Escalators aren’t just for those of us who are too lazy to take the stairs – they’re the smart way to move thousands of people every hour. The higher buildings go, the more sophisticated lifts have to become. And once you’re at the top, you want to be sure the building isn’t going to topple over if it gets a bit windy!

The World’s Fastest Lift
How do you climb 84 floors in a skyscraper in under 40 seconds? You take the world’s fastest lift. Taipei 101 is a 508 metre, 101 storey high tower in Taiwan. It has 67 elevator units in total, and two of these take passengers from the 5th floor entrance to the 89th floor observation deck.

These are ultra-fast, rocketing 24 people upwards at a top speed of 1,010 metres per minute – about 60km/h. Ascending the 382 metres takes only 37 seconds. To prevent big changes in air pressure in the cabin during its rapid ascent and descent, there is a special pressure control system which stops passengers’ ears from popping uncomfortably.

Escalators
The idea for a moving staircase was first proposed in 1892, and the first escalator was unveiled as an amusement ride at Coney Island in 1897. Nowadays, escalators are a permanent feature of airports, underground stations and department stores.

The world’s longest escalator system is in Hong Kong, where the Central-Mid-Levels escalator carries people up and down a series of escalators and walkways for 800 metres. The longest single escalator in the world is on the Washington Metre subway at Wheaton station. It’s 155 metres long and it takes more than three minutes to go all the way up or down.

Hurricane Proofing
Skyscrapers In a hurricane any tall structure is vulnerable to damage, especially if it’s as big as a skyscraper. Modern skyscrapers are made from a relatively light steel skeleton – and this means that in a powerful wind they can sway anything up to a metre. This can set up dangerous vibrations.

To prevent this, tall buildings are made as stiff as possible and can have a huge weight on one of the top floors which can be shifted in response to any movement of the building. This is called a tuned mass damper and acts as a kind of shock absorber. In the Citicorp Center in New York, for example, there is a 400 tonne concrete block that is moved by a hydraulic system.