Professional English

Engineering

Cambridge English for

Unit 4
Part 1
Petronas Towers (Kuala Lumpar): 452m International Commerce Centre (Hong Kong): 484m Shanghai World Financial Centre (Shanghai): 492m Taipei 101 (Taipei): 508m Burj Khalifa (Dubai): m ?

CasE study

Reaching for the sky

Burj Khalifa in Dubai currently holds the record for the worlds tallest building. Look at the information below of the five tallest buildings in the world. Based on how the record has evolved, make an educated guess at the height of Burj Khalifa.

Burj Khalifa the worlds tallest building

Part 2
Read a short extract from an article, below, about the dimensions of skyscrapers. With a partner, underline and explain the meaning of those words in the text which describe:

elements of a skyscraper dimensions.

From a business perspective, the vital statistics of record-breaking skyscrapers are:

total height, to generate publicity total number of floors and total floor space, to maximise value.

From an engineering perspective, the above factors will determine a number of key dimensions: those of the foundations, columns, beams, floor slabs and curtain walls. During the design phase, if the lengths, widths, depths, thicknesses, areas or volumes of any of these elements are changed, all the other pieces of the dimensional jigsaw puzzle will be affected.

Cambridge English for Engineering Cambridge University Press 2010 www.cambridge.org/elt/englishforengineering

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UNIT 4 Reaching for the sky

Part 3
You and your partner are consulting engineers. You are going to give a technical briefing to some investors who are planning a new skyscraper project. The talk should focus on the question of key dimensions which will be determined by the overall height, number of floors and total floor space of the skyscraper as discussed in the extract above. Hold a discussion and make notes to prepare your briefing. Include the elements and dimensions you underlined in Part 2. Use the example discussion below to get started. A The total height of the skyscraper will determine its width, as taller structures need to be wider, for stability. B Yes. And the height and width of the structure will determine the total area of the curtain walls. The area of the walls is important, because itll determine the amount of wind load on the building. A Thats right. And the amount of wind load is critical because thatll affect ...

In preparing your technical briefing, the following language from Unit 4 of Cambridge English for Engineering may be useful.

Discussing dimensions and precision (pages 32 and 33)

verbs: specify, vary nouns: depth, diameter, dimension, height, ideal, length, size, thickness, tolerance, width adjectives: deep, high, long, low, maximum, minimum, narrow, shallow, short, thick, thin, tight, wide adverbs and prepositions: plus, minus, outside (tolerance), within (tolerance) other phrases: maximum total variation between and too + adjective (too narrow / too tight / too deep etc.) not + adjective enough (not narrow enough / not tight enough / not deep enough etc.)

Part 4
In pairs, present a technical briefing to the group.

Cambridge English for Engineering Cambridge University Press 2010 www.cambridge.org/elt/englishforengineering

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Professional English

Engineering

Cambridge English for

UNIT 4
Suggested answers

tEaChEr's NotEs

Reaching for the sky

Before you begin Write up skyscraper on the board. Invite students to say what a skyscraper is (an exceptionally tall building usually refers to an occupied building as opposed to a structure such as a chimney). Discuss the logic of the word (the notion of a tall building reaching/scraping the sky). Invite students to give some examples of skyscrapers.

In addition to the five tallest buildings in the world which this case study focuses on, students may also mention (among others): Nanjing Greenland Financial Centre (Nanjing, China); Willis Tower (Chicago, USA); Guangzhou West Tower (Guanghzhou, China); Jin Mao Tower (Shanghai, China); Chrysler Building (New York, USA); Baiyoke Tower II (Bangkok, Thailand); Eureka Tower (Melbourne, Australia); Republic Plaza (Singapore)

Part 1
Students complete the task in pairs. Write up each pairs suggested answer on the board. Then write up the actual height. Answer 828 metres See which suggested height came closest. Discuss the fact that the building is surprisingly tall when compared with the progression of previous records. You could also invite students to suggest what the next target will be for the world record. Suggested answer There are a number of proposals, in countries in the Middle East, to build buildings of a 1,000 metres and more. For example the Nakheel Harbour & Tower project (also in Dubai) which is aiming for a height of 1140m (Go to http://www.nakheelharbour.com for more information)

Cambridge English for Engineering Cambridge University Press 2010 www.cambridge.org/elt/englishforengineering

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UNIT 4 Reaching for the sky

Part 2
Students complete the task in pairs. For the dimensions, ask students to give examples of dimensions of objects to illustrate the meaning of each word. Answers elements of a skyscraper

foundations: the part of a structure below ground which supports it columns: vertical elements with a narrow cross-section which transmit loads downwards to the foundations beams: horizontal elements with a narrow cross-section which transmit loads horizontally often supported by a column at either end floor slabs: relatively thin elements with a large area which act as a floor these can be supported by beams or, if they are at ground level, by the ground beneath it

curtain walls: panels glass, for example which form the external envelope of a building, but which do not support the building (unlike the brick walls of a house, which do support the building) dimensions

height: how high something is, e.g. the height of a column from base to top length: how long something is, e.g. the length of a car, from front to back width: how wide something is, e.g. the width of a road from one side to the other depth: how deep something is, e.g. the depth of a hole in the ground, from ground level to the bottom thickness: how thick something is, e.g. the thickness of a sheet of glass (the distance between its opposite surfaces) area: length x width, e.g. the number of square metres of a floor surface volume: length x width x height, e.g. the amount of space, in cubic metres, inside a room

Part 3
Students discuss their ideas in pairs, making brief notes if they wish. Suggested answers

The total height will determine the width of the skyscraper, as taller structures need to be wider, for stability. The height and width will determine the total area of the curtain walls. The area of the curtain walls will determine the amount of wind load on the building. The amount of wind load will affect the depth of the foundations needed in order to keep the building stable, and the thickness of columns needed to resist the bending force generated by the wind. Increasing the height of the building will require thicker columns to resist the increased wind loads, and to support the increased total mass of the structure. Thicker columns will reduce the area of the floors. The thickness of the floor slabs will affect the total height of the building for a given number of floors. Minimising the thickness of the floor slabs and the thickness of the columns will help to increase the number of floors and the floor area available for a given building height. Increasing the width of the building will require longer beams, which will need to be deeper to cope with the longer span. Deeper beams will add to the height from one floor to the next, meaning fewer floors are possible within a given height.
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Cambridge English for Engineering Cambridge University Press 2010 www.cambridge.org/elt/englishforengineering

UNIT 4 Reaching for the sky

Part 4
Students in pairs take turns to give a short technical briefing to the group. Ask the students to compare the content and ideas in their presentations. Finally, give positive feedback on the presentation style of the students and then summarise and review any points of language or discourse which need remedial work (e.g. language might be the use of comparative and superlative adjectives; discourse might focus on phrases for how the presentation was organised and structured First then etc.)

Extension activity: exploring ideas

To conclude, you could explore the engineering challenges of building ever taller skyscrapers. Write up the following question on the board and invite students to come up with suggestions in pairs, then present their ideas. What technological and design improvements would help engineers to build taller skyscrapers?

Suggested answers

Improve the strength of concrete and steel to enable columns and beams to carry higher loads without having to increase their cross-section, in order to minimise the total mass of the structure. Develop lighter, high-strength concrete or alternative materials to help reduce the total mass of the structure. Carry out research into more aerodynamically efficient building shapes, to reduce their drag (air resistance) and therefore reduce the amount of wind load they are exposed to.

Cambridge English for Engineering Cambridge University Press 2010 www.cambridge.org/elt/englishforengineering

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