This year, more skyscrapers will fill the skylines of cities, mostly in Asia. Continuing on from previous years, cities, architects and the general public alike are favoring low-energy, sustainable buildings and showing a tendency to renovate existing buildings with reinforcements where possible.

Take a look at 2 of the tallest skyscrapers built in 2017, and some of the most exciting building projects coming scheduled for completion in 2018.

2017: Ping An Finance Center

The Ping An Finance Center is located in the city of Shenzhen, and is the second tallest building in China and fourth tallest building in the world. The entire structure measures 599.1 meters, or 1,965 feet, offering 119 floors of office and retail space.

Stainless steel keeps the Ping An Finance Center protected against the strong winds and salty climate of Shenzhen. (Source: Kohn Pedersen Fox)

The Ping An Finance Center is classified as a composite building, meaning both steel and concrete materials are used to make up the main structural parts of the skyscraper. This can apply to any of the following combinations – steel columns with concrete beam floors, steel structure with a concrete core, steel columns encased in concrete or a system of steel tubes filled with concrete. The exterior is outfitted with a sculpted stainless steel facade for maximum corrosion resistance to coastal climate.

2017: Lotte World Tower

Korea’s Lotte World Tower is the tallest building in Korea and the fifth tallest building in the world measuring 555.7 meters and 1,823 feet from the ground to the very top. Construction began in Seoul back in 2011 and took 7 years to complete. The 129-story building is made of a reinforced concrete core, concrete encased steel columns and steel floor spanning.

Seoul’s Lotte World Tower was built with 40,000 tons of steel. (Source: Arch Daily)

POSCO supplied the 40,000 tons of steel to build the Lotte World Tower, consisting of both regular and thermomechanical control processed (TMCP) steel. As part of POSCO’s solutions marketing, the company proposed using 120 mm thick high-performance grade steel (SM490TMC) instead of welding 40 mm and 80 mm thick plates together for better performance and cost efficiency. The steelmaker also proposed the use of a steel column flat plate structure and steel piping for enhanced shock, high-wind and fire resistance.

Lotte World Tower also features solar panels, wind turbines and water harvesting systems as part of a sustainable, eco-friendly design.

SEE ALSO: Steel Wonders of the World: POSCO Steel Builds the World

2018: Hanking Center Tower

The Hanking Center Tower scheduled for completion in March of 2018, will set a new world record as the tallest all-steel building in all of Asia. Most skyscrapers are made of a mixture of concrete and steel, but the Hanking Center Tower is composed of a unique, all-steel structural system. The main body is also detached from the core by about 9 meters, held together by a series of sky bridges and steel braces to allow the building flexibility to withstand seismic activity and maximum exposure to natural light.  

The Hanking Center Tower is the tallest all-steel building in Asia. (Source: Curbed)

At 350 meters, or 1,148 feet, the Hanking Center Tower will be classified as a super tall building when completed in west Shenzhen, China. The building underwent extensive seismic and wind tunnel tests for performance verification, and residents and visitors alike will be able to enjoy the sky gardens and spacious open spaces in the heart of the city.

2018: Salesforce Tower

San Francisco has a new tallest building with the opening of the Salesforce Tower in January of this year. Standing at 326.1 meters, or 1,070 feet, the skyscraper also made extensive use of steel for its columns and floor spanning and features a reinforced concrete core. The Salesforce Tower is also one of San Francisco’s most-expensive buildings at USD 1.1 billion.

The Salesforce Tower is the tallest building in San Francisco. (Source: Curbed)

Not only is the 65-story building San Francisco’s tallest building, it is the city’s first commercial building to use a water recycling system. The city government, Boston Properties and Salesforce teamed up to support blackwater reuse that will give tenants of the building access to recycled water. The skyscraper also has net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

2018: Comcast Technology Center

The 341.7 meters, or 1,121 feet tall Comcast Technology Center opened early this year, and stands as Philadelphia’s tallest skyscraper. The USD 1.6 billion building also has smart features, including a central plant that acts as the brain of the building, using artificial intelligence to learn human patterns.

The Comcast Technology Center is a green building with smart features. (Source: The Skyscraper Center)

The skyscraper can track the number of people inside, predict weather patterns and will only generate just enough energy required for any given time. The building also makes use of water running through all parts of the building to cool temperatures and has a special, silver coated glass which can repel heat from the sun. As such, the Comcast Technology Center is one of the most technologically advanced and green buildings in the U.S.

Continuing on from a strong year of construction in 2017, the new skyscrapers of 2018 and beyond will continue to strive for environmental sustainability, incorporate newer technologies and make extensive use of steel for cost efficiency and safety.

India

India’s government is incentivizing the use of steel by providing construction grants for regions that need revitalization. This government money is fueling growth and increasing steel consumption in regions across the country. Some predict that India will increase its rank and surpass China as the top consumer of steel in 2018. This is because India has not yet achieved the level of development China has. In China, the economy is shifting. For years, much of China’s economy was made up of companies in the manufacturing industry, but with a growing upper and middle class, many of China’s industries are going from factories to office spaces. Services are expected to increase in China and lead to a decrease in the need for supplies like steel.

Indian steel consumption is rising thanks to new development projects. (Source: Quora)

SEE ALSO: India: A Rising Sun in the Global Renewable Energy Industry

ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)

Vietnam and the Philippines have been named two countries to watch in the ASEAN region. Unlike China and Japan, which have relatively more established economies, Vietnam and the Philippines are still in the development phase. Their rapid development is due in part to the growth of e-commerce. As the Vietnamese and Filipino governments race to build stronger countries, they’ll need steel to make improvements in the country’s infrastructure. Many of the cities in the region are outdated and in need of a total remodel. From creating a solid infrastructure to building offices and housing, steel will be in high demand in Vietnam and the Philippines in 2018.

Many ASEAN cities like Ho Chi Minh City pictured above is ripe for growth and development. (Source: Visa2Vietnam)

CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)

CIS, also known as the Russian Commonwealth, is a confederation of 11 states made up of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. While Russia is the biggest and most powerful member state, the developing states are eager to catch up. CIS countries will undergo development projects including major infrastructure construction. Such state-level projects will require large amounts of steel and CIS countries will have to vamp up its own production as well as meet its needs through imports. As CIS countries develop, their citizens quality of life will likely increase, and they are expected to consume more goods such as cars and appliances made of steel as well.  

CIS member states are ripe for development and steel consumption in 2018. (Source: The Kremlin)

Japan

In the summer of 2020, Japan is set to host the biggest global summer games event. The government is investing significantly in this effort to build new sports facilities and other structures to accommodate the global event. A new stadium itself is said to have a budget of over USD 2 billion, and most of the construction will require steel. Japan already has some of the best infrastructure in the world. But it will need to adapt in order to accommodate the large number of visitors Tokyo will host over the three-week event.

Japan will need to build many sports venues such as its new stadium pictured above for 2020. (Source: CNN)

The United States

In the United States, the steel market is consumer-driven, and steel is a USD 113 billion industry. The U.S. is already the largest importer of steel by a wide margin. But the U.S. demand for steel is expected to increase. Steel is used for construction, infrastructure, energy, production, packaging, appliances and manufacturing. Many cities in the U.S. are expanding and improving their infrastructure. Cities like New York and San Francisco have aging buildings and transportation systems that need to be revitalized. Steel construction is also a way of creating more energy efficiency. As U.S. cities move to become more conservative with their natural resources, steel is one of the ways to reduce energy use. Things like steel reinforcements, steel roofs and other upgrades make buildings more efficient. Many household appliances and automobiles are also made of steel. As U.S. consumers purchase household appliances, cars and buildings, the U.S. demand for steel will continue to grow in 2018.

While 2018 will not likely see 2017 rates of growth, the steel industry will continue to grow as demand for steel-based goods increases. As developing countries become more dependent on modernized infrastructure, housing and conveniences, the steel industry will continue to show growth for the foreseeable future. Even in China, where manufacturing is beginning to slow down, there is a great demand for steel. In developing smart cities, for example, steel and technology work together to create more efficient cities for all citizens. Steel infrastructure will play a major role in the improvement of cities across the globe for years to come.

Biggest Challenges in Bridge Construction

The major challenges for building urban bridges are the availability of skilled labor, access to urban areas and environmental compatibility.

A worker paints the Anzhaite Long-span Suspension Bridge in Jishou, Hunan, China (Source: The Daily Mail)

Building bridges in megacities with the current scarcity of skilled labor will require a massive recourse to prefabrication. In a few circumstances, prefabricated bridge units will be transported on water with tugs and barges, which will allow the use of heavy, large units. In most cases, prefabricated bridge units will be transported on the ground through congested urban roads, which will lead to the use of light, modular units.

A floating crane lifts prefabricated deck sections onto the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (Source: San Francisco Public Press)

The availability of deck assembly areas and the interference of construction operations with adjacent infrastructure are additional challenges that will govern the bridge design process. As such, incremental launching construction from aerial platforms will see new applications, especially when combined with on-site welding of field splices among modular bridge units. The welding of field splices will also allow for optimized segmentation of bridge units, diminish the cost of field splices, and will relax the fabrication tolerances of the units.

Size Determines Cost, Cost Determines Everything Else

When constructing a bridge for an urban area, the size of a bridge governs the construction process. in turn, the construction cost of a bridge determines the materials and technology. Technology includes labor and investment in special construction equipment. The quantities of structural materials for a bridge depend on the design loads of the bridge, the flexural and shear span of the bridge units, and the mechanical strength of the material.

The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in China is the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world (Source: The New York Times)

Small and large-scale bridge projects are both necessary in megacities and demand will only increase in light of the newly emerging megacities all over the world. When looking at both the construction of new bridges and the maintenance of existing bridges, the number of small-scale projects will definitely be larger than the number of large-scale projects. The impact these construction projects will have on the mobility of people and goods within a megacity is massive.

Although one may assume large-scale bridge projects with a larger budget will allow for design optimization and the efficient use of high-grade steels, scale economies in competition with other megacities will govern the availability of construction materials and workforce. Eventually, the scarcity of structural materials will lead to the efficient, eco-friendly use of steel and concrete in large and small-scale bridge projects alike.

Prefabrication and Incremental Launching for Bridge Construction

It is true that small-scale bridge projects have smaller budgets for technology, which limit design optimization and construction mechanization and increase the labor demand. Therefore, small-scale bridges will most likely be procured as packages of multiple bridges to acquire scale economies and a more efficient use of materials with the optimized design of modular units.

On the other hand, large-scale bridge projects allow for massive investment in special construction equipment, which will facilitate the prefabrication of modular bridge units in smart, eco-friendly factories. It will also diminish the labor demand of site assembly and the need for complementary infrastructure in an urban environment, as well as enhance the quality and durability of the final product.

Thus, large-scale bridge projects will be designed for modularity and have prefabricated standardized units with asynchronous production lines. Parts of the bridge will likely have different cycle times, just-in-time delivery, and require minimal site operations. Overall, construction technology and risk management of the trans-disciplinary relationships of mechanized construction will dictate the design of large-scale bridge projects in megacities.

Workers assemble a prefabricated bridge in Pennsylvania, U.S. (Source: Roads and Bridges)

Small-scale bridge projects will take advantage of incremental launching technologies. Launched bridges minimize the interference between deck construction and the obstruction to overpass, and this is a major advantage for urban bridges designed to overpass congested infrastructure. Launched bridges do not require extra clearance to support the deck during construction, which simplifies connecting the bridge with existing roads and railways. Launched bridges do not require additional right-of-way as the deck is built behind the abutment and incrementally pushed into position. Additionally, the construction area is far from the infrastructure to overpass, which minimizes the risk for workers and the traveling public.

Incremental launching applied to a bridge deck construction process (Source: CARLOS FERNANDEZ CASADO S.L)

Materials For the Future Generation of Urban Bridges

Steel and concrete are the most common materials for bridges. In the field of steel bridges, high-grade steel will reduce the self-weight of bridge superstructures and the cost of piers and foundations. New composite systems and mechanized plate corrugation will increase the buckling capacity of unstiffened web panels and compression flanges to avoid the use of welded stiffeners.

In the field of prestressed concrete, new steels for rebar will offer higher strength and corrosion resistance to increase the durability and service life of the next generation of urban bridges. Post-tensioning materials are already extremely efficient, and the challenge will revolve around finding new duct systems and passivating materials to able to avoid the quality concerns raised by cement grouts.

Full-span precasting has been employed in thousands of spans of high-speed railway projects and in hundreds of spans of light-rail transit projects. Both steel and prestressed concrete bridges will be present in the mass transit systems of megacities, and both types of bridges are perfectly compatible with steel decks should high-grade steel turn out financially competitive over prestressed concrete in the megacity-oriented life cycle cost analysis.

Modern large-scale bridge projects are designed for 75 or 100-year service life in the USA. The use of renewable protective materials can easily meet this target in steel bridges, but the evolution of design loads and service conditions of urban bridges is hard to predict. Steel bridges offer a major advantage over prestressed-concrete bridges from this point of view, as they are more adaptable and can be modified, strengthened and adapted to new use conditions.

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Kicking Off a New Era in Stadium Design

Resource: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gcwest/14950418961, Jim Bahn.

Home of the San Francisco 49ers, the recently built Levi’s® Stadium is the epitome of next-generation stadium design. The $1.2 billion venue boasts an open design anchored with spacious entry plazas. Some 68,500 seats encapsulate the fourteen-acre stadium, though seating can be expanded to 75,000 for large events such as the upcoming Super Bowl as well as concerts, motocross events and conferences.

In June 2010, voters in Santa Clara approved a statute authorizing the creation of the Santa Clara Stadium Authority, a tax-exempt public authority, to construct and own the new football stadium, and for the city government to lease land to the authority. A construction loan, funded by private investors, was secured in December 2011, enabling construction to begin in April 2012. In July of that year, the first steel beams were inserted into the ground at the stadium site to commence the assembly of the frame of the stadium.

Jamie Matthews, mayor of Santa Clara, was in attendance as the ceremonial first steel beam was put into place. “There are many important construction milestones for projects of this size. Adding steel is not only visually appealing but also represents both symbolic and real strengths of the project. As the steel goes up, you will see the stadium take shape and grow,” Mayor Matthews noted at the event.

A Touchdown for Sustainability

And grow it did. All in all, approximately 18,000 tons of steel were used to support the 1.85 million square foot stadium. About 14,000 pieces of steel were installed—the largest weighing 36,000 pounds—while an estimated 127,000 bolts were utilized to keep them secure. Furthermore, the steel used in Levi’s® Stadium is 95 percent recyclable, adding to the stadium’s green properties.

In addition to the structure’s recyclable steel, the stadium utilizes enough solar panels to power its ten 49ers home games completely through the collection of solar energy throughout the year. Three solar bridges, which connect the main parking area to the stadium, showcase this technology in a beautiful way.

Yet, one of the most unique features of the facility is the green roof that sits atop the suite tower on the west side of the stadium, which aids in lowering the amount of energy it needs to heat suites during winter or cool them during summer. Ample access to public transit, water-conserving plumbing and electric vehicle recharging for spectators also contribute to the stadium’s industry-leading sustainability efforts.

Resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-brmGz3uEAg

These state-of-the-art attributes were no doubt a contributing factor to Levi’s® Stadium being recognized as the Sports Facility of the Year by Sports Business Journal in May of 2015. A month later, it was also named Venue of Year for 2015 at the The Stadium Business Awards in Barcelona, Spain. It’s certain that as new sports arenas like Levi’s® Stadium continue to be built with a focus on sustainability, steel will continue to be the go-to construction material.

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From a Dream to Reality
It all began in 1869 when German engineer John Roebling won the highly coveted contract to construct what was then the longest suspension bridge in the world. The Brooklyn Bridge, when completed, would stretch 1,600 feet across the wide East River that separates Manhattan from Brooklyn (which was not yet a part of New York City).
Having built four suspension bridges in the 1850s and 60s, including one over the Ohio River and another near Niagara Falls, John remained undeterred by the monumental feat. He planned the construction of the bridge. The foundations were to sink 70 feet below the river and the two mighty towers—which would be stabilized by adding a web truss to either side of the roadway platform—would dwarf much of New York. At that time, such a bold design seemed almost miraculous, and it was set to be constructed out of a new building material—steel.
Yet Roebling’s ambitious dream was to cost him his life. Before construction even began in 1869, Roebling’s foot was crushed between some pilings and a boat while he was surveying the bridge site. His toes were amputated and a few weeks later he died of tetanus.

Building a Family Legacy
Despite the doubts of investors, his son Washington Roebling proved his ability to carry out John’s ambitions. Soon thereafter, construction began, as did the arduous task of sinking a gigantic caisson foundation while the first tower was built on top. The process took five months due to a number of issues, including fires and unexpected boulders. Similar problems were experienced during the sinking of the second caisson on the New York side.

Nevertheless, Washington Roebling and his team labored deep beneath the East River, but this led them to develop a mysterious new disease, Caisson disease, which is widely known today as “the bends.” Washington himself eventually became bedridden with the bends, confined to his room and only able to watch construction through a telescope from his window.
Undeterred by his poor health and determined to finish what he started, Washington worked closely with his wife, Emily Roebling, to complete the project. Emily taught herself mathematics and engineering, and worked tirelessly to communicate between the structure and its creator.

Bridging the Gap

The towers were completed in August 1876, and it was then that steel wire began to be strung from one to the other. Finally, on May 24, 1883, enormous crowds gathered to watch the bridge’s opening ceremony. For Brooklyn, noted the New York Times, it was to be “the greatest gala day in the history of that moral suburb.” The date was also proclaimed an official holiday by Mayor Seth Low known as “The People’s Day.”
Celebratory cannon fire rang out when they reached the Manhattan-side tower. The festivities also included an hour-long fireworks display, receptions and a number of speeches. Just before midnight, the bridge was opened to the public, and more than 150,000 people streamed across over the next 24 hours.

The First of Its Kind
The Brooklyn Bridge not only inspired the people of New York, but also other architects and engineers who have since constructed remarkable structures themselves. Among these, the Golden Gate Bridge is perhaps the most recognizable. Spanning the Golden Gate, the strait between San Francisco and Marin County, the bridge was completed in 1937 after seven years of construction and remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in San Francisco, USA. Its famous red-orange hue was specifically chosen to make the bridge more easily visible through the thick fog that frequently shrouds the area.

Another noteworthy structure is the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, which traverses the Akashi Strait in Japan to connect the cities Kobe and Iwaya. At 1,991 meters (6,532 feet), it is the longest suspension bridge in the world. The Gwangan Bridge, South Korea’s largest bridge, was completed in 2008 and built entirely of steel—144,800 tons of POSCO steel and steel products, to be exact—and serves as the country’s representative steel bridge.
As bridges continue to serve as city landmarks and vital components of urban infrastructure, numerous countries choose steel as the material for large bridges. But it should not be forgotten that the movement began in New York, where the Brooklyn Bridge remains to stand as a memorial to the Roebling family’s vision, sacrifice and loyalty as well as a symbol of visionary engineering, national integrity and working-class heroism.

Watch the full episode of “Seven Wonders of the Industrial World” below:

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Thanks to its strong tensile properties, steel is a very practical material, as it can be reused again and again, from one product to the next, while consistently maintaining its inherent qualities. In fact, according to the most recent data compiled by the Steel Recycling Institute (SRI), approximately 80% of steel used today has been previously recycled.

Eco-friendly and Economical Benefits

But durability isn’t the only thing that makes recycling steel so valuable. It’s eco-friendly and cost efficient, too. So much so that it takes 74% less energy to recycle steel than it does to make it from raw materials – enough to power almost a sixth of America’s homes for a year!

It’s also cheaper to reprocess steel than to mine iron ore, or to create new steel, which is an added bonus in today’s budget-conscious society.

How It Works

Typically, when a manufacturing product is no longer considered valuable to its owner, or the metal of a structure meets the end stages of its life, its steel components are picked apart as scraps. The scraps are then melted in high-temperature furnaces, which in turn liquefies the steel and burns off any remaining impurities. Once pure, the liquid metal is molded into new products, such as tools or engines.

Recently, however, some very clever minds have taken the way we use recycled steel to a whole new level.

Subway Cars Turned Underwater Reefs

Along the eastern seaboard, retired New York subway cars have found a new home on the floors of the ocean. And while it may seem that dumping these mammoth vehicles into the sea would be anything but helpful to the ecosystem, the trains that once transported New Yorkers across the Big Apple are transforming into habitats of millions of fish.

The project, which aimed to help the environment, was launched about 10 years ago by New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

After being decommissioned, cleaned and stripped of all removable items, some 25,000 cars were transported by barges and dumped off the coast. Although the campaign is no longer in operation, the cars have since been transformed into artificial reefs.

These unlikely habitats continue to provide plenty of space for invertebrates to live, and act as a hideaway for fish seeking protection from predators. The reef also functions as a source of food, offering more viable conditions than the sand bottom for the growth of various nutrients and organisms.

Old Bridge Gets New Life

While the steel which was once used on land is now being repurposed in water on the East Coast, the reverse is happening on the opposite end of the country.

After 77 years of linking San Francisco to Oakland, California’s Bay Bridge remains to be an icon of the region. Its structure, however, was deemed “earthquake unsafe” after a 1989 quake destroyed part of it. In 2013, its replacement opened to traffic and plans to deconstruct the defective bridge were set.

When scraps of the 58,000-ton steel structure were sold and distributed around the country and abroad after its first of three deconstruction phases, members of the community spoke up, demanding that parts be set aside to be reused in the area.

The Oakland Museum, in coordination with the Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA), began to accept proposals for how the steel should be refurbished. Thus far, proposals have included everything from bus stops to rainwater catchment systems to sculptures that will retain the visual essence of the original bridge.

In a time when recycling is more important than ever, reprocessed steel is being reincarnated into structures of both function and form. Whether it be through urban sculptures or underwater habitats, recycled steel will continue to transform the way we see, use and better the world.

Cable Cars Gripped on Underground Steel Cables
San Francisco is a city with exceptional quantities of steep hills, which are not relatively common in other cities in the U.S. In the early 1900s, when automobiles were not common, pedestrian roads, bicycles, and horse carriages were everything on the street. As the city expanded, increasing number of buildings had to position over the hills while the distance for horse carriages also extended further. In fact, on rainy days, some horses slipped and sometimes died from terrible leg injuries. Such limitations in transportation stagnated quantitative development of the city.

In 1869, Andrew Hallidie witnessed the situation and proposed a cable car that grips on steel cables that are installed on the street. The first line of the cable railway started its construction in 1873 and started operating 3 years later. The operation power at the time was a steam engine, which now have changed to electricity.

There are three tracks on the cable car railway; two tracks on each sides are for cable car wheels and one in the center is for the steel cable. This central track has a space underneath that makes the steel cables flow restlessly in the speed of 15km per hour while making a clamorous sound. Interestingly, the steel cable consists of small steel wires twisted together. To be specific, 19 steel wires of 2.5mm- diameter form one medium size bundle. And six of those medium size bundle make one large steel cable of 3.2cm-diameter. The wires are twisted in a spiral to maximize cohesion among them. Also, to protect the wires and cables from friction with surrounding materials, they are greased amply. These cables are changed every 6 to 8 months.

The cable car system has been running for the past 140 years. Though the power source has been changed from steam engine to electricity, the cable cars – packed with people and luggage – are always traveling throughout the city while providing convenience and extending the city. In fact, the cable cars which allow people to indulge in a vivid and romantic scenery, have been made from a tiny steel wire of 2.5mm-diameter.

Golden Gate Bridge, the Turning Point

In 1929, the world economy faced the Great Depression. Especially, the Golden Gate strait separating the city of San Francisco and Sausalito, restricted nearby cities to interact, leading to limit balanced and holistic development of the cities. Therefore, the general public suggested to create a fundamental frame of city development, resulting in construction of the Gold Gate Bridge – a 2.7km-long suspension bridge between the city of San Francisco and Sausalito.

However, circumstances were not idealistic. The bridge construction had to manage the deep sea level of the San Francisco Bay and the bridge deck had to be installed high enough for large ships to pass through. On top of its notorious reputation for its thick fogs and fierce current, the location is a strategically important location for military purposes, which does not allow any possibility of blockade of straits due to possible collisions in the area.

The suspension bridge system was the final proposal chosen to satisfy the tough conditions. Rather than requiring to place a bridge post in the center, the suspension bridge has bridge post on each end, and the bridge deck hangs perpendicularly on the cable placed on each bridge post. Therefore, its structural functions were maximized by minimizing the thickness and ultimately provided enough height for shipments to travel through.

However, the problem was about building the main cable and the bridge deck with the level of technology and given conditions at the time. In order for the main cable to sustain the weight of the bridge deck, pedestrians and vehicles, a large sized steel of which cross section is 92 cm in diameter was needed. At that time, it was impossible to transport a colossal steel structure of the corresponding size. As a result, it was proposed to use a thin steel wire – slightly thicker than a strand of hair – to make transportable bundles and repeatedly crisscrossed them in between the main posts.

Accordingly, 452 steel wires that are 5.2mm in diameter, were twisted as one bundle, which is 11cm in diameter. These palm-sized bundles are crisscrossed between the two main posts to make even bigger bundles. 61 of these bundles make the upper cable structure which is 92cm in diameter. For the final process, these bundles are knotted regularly and a corrosion-proof steel cover tops the bundles. In total, there were 27,572 wires used. Since a single cable requires 128,748 km length of wires, the total length of the wires used for two cables can presumably rotate the earth 6.5 times. The highest point of the post is about 227m from the water level and is about 67m from seawater.

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, another Symbol of San Francisco

A year before the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was built in 1936. While the Golden Gate Bridge opened a route to Sausalito in the North, the Bay Bridge also led San Francisco to grow as a giant metropolitan area by connecting the city with industrially developed Oakland city in the East.

The total length of the Bay Bridge is 13.5km long and is divided into eastern and western by Yerba Buena Island in the middle. Constructed by C. H. Purcell in 1936, the Bay Bridge, is about five times longer than the Golden Gate Bridge. This bridge has a double-decked structure, of which the lower deck used to be for trains, and now both decks are used as one-way roads for automobiles. The bridge decks are 150m above water level, allowing ships to travel through flexibly. The Bay Bridge was built with Cantilever method, which used a mobile work vehicle rather than a connected pan of the deck. This method is known for its economic efficiency in valleys, rivers, oceans, and areas with high traffic. The Bay Bridge now has more than 250,000 vehicles passing through every day.

San Francisco has everything that a modern city requires. Today, San Francisco has grown into a city that is powerful enough to influence the world economy. It maybe, the hair-thin steel wires that enabled this city to achieve such developments in quality along with its miraculously beautiful scenery.

Lee, Young-joo = A specialist in international cities and architectural design at POSCO A&C Design Center. Participated in new city and architectural design projects in Vietnam, Myanmar, Canada, Australia, and other international cities. She is very interested in the uncovered history and stories behind cities and architecture.

What’s POSTIM?
POSTIM is an innovative model developed by POSCO and applied in August 2014 to achieve the corporate vision of `POSCO the Great’. At the event, participants looked back on the efforts and traces of POSCO Family to implement `POSCO the Great`, and shared the progress results and best practices from POSTIM, which spans PWS (PJT-based Working System), QSS+ (Quick Six Sigma plus), and SWP (Smart Work Place). In addition, through the `Contest for an Excellent Project Idea`, they shared creative ideas from the shop-floor that can contribute to improving profitability, with a special awards ceremony to recognize the most promising ideas.

PWS (PJT-based Working System)
Many global companies such as Google, GE, 3M and more, are practicing various projects as they consider projects to be the key to efficiency. Through ‘Innovation POSCO 1.0’, POSCO has drawn a number of lucrative projects in each corresponding sector of production, sales, research, finance, new business and management support. By creating exclusive teams and members for projects, POSCO provided an optimal circumstance where project participants could concentrate on their tasks.

QSS+ (Quick Six Sigma plus) 
Ever since its completion in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco carries a hundred thousand cars every day without facing any problem. Such durability is achieved by annual maintenance activities and recovery with adequate investments.

With 24-hour operating facilities older than two decades, POSCO also requires consistent management and investment in order to maintain its competitive edges. Accordingly, POSCO developed QSS+, innovative activities compatible for steel mills and has been strengthening its facilities in pursuance of a safe working environment. As POSCO deploys customized innovative activities by upgrading its core facilities, QSS+ plans are expanding with a plant manager’s lead. As QSS+ plans are settled, plants go through a major reconstruction or plan an independent activity that is appropriate to each department’s characteristic.

SWP (Smart Work Place)
From winning the 2014 UEFA Championship and 2014 World cup championship, Germany’s football teams are leading the paths of the world football. Behind such achievements, there were IT infrastructure and leadership that created positive atmosphere to the players.

Meanwhile, POSCO also embodies SWP (Smart Work Place) that promotes employees’ involvements through convenient IT infrastructure, advanced working method, and sharing gratitude. With the spread of mobile reporting system, working process has been expedited and video conference allowed meetings without limitations to time and space. Moreover, employees are using smart notes to immediately respond to client’s request and inconveniences on site. Improvements in reporting system extended task immersion and simplification in HR, training and innovation system also boosted employees’ focus on their accounts.

IP Festival 2014 Event Sketch
At the ‘IP Festival 2014’, executives and employees shared the outcomes and best practices from POSTIM. Groups and individuals who have displayed outstanding performance throughout the year were awarded at the event.

• Groups and individuals who had excellent project performance received awards

• Best cases of projects were introduced at the event

Let’s see what other interesting activities were shared at the IP Festival 2014!

• Employees are participating in a performance that they prepared during the break times

• Employees engaged in performances that induced participation in between each session

Here are POSCO’s top picks for you to visit.

1)      Eiffel Tower in Paris

 Image Source: flickr

How about a trip to the romantic city of lights to see the Eiffel Tower? At 324 meters, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest architectural structure in 1930 until the Chrysler building was completed. The full metal structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs about 8,000 tons and including non-metal materials, weighs 10,000 tons. While the Eiffel Tower today is emblematic of the ‘city of love’, this was not always the case. When it was first built, media was filled with criticism about the metal appearance that seemed to ruin the city. Famous author, Maupaussant famously said, “I eat lunch in the restaurant within the Eiffel Tower since it is the only place within the city where you don’t have to see the steel object.” Oh, how things have changed!

2)      Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Image source: flickr

If Paris has its Eiffel Tower, San Francisco in the U.S. has its Golden Gate Bridge, the longest bridge in the world until 1959.  The 2,879m long bridge was built in 1937 to connect San Francisco with Marine Country in the north and it takes 3 minutes by car and 1 hour if you walk! At the time, many doubted that a structure as long as 2,879m could be constructed while withstanding the wind, fog and fast waters. However, the impossible was possible and the Golden Gate Bridge is symbolic of San Francisco and the entire State today. The official architect for this bridge was Joseph Strauss and the base structure was created using iron, steel truss structure and steel cables. At the time of construction, the Navy requested that the bridge be built in such a way that ships could pass through below. Therefore a 66m high arch was created and to this day, there is no ship that cannot pass under.

Who would like to cross this bridge in this summer?

3)      Burj in Dubai

Image source: flickr

How about a trip to Dubai to see the world’s tallest man-made structure? A collection of all modern day innovations and tricks, the Burj in Dubai is truly a feast for the eyes. At 828m high with 162 floors, it is currently the world’s tallest skyscraper. In addition to its record height, the building itself was constructed beautifully. What is the secret behind this innovative, stunning architecture? The advanced architectural design was made possible due to the TMCP (thermo-mechanical control process) steel that has greater strength and durability, as well as, improved weldability. It is also efficient in that TMCP steels reduce construction time compared to concrete structures and also requires less manpower which helps reduce costs.

Who knew that all these world famous sights were made of steel? These places are definitely worth a trip during this summer or during your lifetime. Share your favorite architectural wonder with us!