LOL.

They're going to build the largest buildings on the west coast in San Francisco in the SoMa district.

One is going to only be 93 floors hight but it will be as tall as the Sears tower at 1300+ feet while 2 other smaller buildings will be around 1200+ feet.

That's a quarter of a mile high building in some of the softest soil in San Francisco. The project is called The Transbay Terminal project.

There is 2 Buildings going up in San Francisco that are strictly apartment complexes that will be 60 floors high and are the 3rd and 4th tallest buildings (Just shorter of TransAmerica and Bank of America buildings).

I guess they knocked down the old Shell clock that used to be next to the bridge (an old landmark which they modernized some years back)

When I was in my late teens and 20s, I used to go to the south of market or South Beach (now called south bridge) area to hang out with friends who would rent out old warehouse lofts and convert them into Apartments. its were all these lame trendy clubs started popping up in the late 70s and 80s and eventually, the city realized how valuable it became and kicked out all the artist people and tore down all the old warehouses and build Starbucks and Ikia stores. I think they used the ol' Urban renewal act or the "Brown Zone" act to help "beautify" the city. What they really did was kick out poor and college people and built these big giant glass towers in there places. The city claimed the old warehouses were full of asbestos and other cancer causing agents. But they basically handed it over to the rich people around the time of the "Dot com" boom.

Somehow I feel nature will reclaim it back :cool: :devil: :cry:

Here is a link. It's still being planned but they are definitely going to build the center. I think 2012 is completion date.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/artic.../BATMRD67A1.DTL

Plan A this building will be 1225 feet


Plan Bthis one will be 1225 feet


planc C will be 1375 feet



There will be something like 10 other buildings between 40-70 floors high or between 600-1000 feet.

They're building them to offset the north side of the bridge where the current downtown exists.

Never could quite understand why American's insist on building sky scrapers in earthquake zones.....:shrug:

Plus they're mostly made of glass. Look how much glass is being used on the 1300 foot tower. It's like a big ciant crystal vase. I don't know of the buildings will give out or not, but all that glass raining down on people could kill just as many people during rush hour.

The one thing about taller buildings during quakes is they tend to sway where as buildings shorter then 12 stories tend to collasps. So experts say it's safer to be in a larger building..

So you don't trust the engineers to make them earthquake-proof? In Tokyo my house was a shitty little number that groaned with every little tremor, but the newer office buildings actually shook more, but that's the whole point. To have them wave around in strong earthquakes so that the structure is not ruptured.

I think anything over 8.0 would definitely topple my house, though. Then again, it is an old love hotel from the 60's converted into apartments lol.

It's one thing to build a model that is a small scale version of the real thing vs the real thing. Small models in labs don't have all the flaws as large scales have. think about it. per weight capita, a smaller piece of steal is strong to its relative size then something that is huge becuse in any large metal object has millions of hairline fractures and natural imperfections.

What makes me laugh about our area is they spent a billion dollars to retrofit the Bay Bridge just so it could withstand a "7.2" quake. but the 1906 Quake was 7.8. Every 300 years or so there is a Mega Quake which is 8.0 or larger. That last one was in the mid 1600s. so were overdue for a quake that large. The quake of 1906 was probably not the megaquake but just a very large quake. those happen about every 50-100 years. In the 1800s there were swarms of quakes between 6 and 7.2 in size. like several dozen over a 30 year period.

I would love to see such towers stand over the city. but I wouldn't want to be there during the next quake. i wouldn't even want to be in a 3 story Apartment during the next big quake.

Sorry, double posted.

I understand what you are saying, trog, but that's what engineers are for. So we don't have to rely on scale models. There are also supercomputers, and of course the sheer skill of the engineers involved.

As for being in a highrise in the middle of a quake... no, not very pleasant. Especially if you look out the window and see the opposite building getting closer and further away.

Maybe we need to curb population growth instead of building more and more monstrous buildings to accomodate us. What do you think?

A building can be design earthquake proof but at what magnitude and for how much time.????

I agree. A building can be made Earthquake proof for like 7.1 on the richter scale for maybe 40 seconds.

I read that in 1966, Anchorage Alaska had a 9.2 quake and lasted nearly 4 minutes long. I don't know if San Francisco can produce such a quake. But I do know if it does happen and lasts for say 2 minutes, Things are coming down in large numbers. Damn that's a scary thought. I love people who say shit like "Well you can't stop the inevitable" I want to see them scream that out loud as they're running from a 60 story building. You know the thing about the Anchorage earthquake is that there is a film showing the streets of downtown Anchorage being tossed up into the air. They said the tarmac lifted about 12 feet off the ground over and over again. Buildings just sank about 20 or 30 feet into a pit. I don't care how far down you bury them pylons. Those buildings won't be standing if it's big enough.