmao Tower - from the 85th floor to the ground.
In reality, they would actually be asked to run upstairs, laden with heavy gear and hoses, so it would take longer.
Even the fastest runner took as long as 35 minutes, said a Xinhua report on February 19.
In the worse case, however, flames may fly upwards through ventilation openings, or other openings in the buildings at a speed of 7 meters per second, security expert Gao Jingfeng told Nanjing Daily last week.
Gao is deputy director general of Nanjing's Public Security Bureau, Jiangsu Province.
Other difficulties in high-rise fire fighting and rescue are locating victims and the exact fire spots, the priorities of evacuation and fire fighting, and so on.
Fire fighting and rescue are far from the only problems of skyscrapers.
The gradual sinking of the city's ground - some parts of it once were mudflats - is another serious problem, partly attributable to the numerous skyscrapers.
The literal impact of urban infrastructure, especially high rises, has accounted for one-third of all land subsidence cases over the past 10 years, according to the Shanghai Urban Planning Administration.
Far too many skyscrapers consume huge amounts of energy and cause environmental pollution.
Shanghai already "boasts" 13,894 high rises (buildings over 24 meters high), including nearly 500 that exceed 100 meters, the Oriental Morning Post reported on Wednesday.
Higher is not better.
Now, two office buildings - 170 meters high and 250 meters high - as well as three 100-meter-high hotels will be erected, according to the Oriental Morning Post on February 18.
While skyscrapers are modern, and modernity is all-important, they can pose serious potential security problems.
High-rise fire fighting has long been the most challenging problem for fire departments in China and other countries.
The inferno that caused one death and seven injuries earlier this month in one high rise of the new headquarters of China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing is still fresh in the minds of many.
It took nearly 600 firefighters six hours to bring the blaze at the partially completed, 30-story (around 90 meters) building under control.
The main problem was the fire department's inability to pump water higher than 60 meters outside the building.
By contrast, the flames reached as high as 80-100 meters, said www.caijing.com on February 11.
Shanghai fire department's most advanced aerial ladders can reach up to 90 meters, about the height of a 30-story building, said Zhang Jianyu, a fire station officer told Shanghai Daily.
The most widely used aerial ladders, however, usually reach only around 30 meters, Zhang said.
The Caijing report also said Shanghai's German-made fire trucks may spray water up to 375 meters, the highest in China, and perhaps world.
However, Zhang said that the premise is that firemen carry the water hoses to the same height.
This can take a long time if the fire has rendered the skyscraper's elevators inoperable.
Flying flames
Some years ago, a group of robust firemen were told to run downstairs at full speed through the staircases of the 88-story Jinmao Tower - from the 85th floor to the ground.
In reality, they would actually be asked to run upstairs, laden with heavy gear and hoses, so it would take longer.
Even the fastest runner took as long as 35 minutes, said a Xinhua report on February 19.
In the worse case, however, flames may fly upwards through ventilation openings, or other openings in the buildings at a speed of 7 meters per second, security expert Gao Jingfeng told Nanjing Daily last week.
Gao is deputy director general of Nanjing's Public Security Bureau, Jiangsu Province.
Other difficulties in high-rise fire fighting and rescue are locating victims and the exact fire spots, the priorities of evacuation and fire fighting, and so on.
Fire fighting and rescue are far from the only problems of skyscrapers.
The gradual sinking of the city's ground - some parts of it once were mudflats - is another serious problem, partly attributable to the numerous skyscrapers.
The literal impact of urban infrastructure, especially high rises, has accounted for one-third of all land subsidence cases over the past 10 years, according to the Shanghai Urban Planning Administration.
Far too many skyscrapers consume huge amounts of energy and cause environmental pollution.
Shanghai already "boasts" 13,894 high rises (buildings over 24 meters high), including nearly 500 that exceed 100 meters, the Oriental Morning Post reported on Wednesday.
Higher is not better.
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