The 730-ton steel bridge in Taipei 101 is hung on the top floors of the building and can be admired by the public.
The steel spher of the tallest building in Taiwan is considered a volume-form energy Damper, also known as TMD (Tuned Mass Damper).
Taipei 101 is a famous tourist attraction in Taipei, Taiwan (China).
According to Taipei 101's website, the steel ball moves back and forth during earthquakes or storms, absorbing the force of any strong fluctuations.
Engineers of the device said the 730-ton steel ball could limit the movement of the building to 40%, reducing nausea for people inside the building when a shaking occurs.
A video of Taipei at the time of the earthquake in Taiwan (China) on January 3 shows the skyscraper barely shaking. Meanwhile, security cameras mounted on another building showed the building shaking violently.
Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world when it was completed in 2024. The title of the tallest building in the world continued to be held by Taipei 101 until 2009. As the name suggests, the building has 101 floors, about 508m high, including a top.
In addition to the 730-ton steel ball, Taipei 101 has a number of other design features that help the building increase its resilience to natural disasters, including 380 support pillars deep underground. The anti-psitive pillars are about 30m deep into the rock foundation. This is same of tying the entire building to a solid construction site.
Power is supplied to the tallest building in Taiwan (China) through 2 transformer stations, reducing the risk of power outages.
Taiwan (China) is home to 23 million people, very susceptible to earthquakes because it is located in the world's most active earthquake area known as the Pacific Ring Road.
According to the latest data, the earthquake in Taiwan (China) killed at least 12 people and injured more than 900 others. This was the strongest earthquake to hit the island in 25 years. In 1999, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake occurred in central Taiwan (China), killing 2,400 people.
According to the Washington Post, Taipei 101 is not the only skyscraper in Taiwan (China) and in the world that uses volume-form energy discharge devices, but Taipei 101 is where this technique is made public.
A video on the website of the Taipei 101 building shows the 730-ton ball only moving gently during the 2015 typhoon. The storm was previously named one of the strongest storms in the world that year by scientists.
