The story appears on

Page A10

April 18, 2012

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

HomeWorld

World No.2 tower in Japan shows off views

A Tokyo developer took visitors up the world's tallest freestanding broadcast structure yesterday, a 634-meter tower with special technology meant to withstand earthquakes that often strike Japan.

The Tokyo Skytree is the world's second-tallest structure behind the 828-meter Burj Khalifa in Dubai, according to owner Tobu Tower Skytree Co.

The needle-like tower opens to the public on May 22.

Journalists given a tour yesterday saw sweeping if hazy views of the Tokyo skyline.

It took 50 seconds in a high-speed lift yesterday to the lower observation deck at 350 meters, and another 30 seconds to the higher deck at 450 meters.

The Skytree has a restaurant and two cafes on the observation decks, a vertigo-inducing glass floor that allows visitors to look straight down, and an emergency staircase.

The tower was built with very strong steel tubes surrounding a central concrete column and are structurally separate from each other in the tower's mid-section. In an earthquake, the concrete core and steel frame are designed to offset each other to cut the building's overall motion.


 

Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

娌叕缃戝畨澶 31010602000204鍙

Email this to your friend