hello my name is guido i'm from holland. I have a question about the sway of a sky-scrapper i hope someone can help me. How much is the sway of a sky-skrapper. And is the sway total or is it just half (lets say there is a sway of 3 meter, is 1.5 meter to the right and left or is it 3 meter to the right and to the left) Ik hope to here from U, thank you verry much.
Guido sesink, [email protected]

• ID# 144.2 (reply to #144.1) - 28 Sep 1999
  The sway is very much dependent on the height of the skyscraper, the rigidness of the frame and of course the velocity of the wind, so one can't readily determine a "norm" sway for a scraper.
  A building's resistance to swaying is a compromise between the building's height and form and the rigidity of its frame -- determined by the structure type and the amount of structural members (ie. cost of the frame). Of course, scrapers built to the areas plagued by earthquakes can have frames that are specially designed to sway and "bend" at joints, and as such form a category of their own.
  As for the amount of the measured sway, I assume that it indicates the movement from one end of the "pendulum" swing to the other. ED