WJEC Vocational Award Engineering Level 1/2

Chapter 14 Effects of Engineering Achievements Following is an example of how cable-stayed bridges work. The central pylon supports the weight of the beam with a series of attached cables. The pylon is generally made from reinforced concrete, as this material performs very well under compressive forces. The cables are made from some form of steel, as steel performs very well under tension. Cable-stayed bridges often have more than one pylon to support longer spans. Beam Pylon (made from reinforced concrete as it is under compression) Span Span Abutment Cables (made from steel as they are under tension) Skyscrapers Skyscrapers are very tall buildings with many floors and are called ‘skyscrapers’ as they are so tall they seem to ‘scrape the sky’. They are generally built (fabricated) with a steel frame that supports all the floors and walls. The steel framework supports/bears the load of the rest of the building and all the people, furniture and equipment inside. Skyscrapers are designed and built to withstand extremely high winds, lightning and even earthquakes. The London skyline, showing some of the UK’s tallest skyscrapers. When there is no more room to build outwards in a densely populated area (city) then you have to build upwards. As technology, engineering and building techniques improve, the number of floors in each skyscraper increase (at the time of writing, 160 floors was the record held by the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, although this is set to be overtaken in 2020 by Jedddah Tower in Saudi Arabia), allowing for more space in which humans can work and live, but with only a very small footprint. 135