Taipei 101 has been named as one of mankind’s greatest engineering achievements on a list recently compiled by US news network CNN.
Once the world’s tallest building in 2004, it is now the third tallest. Taipei 101 was the first building to be above 500m, CNN said.
It also had the world’s fastest elevator when it was completed, CNN added.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The broadcaster said it decided to compile the list following a series of announcements in recent months about impressive building projects, such as Dubai’s plan to build the world’s biggest shopping mall.
Other skyscrapers on list of 25 construction or engineering feats include the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Shanghai World Financial Center in China and the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada.
The modern structures featured on the list are the Palm in Dubai, the Trans-Siberian Railroad in Russia, Japan’s Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Kobe, Tokyo Sky Tree and Kansai Airport in Osaka, the US’ Hoover Dam, Golden Gate Bridge and Grand Canyon Skywalk, Canada’s White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad and Confederation Bridge, France’s Eiffel Tower and Millau Viaduct, London’s Underground system, the Panama Canal and the International Space Station.
The list also covered historical structures, including the Colosseum in Rome; the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt; the Aztec city of Teotihuacan in Mexico; India’s Taj Mahal; Spain’s Aqueduct of Segovia and China’s Great Wall.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
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