Supposedly, Manhatten island weighs less than before they started building it up, because they excavated more bedrock building the skyscraper foundations than the buildings themselves weigh.
The Empire State Building also supported the weight of a giant gorilla swinging around on the top without issue. There was a documentary on it a few years ago
Live in an apartment in any of those buildings. Do you hear your neighbours or not? That is most relevant for good living. Older buildings always have the advantage there.
oh wow, I hadn't seen The Engineer Guy in ages! His videos are always so cool and incredibly interesting. I highly recommend the ones about the HArmonic Analyser: Fourier transforms before computers!!
He didn't mention that the walls of the Empire State are load-bearing slabs of limestone, not concrete. The building is a literal rock; it doesn't sway in the wind and it wouldn't sway in an earthquake.
The Sears Tower was a technological and engineering feat that was born and raised in Chicago. Just because a foreign investment firm bought the naming rights didn’t mean that the natives would acquiesce.
I wonder how well the Willis tower would resist to a plane crashing into it like 9/11 situation. The problem about the twin towers was being mostly hollow inside, so... can those 9 tubes have the building be still standing after being hit by a bullet size plane?
I remember posting the meme about that on Facebook on 9/11 a few years ago and one of his fanboys getting all pissed off about it. I'm like he said it, not me lol
I wouldn't necessarily call the Empire State Building "worse". Being over-engineered is a plus when you can reopen for business 48 hours after having had a B-25 fly into your building...
My guess is no difference. The heat so weakened the steel the weight of the floors above caused the collapse but I would love a structural engineers input.
Being over-engineered and being heavy is different. Weight is the enemy of big buildings so if you can make it 40% lighter then that is a lot less weight trying to knock your house over.
So my tourist insight for tall buildings in New York.. go up the Rockefeller, it's cheap, not particularly busy, the inside is gorgeous and from the top you can gaze at both the Empire State Building and the Chrysler building which are incredible works of architecture. I went up the ESB and it was expensive and crap.
It's "worse" in that it cost more, it used more material, and it weighs more. It's "better" in that it's stronger than it needs to be I guess, but anybody can make things too strong, it takes a great engineer to make something just strong enough.
"Just strong enough" is the difference of filling up a valley with rocks so you can build a road over it or building a bridge over it. One solution is going to last a lot longer and it's not the bridge.
Julius Caesar married Cleopatra of Egypt. By the time she was born the pyramids was already ancient history. Cleopatra was born around 2100 years ago. The Great Pyramids of Gisa was built around 2530 years before Cleopatra was born.
Sorry but the time of scale is not comparable. Roman engineering can't hold a candle to basic stacked rocks.
420supercoolusername69
Thanks Bill!
DrankTooMuchMead
And why is a skyscraper built in the first place? For imaginary money?
elhigh
I will NEVER call it anything but The Sears Tower.
jtxyz
The Empire State building is a beast.
Supposedly, Manhatten island weighs less than before they started building it up, because they excavated more bedrock building the skyscraper foundations than the buildings themselves weigh.
With the exception of the ESB.
thespaceghetto
Huh, TIL John from foodwishes on YouTube is also a construction echoey
JamShady
The Empire State Building also supported the weight of a giant gorilla swinging around on the top without issue. There was a documentary on it a few years ago
cntrfldr
tldr but I heard 'twas beauty killed the beast
DerpMeister
Civil engineering is the art of building something so unstable that it just so doesn't collapse.
kewakl
I loves me some bill hammack videos. The man has a way to inform the lay person with his clear, concise wording.
JimiFloyd2
Live in an apartment in any of those buildings. Do you hear your neighbours or not? That is most relevant for good living. Older buildings always have the advantage there.
TacoFox
BeckyLookAtHerButt
Bill Hammack, the engineer guy
tychanman
He’s from the hammock district.
MeisterKleister
One of my fav YT channels https://www.youtube.com/@engineerguyvideo
certainlynotaserialkiller
DarthFutuza
Okay but which one is better at taking two planes to the face?
certainlynotaserialkiller
mandatory dilbert:
SacrificialClam
But what are the tubes made of?
rbudrick
But he never says how the tubes are constructed.
mikasaur
The shit that humans can build blows my mind. We're amazing.
KT8819
Whatcha talkin about Willis!? Don't ever say Willis Tower!
ItHappenedInThe20thCentury
oh wow, I hadn't seen The Engineer Guy in ages! His videos are always so cool and incredibly interesting. I highly recommend the ones about the HArmonic Analyser: Fourier transforms before computers!!
jfitz
I remember reading about how a guy flew a bomber into it during the second world war, basically zero damage to the building.
microcactus
Planes were a bit smaller back then.
MicahtheMartian
If structural engineering is interesting to you there's a architecture tour in Chicago that is fascinating. Would recommend.
iamnowhere
I accidentally did it to kill sometime and it ended up being the highlight of my trip. I can't wait to visit chicago again
torxter
I did it as a snotty teenager and even then I found it absolutely fascinating.
GeorgeCostabaplaps
Ahh fuck, well, if I ever travel to America again it'll be Chicago - fuckin love your Italian beefs
furioustomato
He didn't mention that the walls of the Empire State are load-bearing slabs of limestone, not concrete. The building is a literal rock; it doesn't sway in the wind and it wouldn't sway in an earthquake.
Sullivanish
Yeah! Take THAT, Ted Mosby.
NeverLateThanBetter
Classic Schmosby!
Rainbowdaesh
Ted was an architect, not an engineer.
Sullivanish
He loved the Empire State Building. That's really the extent of the joke. Insofar as what I said qualifies as a joke...
Rainbowdaesh
True, I just like mocking architects though. Fuck you Frank Lloyd Wright, you're shitty engineering skills is why your buildings need to be constantly retrofitted. https://fallingwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2000-Scientific-American.pdf
DrunkBobRoss
I would have enjoyed this a lot more if he hadn't insisted on calling it the "Willis Tower".
SleazyBijou
Wtf is “Sears” anyway?
DrunkBobRoss
The Sears Tower was a technological and engineering feat that was born and raised in Chicago. Just because a foreign investment firm bought the naming rights didn’t mean that the natives would acquiesce.
Fuck Willis.
autika
It's spelled "Willis" it's pronounced "Sears".
DrunkBobRoss
AMEN
Poppypoppoppop
I wonder how well the Willis tower would resist to a plane crashing into it like 9/11 situation. The problem about the twin towers was being mostly hollow inside, so... can those 9 tubes have the building be still standing after being hit by a bullet size plane?
Jaysen
I mean... what's a bullet sized plane gonna do? Break a window and maybe bounce off the water cooler?
kraeftig
The twin towers survived the impact just fine. The prolonged fires inside the build is what weakened the structure enough to collapse.
Soberyn
I like how he gently touches the building.
Iblamemyparentstoo
Remember as the twin towers were burning in the background during trump's interview he bragged that he now had the tallest building in the NY skyline.
scrybot
I remember posting the meme about that on Facebook on 9/11 a few years ago and one of his fanboys getting all pissed off about it. I'm like he said it, not me lol
faro2000
I wouldn't necessarily call the Empire State Building "worse". Being over-engineered is a plus when you can reopen for business 48 hours after having had a B-25 fly into your building...
Fanner50
But which would better survived a jet strike followed by burning jet fuel?
neonkrypton
My guess is no difference. The heat so weakened the steel the weight of the floors above caused the collapse but I would love a structural engineers input.
LucianoPiscopo
I wonder what would happen in a computer simulation if the same plane had hit it like the Empire State tower.
jesuisgur
Yeah. Roman bridges were way over-engineered, but many are still standing. Moderne bridges have what, a 50 years expected lifetime ?
Keru
RibbleTPibits
Good thing B-25 fuel can’t melt steel beams.
alcaray
OK, but he didn't call it "worse". (or who were you quoting?)
LordKingSalmon
Could be emphasis instead of quoting.
Dasnekones
Being over-engineered and being heavy is different. Weight is the enemy of big buildings so if you can make it 40% lighter then that is a lot less weight trying to knock your house over.
mrmartini
Also, the Empire State Building is not ugly as shit, so that's a win.
cabalin
The OP is an engineer, not an architect
SarcasticComment
they don't make sky art like they used to anymore
What3Birds
So my tourist insight for tall buildings in New York.. go up the Rockefeller, it's cheap, not particularly busy, the inside is gorgeous and from the top you can gaze at both the Empire State Building and the Chrysler building which are incredible works of architecture. I went up the ESB and it was expensive and crap.
DrFlukeHawkins
Also it survived a giant ape climbing up to the top
DrunkBobRoss
certainlynotaserialkiller
several times...
Cmbyrd0001
If it was just a steel monolith it wouldn't have needed to close at all!
pgdave
It's "worse" in that it cost more, it used more material, and it weighs more. It's "better" in that it's stronger than it needs to be I guess, but anybody can make things too strong, it takes a great engineer to make something just strong enough.
transhumanisticrecluse
theres always things the original plan didnt consider and then you'll be sorry.
OrThatsWhatTheySayAnyway
"Eh, that'll do, time for a beer"
nullundefined
I don’t know much. Take the worst possible you can imagine, double that. That is the minimum it must survive. Examples?
Fhr Boeing 747[1]. Max load 2,5 g. Actual survived load 5,1 g. That’s engineering and craftmanship.
You can fly them with Lufthansa 🛫
Both 747-400 (cable/hydraulic) and 747-8 (Fly-by-Wire) are in service.
The -8 is modern, building upon the 787. I’m not aware of quality issues. Pilots seem to like -400, too.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines_Flight_006
cheesedogs
There's probably a quality to cost ratio analysis that has engineers and business people at war over
QuartzPoker
"Just strong enough" is code for "It won't last a decade without continuous upkeep"
Dasnekones
"Just strong enough" is the difference of filling up a valley with rocks so you can build a road over it or building a bridge over it. One solution is going to last a lot longer and it's not the bridge.
QuartzPoker
I wonder which would last longer: Egyptian rock stacking or Roman bridge building, both last a really long time
Dasnekones
Julius Caesar married Cleopatra of Egypt. By the time she was born the pyramids was already ancient history. Cleopatra was born around 2100 years ago. The Great Pyramids of Gisa was built around 2530 years before Cleopatra was born.
Sorry but the time of scale is not comparable. Roman engineering can't hold a candle to basic stacked rocks.
astrangehop
Oh like this bridge?