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International Industry News Continued
different thickness tethers, as well as to be
able to deal with twisting from the wind.
◆ Maintainability winner: The Earth-Track-Controllers
Team CHAD designed its climber to be able to attach to
the tether faster than any other team.
◆ “Other functionality” winner: Team Okuzawa, the
climber of which had the ability to log a variety of data
to be able to analyze any problems it may encounter.
It also included a variety of other features such as realtime
data transfer.
Kanagawa University’s team was also the only one to
have its climber climb the tether to the top and come
down safely in the harsh wind. Furthermore, its speed
was greater than that of last year’s winner.
The tether/rope competition was won by the University
of Saskatchewan, College of Engineering Space Design
Team, which had the only entry to reach the 300-meter
goal. The final competition, “Endurance LASER,” saw
LEGO ® climbers climb to an altitude of 100 meters for the
first time. Of the five teams participating, three made it to
the top.
Yoshio Aoki, Technical and Engineering judge, reflected
on the competition?
“Last year, the competition concentrated on speed, but
this year, there were six categories . . . and this made it a
much tighter race. With the participation of two international
teams, teams from Japan also had the opportunity
to exchange ideas and see some differences in design and
different points of view of their international counterparts.
Next year, with the plan to hold the competition to
a height of 600 meters, we expect automated control to
be one of the upcoming themes for the climbers. We
expect the number of technical members in our organi -
zation and participants in next year’s competition to only
increase.”
The aim of the competition was to help encourage the
development of technologies related to realizing a space
elevator. JSEA aims to double the tether length for this
competition each year, and create regulations and evaluate
categories that will help progress technologies related
to the realization of a space elevator. It expects to share
the results of this competition and other insights at an
international conference.
REDEVELOPMENT PLAN UNVEILED
Mitsubishi Estate Co. unveiled the outline of its urbanrenewal
project in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district in June. The
development will be located where a former golf driving
range was. Among the new development plans for the
3.7-hectare plot are a 20-story office building and a
32-story luxury residential building. The company antici-
20
ELEVATOR WORLD India •4th Quarter 2010 •
pates strong demand because of the location’s proximity
to a subway station and the lack of large office buildings
and condominiums in the area. The office building will
occupy about 70% of the total area and is expected to be
complete in April 2012.
RECORD NUMBER OF HIGH RISES IN 2009
According to Nikkei Inc., there was a record number of
high rises built in Japan in 2009. Roughly 35,000 units in
buildings with 20 or more stories were completed last
year. However, construction is expected to slow down
this year according to figures released by the Real Estate
Economic Institute in April. The institute predicts an
overall 17% drop across Japan, but greater Tokyo area
construction is still expected to rise, despite the 9%
decline it saw last year.
Malaysia
PRASARANA PLANS RAIL
STATION IMPROVEMENTS
Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd. (Prasarana) has announced
plans to upgrade three light-rail-transit (LRT)
stations, plus the construction of a six-level parking facility
at the Gombak LRT station. The Masjid Jamek, Hang
Tuah and Titiwangsa stations will receive accessibility
improvements, including elevators, chairlifts, escalators
and ramps. Three new elevators and a chairlift are planned
for Titiwangsa. The work at Hang Tuah includes improving
access between different areas of the LRT station, with
the addition of elevators, chairlifts, escalators and other
items to assist the disabled and others who are mobility
challenged. The entire project is budgeted for MYR51 million
(US$16.2 million). Construction began earlier this
year and is expected to be completed next year.
Saudi Arabia
CLOCK TOWER RISES IN MECCA
The centerpiece of the 1.5-million-square-meter Abraj
al-Bait complex in Mecca is a tower with clock faces on
four sides lit with two-million LED lights that can be seen
up to 30 kilometers away. The clock tower, which is
expected to reach a height of at least 590 meters and contain
95 floors, is one of seven towers in the complex. The
other six are expected to have between 42 and 48 floors.
Facing Mecca’s Grand Mosque, the complex was planned
to meet the kingdom’s desire to accommodate the 10
million pilgrims expected to visit the city annually. The
complex will include some 3,000 hotel rooms and residential
units, as well as a five-story shopping mall and
four-level parking garage. Continued