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Taipei 101

1) Taipei 101 was completed in 2004 and is 509.2 m (1670.68 ft) tall. It cost over £800,000,000. Not only is this the tallest but it also has the fastest lift in the world. Just look at this clip....

Fantastic fact: The world's two fastest elevators live here, installed by Toshiba. With top speeds of 1,010 m/min, you can fly up from Level B1 to 89 in 37 seconds.

Less fantastic fact: Something frankly less interesting is that there is a 900-ton tuned mass damper installed on the 87th floor to counter earthquakes and typhoons. I am advised on Taipei 101's official site that 'It will be available for public viewing from the restaurant levels and observation deck'. I can't wait.

As for fatalities, there were five in 2002 when construction workers were killed when a 6.8 earthquake caused two cranes to fall from the 56th floor. Obviously they had not installed the 900-ton damper by then.

Comments (1)

i think that the earthquake saving device is pretty fantastic - maybe you could revise your facts?

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