The 'falling man'...

[splinter]

I've always wondered why these tall buildings don't have alternative means of escape such as, it may sound silly, parachutes or huge inflatables at ground level that you can fall on? There was a gadget shown on Tomorrows World some time back which consisted of a tube of some form of material which clung to the person inside allowing them to descend at a rate that was safe and didn't cause friction burns, wonder what happened to that?

Since this disaster,all tall buildings that are now being built in this country have straircases and lift shafts built in a concrete core independant of the structure of the building they are in

 

[markie]

splinter

They would be no good if a plane crash into it, or would they, ?

 

[splinter]

splinter

They would be no good if a plane crash into it, or would they, ?

firstly may I apoligise for going of to a tangent ,as this thread is really about the" falling man".The problem is with tall structures pre 9/11 is they are all disasters waiting to happen.Saddly the walls to the stairwells in the twin towers where mainly metal stud and plasterboard. This is saddly the reason people above the fire could not escape.Now staircases and lift shafts are encased in a concrete core which is a independant structure inside the building.Which I suppose is not 100% ,but at least it gives people more of a chance to escape than the poor souls in the twin towers

 

[Brightness]

I couldn't watch this programme. One of my sons' teachers lost his parents 9/11 and we knew them both well.

May the innocents who died that day or due to their injuries that day RIP & may those terrorists burn in hell.

 

[empip]

I guess everyone has read just about everything written about 9/11, I had never searched for anything previously .... But this is quite sobering.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,174655-1,00.html

...The survivors of the first plot to bring down the Twin Towers, the botched attempt in 1993 that left six dead, had a great advantage over their colleagues. When the first explosion came, they knew to get out.... Consultant Andy Perry still has the reflexes. He grabbed his pal Nathan Shields from his office, and they began to run down 46 flights.

They survived..

--

 

[Thermo]

Since this disaster,all tall buildings that are now being built in this country have straircases and lift shafts built in a concrete core independant of the structure of the building they are in

In the main they always have been built that way in this country up to a certain height, thats how a core structure building retains its strength. Not an option over a certain height though due to the mass weight of the concrete

 

[splinter]

That is not the way most tall building have been built in this country ,most of them are built out of concrete beams encasing renforced steel ,because this is a expensive way of construction.The Americans favour a steel girder style of construction constructed from a central steel core saddly as we have seen if these structures recieve damage even to one floor then the whole structure becomes severly compromised .It would not have such a devestating effect on a concrete and reforced steel building.
LIke I wrote orginally what is and never been done before 9/11 is that the stairs and lift shafts are in their own cores and in effect indepedent of the main structure

 

[Thermo]

beg to differ, a lot of tall buildings in this country have been built as a central core structure, as you say it gives the building an independent strong central core, it is quite common and provides a central support for steel framing/concrete columns. It can only be used up to a certain height though due to the immnese loading footprint it gives on the foundations, and thats why steel tends to take over the higher you go (that and cost as well!)

 

[dabaldie]

buildings now must be designed to prevent progressive collapse. I do a lot of work for the mod and is now a constraint that they can all withstand this form of collapse.
Even a 3 floor building must be designed so that if you lose any structural support there must be some form of restraint to prevent the whole thing collapsing.
It is still not yet a requirement for building regs. even though the new part A touches on it.

anyway this thread has been (umm horrible coincidence on the term)... hijacked... can we get back to the falling man now.

i watched it with morbid fascination.

act of sheer desperation or a last resort. rather be in control than die a painful death.

 

[splinter]

I see it as people that had come to terms with the situation.I feel what they decided to was completely dignified and to be honest with the options they had why shouldn't they have taken control of their own destinies

 

[empip]

I think a fair few 'fallers' had no choice, they were sucked / blown out of the building ....

 

[mlb3c]

I guess everyone has read just about everything written about 9/11, I had never searched for anything previously .... But this is quite sobering.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,174655-1,00.html

...The survivors of the first plot to bring down the Twin Towers, the botched attempt in 1993 that left six dead, had a great advantage over their colleagues. When the first explosion came, they knew to get out.... Consultant Andy Perry still has the reflexes. He grabbed his pal Nathan Shields from his office, and they began to run down 46 flights.

They survived..

--

thanks for the link.....I hadnt seen this one