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donttrack | 7 years ago

If it works, it works. I remember standing at the base of the new Tencent double tower, when it was being constructed. They were almost done with the concrete skeleton and the beams looked all crooked standing there looking up at the structure - each column on each floor was slightly misplaced compared to the previous one. I am no construction engineer, but I believe they should have been placed in a straight line, but maybe I am wrong..

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seanmcdirmid|7 years ago

Chinese construction leverages concrete by a fairly unskilled work force. To make up for the safety problems with that, they overbuild a lot, so precision isn't very necessary, but the building will deteriorate a lot faster without much more maintenance. So a newish building in China that is only a few years old will often feel much older than that, but at least it won't fall down.

Similar construction is utilized by India, and exported to other countries that utilize Indian construction labor (Singapore, Dubai, ...). Really it is just a trade off that soaks up cheap labor, which is very much in these country's best interest ATM.

616c|7 years ago

You explained what people used to tell me how GCC buildings didn't last as long thanks.

mickronome|7 years ago

Maybe not the case if they looked crooked, but having irregular placement of construction elements is a valid way to decrease tendency for self resonance through different vibration modes being dampened by the mismatched distances.

An irregular structure can be useful for improving earthquake resistance, or sway/vibrations in high wind situations.

geezerjay|7 years ago

All structural elements have geometrical flaws, and in concrete structures tolerances are measured in centimetets/inches. Alignment issues may result in problems if they are not addressed in design time (i.e. buckling) but that sort of scenario is very basic. Even european construction standards directly address geometrical flaws. They may look ugly but they're not exactly a problem.

Breaking a build, however, is a major problem.

user5994461|7 years ago

I assume they would be more than a few inches off to be noticeable by the OP.