Gigantic 728-tonne 'fix' to balance the weight of world's tallest skyscrapper!

The mammoth steel ball in these pics is actually a 728-tonne 'fix' to balance the weight of yet another engineering marvel - the Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan which is the world's tallest skyscrapper. The idea behind this pendulum is quite simple; as the building sways in either of the directions due to earthquake or even wind this ball will act as a mass damper by oscillating equally in the opposite direction to nullify the devasting effect. Being situated in the region of Northern Asia-Pacific, island of Taiwan lies in one of the world's most earthquake prone regions. The skyscrapper taipei 101 has been erected just 600 feet from one of the major fault lines. This made it most vulnerable to collapse in case of even a minor earthquake owing to it's weight and height. For this reason, engineers had no choice but to suspend a 728-ton, 4 million dollar mass near it's top. This gigantic ball couldn't be lifted to a height of 87th floor - best solution was to assemble it on the spot! This ball occupies 4 floors and reduces the resonance by 40 percent.

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Source: Deputy-dog