Reply
Sun 31 Aug, 2008 06:01 pm
Does anybody know which building/monument has the highest load bearing properties ?(Eg each pillar at Westminster Abbey has to bear the load of 63,000 tonnes)
@tali,
That's a tough question depending on what you are looking for. I have no idea what the highest load bearing for a single wall or pillar is but I believe that Philadelphia City Hall is the tallest building using load bearing walls and it may well be what you are looking for.
@tali,
My vote would be for the great pyramid....
@gungasnake,
In a pyramid, wouldn't the load be passed out to a large footing area? I thought the initial questioner was searching for most mass concentrated on the smallest footprint.
@tali,
Bearing load is measured in weight or force per some unit area. On a building with columns, each column would have its on bearing load per square inch so the question doesn't make much sense. There is no single bearing load for a building. Even your example seems to be for a single (typical?) stone or masonry pillar. In general though the highest bearing loads would be on steel structures and steel itself has a limit.
@tali,
Philadelphia’s Beautiful Load-Bearing City Hall.
@tali,
I think The Monadnock Building is the skyscraper located in Chicago and this is the highest building with the highest load bearing properties.