The Petronas Twin Towers and the sky bridge connecting them define a record-breaking
gateway to the commercial heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 452 m towers are 7 m
taller than Chicago's Sears Tower.
The 58.4 meters double-decked skybridge is located at levels 41 and 42 joining the sky
lobbies situated in both towers. The bridge took 32 hours straight to lift to
current height.
Facts:
*Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
*Date of completion: 1998
*Building Type: skyscraper, commercial office tower
*Height: 452 meters above street level - 88 stories
*Length of skybridge: 58.4 meters
*Height of skybridge: 170 metres above street level
*Lifts: 29 double-deck high speed passenger lifts in each tower
*Glass: 77,000 square metres (The towers have 32,000 windows.)
*Cost: $1.2 billion (US)
Although it no longer holds the title of world's
tallest building, it is still a monument
to building technology. The Sears consists of 9 bundled
tubes, but only two reach the entire height. The tower is 1454ft high.
There was some resistance from the supporters of Chicago's Sears Tower, when it was
suggested that Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers might replace it as the world's tallest
building.
Sears Tower supporters suggested that the builders of Petronas Towers had cheated by adding
47.2-metre steel spires to the top of the 88-floor tower to attain the record-breaking
height of 452 metres. In the case of Sears Tower, the 16.8-metre mounts of its television
antennas were not considered in the computation of its height.
"The mounts don't count," said engineer Lynn Beedle, chairman of the Members of the Council
on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the arbiters of such height-related disputes.
Eventually, in a unanimous vote, it was ruled on April 12, 1996, that Petronas Towers is
indeed the world's tallest building.
The world's tallest free-standing tower is the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada, which rises to
553.34 m. (1,815 ft. 5 in.).
The CN Tower was completed in 1975, and took the title of world's tallest building from
the Moscow TV Ostankino Tower. The 185-story, reinforced concrete building was designed
by Australian architect John Andrews.
Its record-breaking status was a by-product of its main function, to send and receive
microwave signals without blockage from Toronto's existing skyscrapers. Two million people
visit the CN Tower annually.