Skyscraper Strength

[DaCrystallineAngel79]

Are buildings in New York City powerful enough to handle hurricane force winds? Hurricanes are really rare here, so I was wondering if the architects prepared themselves for such a storm. :?

[tugrul]

Yes. The number 150mph comes up during the numerous WTC specials.

The solution, developed by the structural engineers John Skilling and Leslie Robertson in the mid-1960s, was to re-conceive the basic structure of tall buildings. At the World Trade Center, a super-strong lattice of exterior steel columns, placed less than two feet apart and locked tightly together at every floor, would transform each tower into a giant "tube." The remarkably stiff outer structure could readily resist the force of 150-mile-per-hour winds -- far higher than any ever recorded in the region. For almost the first time in the century-long history of skyscrapers, the exterior wall was returned to structural duty.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/newyork/peopleevents/e_build.html

And the Citicorp story (http://onlineethics.org/moral/lemessurier/index.html) sheds some light on the issue.

Between the older overbuilt sentinels and today's overregulated newcomers, we are probably safe.

[Liz L]

Yeah, I think so...but I sure wouldn't want to be on an upper floor when that storn hit...