Design & Construction of Foundations of Taipei 101

7303ENG - Advanced Foundation Engineering, Research-based Assignment
Design & Construction of Foundations of Taipei 101
By Name
ABSTRACT: Standing at 509 meters above the grade, Taipei 101 Tower was the world’s tallest building from 2004 to 2010 after the
emergence of Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai. The constriction took the efforts of several engineers and architects in order to attain the demands
of construction, economics of real estate, esthetics, comfort of occupants during moderate to mild winds as well as structural safety in
earthquakes and typhoons. It has an eight eight-story modules architectural design that stands atop a tapering base and equally induces
indigenous jointed tiered pagodas and bamboo. Refinements of the building shape from studies of wind tunnel greatly lowered the
overturning forces and accelerations from vortex shedding. It has a operational framing system of braced core and several outriggers that are
able to sustain the numerous setbacks that most buildings face. The building takes care of occupant comfort given that it has a huge rooftop
pendulum damper that is tuned by mass. The pinnacle framing fatigue is also improved by two compact TMDs that are spring-driven. During
the construction, and given that the region has a soft soil sub grade, the foundations required slurry walls and bored piles. This report outlines
the major design decisions for both engineering and architecture that ensured the successful completion of this building.
Keywords: earth pressure, vacuum consolidation, deformation, odometer, combined loading.
1. INTRODUCTION
The Taipei 101 is the world’s second tallest skyscraper situated in
Taiwan’s Xinyi district. It was officially the world’s tallest building
since it official opening in 2004 until in 2010 when the Burj Khalifa
building in Dubai was completed. It is such a famous building that
set several records after its official opening. Its elevators are capable
of achieving a 60.6 km/h speed that is used to move its users from
the 5th to the 89th floor within a mere thirty seven seconds. That is a
new record. Taipei 101 was also presented a platinum rating under
the LEED system of certification to be the largest and tallest green
building in the globe. The building is common figure that appears
regularly on international media. The fireworks displays on every
New Year’s Eve are a common feature for most broadcasts within
the country. The postmodernist architectural style of Taipei 101
induces Asian traditions into a modern building that makes use of up
to date industrial materials. The design involves several features that
enable the building to withstand the common earthquakes of Pacific
Rim as well as the tropical storms within the region (Aminmansour
& Moon, 2010).
Each and every construction project in the world is often
faced with a number of challenges. The tallest building in the world
at one time was not just faced with the challenge of size alone, but a
number of challenges that range from environmental conditions to
geotechnical challenges. Some of these challenges include the
design height of 508 meters, the localized effects from loads that
result from recurrent and dangerous typhoons, possibly extreme
earthquakes as well as difficult conditions of the subsurface. It is
also important for the visitors to be psychologically and physically
comfortable during extreme events and high winds. In order to meet
these challenges and appropriately put up measures to handle was
the most important activity that the concerned engineers and
architectures had to meet (Cheng, He & Yen, 2016).
Figure 1: Taipei 101 (Poon et al,
2014).
2. RESEARCH PROBLEM
This report is aimed at performing an assessment of the world’s
second tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101. The structure is at an
impressive height of 508 meters and is built on 2 tectonic faults that
have got clay soils and silt sand. The structure is built on a deep type
foundation. The structure is built on soils that are weak and prone to
collapse. It was therefore important to carry out several studies and
investigation on the site before the construction could begin in order
to determine the best soli conditions of the site as well the best build
foundation that could guarantee firm holding of the structure.
Besides that, the architects and the engineers who were involved in
the construction of this structure were equally aware of the various
environmental conditions as well as the possibility of occurrence of
natural conditions like earthquakes; hence they had to come up with
the best design to avert those challenges. This report is therefore
aimed at highlighting the idea behind the chosen foundations and
overall design of the building (Dzeng & Wen, 2015).
3. LITERATURE REVIEW
The preparation for Taipei 101 started way back in 1997 when Chen
Shui-bian was the mayor for Taipei. Initial negotiations between the
city government officials and the merchants and they were based on
a suggestion for a 66-storey tower that will act as a foundation for
the construction in the business district of Taipei 101. The
organizers had the initial consideration of bringing the new building
to a more aspiring height. The license for the construction of a 101-
storey building was issued in the summer of 2001. In March 2002, a
major earthquake happened in Taiwan that destroyed a construction
plane located at the roof top. The crane fell down below the tower
leading to 5 deaths and several vehicles being crushed. An
inspection into the incidence revealed that there were no structural
damage to the building and the construction works resumed almost
immediately (Hwang, Moh & Kao, 2016).
Taipei 101 was the first ever built operating transfer
(BOT) project in Taipei, Taiwan. Way back in 1997, the Taipei
Finance Center (TFC) Corp received a 70 year concession of the site
from Taipei Municipal Government. Being the owner of the project,
the TFC Corp made use of the strategy hiring consultants in order to
offer the management of the project, contract document, designs as
well as management of construction and contractors in order to
successfully implement the construction of the detailed design. The
partnership between the project management, Tuner Steiner
International, and the architect, C.Y Lee and Partners, the structural
engineer Thornton Tomasetti and the Geotechnical Consultants was
reached as was commissioned by the TFC. The civil works
contractor was KTRT, which is a joint venture between Taiwan
Kumagai, RSEA, Kumagai and the Ta-Yo-Wei engineering Corps,
Moh and Associates, Inc. (MAA). The commissioning was done by
the project owner. They performed the duty of supplemental
investigations in geo-technology, optimization of design for systems
of foundation as well as deep excavation (Kourakis, 2017).
Taipei 101 was originally referred to as the ‘Taipei World
Financial Centre’. It is a revolutionary skyscraper situated in
Taiwan’s Xinyi District, Taipei. It was designed by C.Y. Lee &
partners. The structural engineer in charge of Taipei 101
construction was Shaw Shieh. It was accorded the ‘LEED Platinum
certification for being the largest and tallest green building in the
world.’ That is the highest level of award according to the rating
system of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED). The tower is owned by the Taipei Financial Centre Corp.

7303ENG - Advanced Foundation Engineering, Research-based Assignment
(TFCC). It is managed by a Chicago based properties consultant, the
‘International Division of Urban Retail Properties Corporation’. The
building is made of 101 floors located above the ground and another
5 floors underground. The building is spectacular given that it has an
architectural symbol of technological evolution as well as Asian
tradition (Li et al, 2010).
4. CURRENT/NEW TECHNOLOGIES
The Taipei 101 building presents a structure that achieves both
flexibility and strength that is as a result of adopting high-
performance steel construction. Besides being built in a region that
experiences frequent earthquakes as well as other natural
occurrences, the building had to be constructed on a solid
foundation. Taipei 101 is therefore a perfect proof that adopting the
use of advanced technologies as well as having a strong foundation
can make huge structures be resistant to the frequent earthquakes
and typhoons.
Structures that their foundation sitting on filled-in or soft soil are
often faced with the challenge of failure in the occurrence of natural
disasters such as earthquakes. The construction of such structures,
especially large and tall buildings, needs to adopt advanced
techniques of engineering. Recent construction techniques are
important given that they can enhance how the structure foundation
system can react to seismic waves. For instance, earthquakes usually
knock structures from their foundations (Lin & Woo, 2015). The
current technology of tying the foundation of the structure such that
the whole building is moving together as one unit in the occurrence
of a natural disaster has received a greater success and
recommendation within the industry.
The concept of base isolation that involves floating a structure above
its foundation on a system of springs, bearings and padded cylinders
is also a current technology that is being adopted within the
industry. Engineers and architects employ the use of several bearing
pad designs as well as lead rubber bearings that have a solid core of
lead that is wrapped in interchanging layers of steel and rubber. The
lead core makes the bearing strong and stiff in the vertical direction,
whereas the steel and rubber bands make the bearing flexible in the
horizontal direction. The bearings are attached to the foundation and
building by the use of steel plates such that whenever the structure is
hit by earthquakes, the foundation is allowed to move without
necessarily interfering with the building above it. This implies that
the acceleration of the building horizontal is lowered and is faced
with little damage and deformation.
Despite having in place the base isolation system in the
structure, it still faces a varied level of vibrational energy whenever
an earthquake occurs. The structure, to some extent, can damp or
even dissipate this energy. The ability of the structure to perform
that is however directly dependent on the material ductility that is
used during construction. Ductility can be described as the material
ability to undergo massive plastic deformations. Concrete and brick
buildings often have reduced ductility and hence they tend to absorb
less energy. As a result of that, they are often vulnerable even in the
occurrence of a minor earthquake. On the other hand, structures
built of concrete that is reinforced with steel tend to perform much
better due to the embedded steel that raises the material ductility.
Structures that are built of structural steel have got the highest
ductility hence the structures have the ability to considerably bend
with no breaking. Structural steel is materials that have steel
components that exist in varying shapes like plates, beams and
angles (Poon et al, 2014).
Most commonly, engineers do not have to solely depend
on the inherent ability of a building to dissipate energy. In structures
that are more earthquake resistant, the architects are designing a
damping system to be installed in such structures. For instance,
active mass damping depends on a massive mass that is mounted on
the building top. It is connected to viscous dampers that perform the
duty of shock absorbers. Whenever the building begins to oscillate,
the mass equally moves in the opposite direction. Such a movement
will lower the mechanical vibrations amplitude. There also exists a
possibility of using tiny devices of damping in the brace system of a
building.
It is worth noting that all the above current techniques of
constructing buildings in regions constantly prone to natural
disasters like earthquakes are just prototypes until they actually
experience the natural disasters. After experiencing any natural
disaster, it will then provide the scientific community with an
opportunity to perform an evaluation of the performance of the
technique and equally apply the results to come up with more
innovations.
5. METHODOLOGY
Before beginning the initial construction of the building, it was
important to perform several activities in order to ensure the final
outcome will be of the required standards. Taipei 101 was
constructed in an area that is widely known to be of weak soil
conditions. It was therefore proper to conduct a detailed analysis of
the soil conditions and make determinations that will ensure the
structure is firmly built. An initial investigation of the construction
site was also important (Lourenco, 2011).
5.1 Conditions of Soil
Taipei is a coastal region that generally has fragile conditions of the
soil. This implies that structures in this region tend to sink. Taipei
has irregular silt sand and silt clay deposits. Besides that, the
alluvium layer exists at an average depth of 45.5 meters whereas the
groundwater table varies at an elevation of two meters below the
ground surface. The region is situated on top of two tectonic fault
lines and is often faced with typhoons each summer, with the winds
attaining 201 kilometers per hour. The region also faces massive
potential of earthquakes that develop shear forces that has the
possibility of tearing structures apart. In order to handle these
natural phenomena, it was therefore important to have detailed
architectural designs that can withstand the effects related to them.
5.2 Investigation of site
The design of Taipei 101 foundations was instigated following
several full-scale installations of pile trial and pile load
comprehensive tests that were well instrumented. Besides that, there
was also an assessment of each sub-surface stratum. The results
obtained were used to predict the behavior of pile load settlement
for the given stratification of soil for each pile. The length of the pile
was also estimated with regard on the desired loads when the
building will be serving its purpose after completion of construction.
As a result of the condition of the site, it was important to
perform various pile load tests as well as drilling close to 130
boreholes for the sake of sampling. Most importantly, before the
construction of the foundation, several high standard field and
laboratory tests were also performed in order to find out the
mechanical and physical properties of the soil strata. Besides that,
there was also the use of sophisticated systems of instrumentation in
order to observe the responses of the ground as well as the structural
performance during the whole process of excavation.
6. RESULTS OR FINDINGS
The design and construction of Taipei 101 was influenced by a
number of challenges that most large and tall buildings often face.
Considering the fact that the region is commonly faced with several
natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, coming up with
the best design features that could with stand the challenges was the
most important factor that the architects and engineers took to
consideration. Taipei 101 was designed to be the tallest building in
the whole world and that alone brought a major challenge during its
design. Based on the probable challenges that the building could
face, the following design features were agreed upon by the
architects and engineers involved.
6.1 Foundation design
In order to prevent the possible collapse and damage of the building,
a proper foundation was the most vital feature for the building. The
foundation was reinforced by up to 380 piles that were driven into
the ground. The piles did extend into the bedrock by up to 30
meters. Each of the 380 pies had a diameter of 1.5 meters and has

7303ENG - Advanced Foundation Engineering, Research-based Assignment
the ability to bear a load ranging between 1000 metric tons to 1320
metric tons. While designing the foundations, the piles were topped
by a foundation slap that had a thickness of 3 meters at the edges
and another thickness of 5 meters under the largest of columns.
Figure 2: The foundation layout (Tamboli et al, 2012).
As a precautionary measure, the effects of the pile group such as
increase in settlement and reduction in capacity were properly
evaluated during the whole course of the foundation design. Still as
a precautionary measure, the probable creep behaviors of piles
entrenched into the bedrock was equally analyzed by using the
outcome from the pile load tests. On the other hand, the piles,
basement, retaining diaphragm as well as the mat were modeled into
one integral system for the sake of the foundation structural design.
Figure 3: Up to 80 meters into the bedrock (Tamboli et al,
2012).
For the piles that support the main tower, measures of post grouting
and bottom cleaning were applied in order to increase the sediments
of the pile bottom. This activity was vital in raising the end bearing
capacity. Due to that, the STATNAMIC dynamic and conventional
static loading tests were performed in order to validate the bearing
abilities as well as the production piles behaviors. In conclusion, the
outcomes from the proof load tests helped attain the requirements
design in comparison with the simulation by the use of the results
from the pile ultimate load tests.
6.2 Height
This was a major challenge that had to be considered during the
design of the building. The construction of tall buildings brings
upon the need to have a supporting structure for all the floors above,
the stairwell space, the elevator shaft as well as for the plumbing,
electrical, mechanical and fire protection risers. The project owners
and investors had a desire to construct a building that will occupy
space and be a landmark in the construction industry. Taipei 101
was built for 101 floors above the ground and another 5 floors exist
underground. After completion, the building took the official record
for the following;
 Ground to highest architectural building with a height of
508 meters overtaking the previous record held by
PETRONAS tower at 451.9 meters.
 Ground to roof architectural structure overtaking the
previous record held by Willis tower at 442 meters.
 Ground to highest occupied floor at 438 meters beating
the record previously held by the Willis tower at 412.4
meters.
 Largest counting clock that is famously displayed on the
eve of each New Year.
 Fastest ascending speed for an elevator. Its elevator is
designed to move at 1010 meters per minute implying a
speed of 60.6 kilometers per hour.
 Tallest sundial
Taipei 101 also became the first building to break the world record
of attaining the mark of half a kilometer in height. This record was
however reclaimed by the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai that stands at
a height of 829.8 meters.
6.3 Structural design
Taipei 101 is designed in such a way that it can withstand
earthquake tremors and typhoon winds, the designers desired a
structure that could be able to withstand the gale winds of up to 60
m/s as well as the strongest earthquakes. All skyscrapers should be
flexible in strong winds and equally remain rigid in order to avoid
large movements sideways. The concept of flexibility avoids the
damage of structures whereas resistance ensures the occupants have
comfort and that the curtain walls and glasses are protected. Taipei
101 attains flexibility and strength as a result of the use of high
performance steel during its construction. The building is supported
by 36 columns as well as 8 mega columns that are packed with
10000 psi concrete. These features are enhanced by the solidity of
the foundation that makes it achieve the standard of one of the most
stable buildings in the world. The stability of the structure had
initially come to test in 2002 when a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit
the city of Taipei. It was so strong to an extent that two construction
planes were toppled resulting to the death of 5 people. An inspection
proved completely no structural damage to the building and
constructions immediately resumed (Rafiei & Adeli, 2016).