Webcam on the Petronas Towers in Malaysia
The Petronas Towers, at 451.9 meters and consisting of 88 floors, is an outstanding skyscraper complex located in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. From their completion in 1998 until 2003, these buildings were considered the tallest in Asia.
These two majestic towers are also known as the tallest twin towers on the planet from 1998 to the present. The creation of the architectural plan for the skyscrapers was marked by the active participation of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who proposed to build in the “Islamic” style.
This project includes two eight-pointed stars, which makes the complex unique, and the architect added semi-circular ledges to help the buildings stability.
Investments in the construction of “Petronas Towers” amounted to about 2 billion ringgit (800 million dollars) from the state oil corporation “Petronas”. The rest of the Malaysian companies took on part of the costs by dividing office space between two skyscrapers. An interesting fact is that the towers are connected by a covered bridge, which ensures fire safety of buildings.
Construction
Between 1992 and 1998 was spent on the construction of this complex, which was designed by the Argentine architect Cesar Pelli and his architectural bureau Cesar Pelli & Associates. Two different consortiums were used to create the buildings to encourage competition and improve efficiency.
In the process of geological research, it became clear that the proposed site for construction is located on different types of soil – the edge of the rocky rock and soft limestone. In order to prevent one of the towers from sinking due to this, the buildings were completely moved to soft ground for a distance of 60 meters and piles were installed to a depth of more than 100 meters. This foundation is currently the largest concrete foundation in the world.
In addition to their huge size, these towers are also famous for their complex architectural structure. All premises of the complex with a total area of 213,750 m², which corresponds to the size of 48 football fields. The Petronas Towers cover 40 hectares in the city. Inside them are offices, exhibition and conference rooms, an art gallery.
For the construction, only materials produced in Malaysia were used, which presented difficulties in providing the required amount of steel. Especially for these towers, a particularly strong and at the same time flexible concrete was developed, which could be produced on site. It was this concrete that was used to create the “Petronas Towers“. This skyscraper turned out to be twice as heavy as similar steel structures. Today, 10,000 people work in these towers.