Ingenieur Vol.79 July-Sept 2019 ingenieur 2019 july-sept | Page 66

INGENIEUR Do You Know? Engineering and Construction Practice By Pang Soo Mooi Offence for disability unfriendly commercial buildings in the US Commercial property lawsuits tied to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III increased by over 37 % in 2016. All in all there were 6,601 lawsuits filed in the Federal Court relating to properties which were disability unfriendly. Disabled tenants and people who have access to commercial buildings have substantial rights. According to the law, disabled people should have the same rights as everyone else, and the accessibility of certain commercial properties are a big part of this. These laws have been passed to prevent discrimination towards the disabled, and like other discriminatory laws help to allow disabled people to have the same opportunities as others in the population. Fastest Built Buildings in the World Source: Heavy Duty Insight (a) 30-storey Skyscraper in 15 Days Late in 2011, a 328-foot-tall 30-storey tower called the T30 appeared in China’s Hunan Province, seemingly from out of nowhere. The skyscraper was built in only 15 days, at a fraction of the typical cost.According to a basic 6 64 VOL VOL 79 55 JULY-SEPTEMBER JUNE 2013 2019 calculation (number of stories divided by the number of days it took to build), the T30 is the third fastest built building in the world. (b) 57-storey Superstructure in 19 Days The same Chinese company that built the 30-storey tower in 15 days did one better: The Broad Sustainable Building Co. constructed the 57-storey ‘Mini Sky City’ in only 19 days. Mini Sky City boasts 19 atriums, 800 apartments and office space for 4,000 people. Broad claims they are the fastest building company in the world. The Mini Sky City is the second fastest built building in the world. (c) 10-storey High-Rise in 48 Hours In Mohali India, a team of over 200 people built a 10-storey building in just under 48 hours, thereby qualifying the feat as the fastest completed building in the country. Building River Diversion at Dujiangyen, China in 256 B.C. During the Qin Dynasty, a hydrologist Li Bing spent eight years to build a river diversion for flood mitigation and irrigation purpose by cutting through a rock hill. Gunpowder was not invented then. He used massive fire wood to heat up the rock and