But to achieve this height in a seismic zone, engineering firm Arup had to equip it with pre-tensioned hangers, arranged in a double-V shape, which brace the facade. When it completed in 2016, the 246-metre Torre Reforma became the tallest building in the capital at the time. The tower came through a major earthquake in 2017 without taking any notable damage.
#Tallest skyscraper in mexico series#
The 225-metre Torre Mayor had to be fitted with a series of huge dampers, which dissipate seismic energy.Ībove: The dampers at Torre Mayor work in a similar way to shock absorbers on a car. Look around the capital and you’ll see examples of it everywhere. It had to be done, of course, but it means that plans for any new skyscrapers here have involved some serious structural engineering. In the aftermath, new construction codes were introduced to make structures more resistant to future disasters, and those rules have been steadily updated over time. Thousands died and there were multiple building collapses. Many of those quakes are small, but they can occasionally be devastating – like the one that hit Mexico City in 1985. There are around 30,000 earthquakes here every year so it’s not a great place to put a tall building. Well, in Mexico - a country that’s home to around 130 million people - more than 80% of the population live in urban areas, and that means a lot of houses.Īs for why they couldn’t be placed in high-rises, well Mexico does have its reasons. You might wonder how cities can fall victim to urban sprawl - becoming an endless landscape of mostly low-rise buildings as far as the eye can see. Now though, after decades of building outwards instead of upwards, skyscrapers in Mexico are seriously on the rise and construction crews are managing to meet some immense challenges.Ībove: Most of Mexico's cities have very few tall buildings.
That’s because it’s one of the toughest places on Earth to build tall and engineers must grapple with the extremes of the elements, unforgiving ground conditions, congestion and the absence of some key resources. But look closely and you’ll find that skyscrapers do exist, just not really in any great numbers. You’ll see it’s a country that clearly knows a thing or two about urban sprawl, with hardly a skyscraper in sight.
TAKE a look at Mexico’s cities and you might spot some similarities. This video contains paid promotion for Established Titles. Video presented and narrated by Fred Mills.
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