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Maybe You Will Build Skyscrapers as an Adult
We’ve all used building sets and blocks, stacking them on top of each other to see how high our constructions will be before they tip over! Engineers, architects and builders who work on tall skyscrapers have to make certain that their structures will not tip over no matter what kind of weather or other problems occur. Many of these people also played with construction and building sets when they were younger. This kind of creative activity has interested kids and adults for many generations because let’s face it everyone loves to make things. From the Egyptian Pyramids to European cathedrals and castles people have wanted to build something grand and beautiful. Today skyscrapers are popular because you can put a lot of building on a little bit of land if you build UP instead of OUT. It’s like a competition out there, everyone wants to build something that is taller than anyone else's building and this is very true with skyscrapers. Skyscrapers are buildings we see almost every day if we live in a big city. Today the tallest of all skyscrapers is the Burj Dubai. This building is already 818 meters high and it still under construction! When a skyscraper is about to be made the ground has to be inspected. It must be judged strong enough to hold the weight of the completed building. Then digging begins for the basement foundation. This underground part of a skyscraper is much larger than many people realize. This is what supports all of the skyscraper's weight. ~ Think about this for a moment, if you had to carry someone on your shoulders it is not too difficult as long as they do not weigh too much. If you add another person on top of your friend's shoulders you would probably not be able to carry them both. This means that you would need a stronger person to take your place. If the bottom support of any building is too weak the building will collapse, so a great deal of work goes into constructing the underground foundation for skyscrapers. Today iron and steel is used to make a steel skeleton for skyscrapers. These materials are very strong and flexible. This makes the building sturdy and still lets it sway a little in high winds. The skyscraper needs to have some sway to keep from being damaged. Workers use vertical metal columns and horizontal beams to create a framework for each floor. Diagonal metal beams are sometimes used to give extra strength to the skeleton of the building. This is very similar to how you build things with your own building sets at home. The entire skeleton design of a skyscraper is known as the superstructure. The superstructure rests on the basement substructure. Substructures are built on foundations of concrete and steel that are very thick. Large metal pilings connect the substructure floor with the bedrock layer of the earth deep underground. This makes the substructure strong enough to support the heavy weight of a skyscraper. Today most outer walls of skyscrapers seem to be made completely of glass. The windows give great views of the city to the people that work on the top floors. I don't suppose that many people who are afraid of heights want to go to work in an office hundreds of feet above the ground. One glance out the window and they would be unable to concentrate on your work for the rest of the day.
Aim; Try and build a frame that will hold an egg without dropping it
This is an original news article © The Kids Window
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