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 <strong>India</strong> •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 <strong>Institute</strong> 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
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