by Ricia S. Hendrick and Peng Jie
The skyline of Shanghai continues to climb. The finance and trade area has grown in the four years since our last visit in 1997. Out from the city center, low-rise expansion continues, but this is not as obvious as the downtown growth.
The skyline showcases both the past and the future. The buildings that dominate the Bund, basically a one-mile strip of riverfront that was once the commercial center of Shanghai, reflect the influence of 19th- and early 20th-century Europe, when that part of the city was a Western enclave. Across the broad Huangpu River, the Pudong district sparkles with the glass and steel of modern high rises built during the last two decades, when China emerged as a world power of trade and finance.
Utilizing a short amount of time, the ELEVATOR WORLD (EW) team managed four site visits during the China World Expo last July. Two were buildings in progress (reported on in last month's issue) and two were completed buildings in operation for 2-6 years. In this issue, we report on the Pearl Tower and Jin Mao Tower, both monumental buildings in the heart of Pudong.
Located at the center of Shanghai's Lujiazui Financial and Trade Zone in Pudong, Jin Mao Tower is the tallest building in China and fourth tallest in the world. This building was not complete when EW was last in the area, so even though we had written much about it, a visit and discussion with the elevator installer, Shanghai Mitsubishi, was arranged.
Jin Mao Tower is 420.5 meters high with an 88-floor tower, a six-floor podium and three-floor underground. The podium from which the tower rises resembles an open book and includes an auditorium, retail mall, ballroom, entertainment center, food court and even a museum about the tower's construction. The architecture has won many international awards.
A ride to the tower's observation deck costs RMB 50 (US $6). It is the largest and highest of its kind in China at 340.1 meters above the ground with a floor space of 1,520 square meters. The ride up takes only 45 seconds in one of the two Mitsubishi VVVF express elevators traveling at a speed of 9.1m/s. From the observation floor, you can look over all of Shanghai or peer down 28 floors into the center of the building at the Shanghai Grand Hyatt. Below the Hyatt is the office zone. Total combined floor space in the building is 290,000 square feet (see Figure 1).
Lifting equipment in the building totals 79 units, which includes 60 elevators, 18 escalators and one stair lift for the handicapped. From basement to penthouse, we rode on as many of the appliances as possible including a hybrid wave-type escalator. The express lifts capture the imagination with their 9.1m/s speed and capacity (2500kg, 33 passengers) by comparison to the other elevators at 6.0m/s and 1600kg capacity. Mitsubishi officials noted that just installing elevator guide rails at Jin Mao Tower had taken a year. The total workforce on the job was four million work days.
We are grateful to Mr. Lin Feng, marketing and sales, and to Mr. Lu Zhihua, from Mitsubishi's research and design center, who guided us on the tour.
Otis arranged for EW's tour of the "Pearl of the Orient," the prominent TV tower of Shanghai, which is regarded as a signature building in the world, as well as Shanghai, by Otis people. Our group was escorted by Jimmy Jim, senior manager of sales and marketing, and Sun Kai Fa, senior manager EAST service department, and they arranged for us to talk with the owner of the Pearl Tower.
The tower opened in November 1994 and has received more than 12 million visitors (an average of 31,000 a day). Pearl is also a working broadcasting tower with eight FM radio stations, six TV stations and 300-400 employees working there daily, in addition to visiting tourists.
The tower rises 468 meters and took just over three years to build. Most interesting of the elevators is the glass observation elevator with three guide rails standing 120° from each other. The elevator rises 98 meters from the very center of the first floor to the first ball of the tower (speed is 2.5m/s with a 4000kg duty). This elevator was not in the original plans for the tower, but the architect requested it and Otis did a feasibility study to comply. The elevator is free-standing, without hoistway and supported only by the rails, it rises into the apex of the legs of the tower.
Also of great interest is Otis' double-decker elevator, the first in China, which rises 277 meters with a duty of 3500kg at 4m/s. Two passenger elevators rise 286 meters at 7m/s and another at 4m/s. These four elevators combine to make the journey from the first ball to the second. The final trip to the third ball, a rise of 75.6 meters, is served by only one elevator at 3m/s and 700kg duty.
Otis has full-time maintenance at the tower for the 14 elevators and six escalators serving it. One maintenance person is always there and a second may be there during busy times. In an interview with the owner, he mentioned that he was pleased with the elevator service in the facility, noting Otis has had no callbacks and no disruptions in service.