The engineering challenges of designing and building The Shard in London, which at 310m is the tallest building in Western Europe, are reported in a forthcoming issue(166 CE2) of the ICE Civil Engineering journal.
The viewing gallery at the top of the 95-storey steel and concrete structure opened in February 2013 following a rapid construction period of just over three years.
‘Unique engineering’
Shaped like a shard of glass, the building is a true ‘vertical city’, containing shops, offices, restaurants, hotel rooms and apartments.
John Parker, Technical Director of The Shard’s structural and geotechnical engineer WSP Group, says the building ‘is not only different in appearance from other buildings in the capital: in its usage and its engineering design, it is unique.’
Various innovative design and construction techniques were used to save time and improve safety. These included building the three-storey basement and core top-down; installing plunge columns to high levels of accuracy; incorporating safety handrails and concrete shutters in edge beams; and using modular construction for the spire.
Also in this issue
Look out for other papers on refurbishing the 130-year-old sewer network in the highly congested historic centre of Kolkata, India; a comparison of carbon-dioxide emissions of modular and traditional construction at the British Army’s biggest ever garrison project; and an update of civil engineering’s image in schools and what needs to be done.
Free to all members
Civil Engineering is free online to all ICE members. You can read the latest and past issues on the ICE Virtual Library and logging in with your e-mail address (registered with MyICE) and security PIN (different to your ICE membership number).
Issue 166 CE2 will be available on the Virtual Library from 19 April.
For further information please contact the ICE Proceedings editor Simon Fullalove on +44 20 8744 2028 or email editor@ice.org.uk.