Skyscrapers and the rise of Concrete

Modern cities have come to be defined in part by their skyline. From the Space Needle in Seattle to the new Salesforce Tower in San Francisco to the iconic Empire State Building in New York City, skyscrapers and the innovation of concrete construction techniques have become part of our cities' identities.

The history of tall buildings

The Romans used concrete to create their large structures, though the technology was lost to history and not resumed until the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. While Portland cement was developed in the mid-1800’s, it was not popularly applied to buildings until the last decade of the 19th century. At first, concrete was used in exterior load bearing walls, replicating the steel and wood framing systems popular at the time. However, this format did not use concrete to its full potential. The development of exterior belt courses that hold up the walls of a structure allowed for glass curtain exteriors, along with the development of floor slabs that carried loads instead of beams and girders.

Concrete's role in the rising cities

Reinforced concrete has the ability to dampen vibration and provide mass to buildings, making it a terrific complement to the steel frame of tall buildings. According to Mir M. Ali, professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the first reinforced concrete skyscraper was the Ingalls Building, built in 1903 and comprised of 16 stories. Many believed that the structure would not be able to support itself, and a reporter even stayed up all night waiting for the building to collapse after the supports were removed. The different heights of a building require different types of concrete applications. For example, many skyscrapers 30-50 stories tall include a concrete shear wall at their core.  This core includes many of the building’s internal services such as the elevator and stairs and provides a fire resistant egress pathway for the building. Concrete can also be included as an external bracing system.

Examples of skyscrapers

While many skyscrapers choose to rely more on steel than concrete, there are several examples of reinforced concrete skyscrapers. For example, 311 South Wacker Drive in Chicago is a 969 foot tall reinforced concrete building. It is an example of shear wall-frame interaction systems, engineered in such a way that the stiffness of the internal and external elements are consistent throughout the entire building. The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia also use concrete in conjunction with steel as the primary structural materials. The Petronas Towers use columns, core, and ring beams of high strength concrete combined with steel floor beams and decking.

The Conco Companies’ goal is to be the top supplier of concrete services in the Western U.S. and to bring our expertise and professionalism to each project.  We continue to upgrade and expand our facilities to better serve the growing market for commercial, industrial, educational, parking structure projects and other development. For the best value and quality, trust your project to one of the area’s leading lightweight concrete contractors.