IIW History 1990-2015

At the beginning of the 1990s the tallest building in the world was the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower) in Chicago, USA which, incidentally, utilised an estimated 73 000 tonnes of steel in its construction and over 40 000 electro-slag welds for the high-strength columns to support its immense weight. 12 The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia surpassed the Willis Tower in 2008 with a height of 452 metres. This resulted in almost unlimited construction of higher and higher buildings across the globe, with USA (One World Trade Center – 546 m), Saudi Arabia (Makkah Royal Clock Tower – 601 m), China (Shanghai Tower – 632 m), Japan (Tokyo Skytree – 634 m) and UAE (Burj Khalifa – 830 m) following each other in quick succession. The proposed tallest building of all, the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (1 000 m), is scheduled to be completed in 2019 at an estimated cost of USD 1.3 billion. No construction process other than welding would have made these feats possible.

Chrysler Building is still one of the most beautiful buildings in the world

China, with five of the 10 tallest buildings in the world, undisputedly, has now taken over the mantle from the USA as the great constructer of high- rise buildings from 1990 to the present, each having their own uniqueness but requiring similar technical requirements in their construction. The Chinese Welding Association (CWA) was to play a key role in assisting the Chinese government in welding-related work such as this. Importantly, CWA was

to understand the need for companies involved in building projects to be accredited to IIW’s company certification scheme according to ISO 3834 to add surety and consistency in the welding methods involved in the construction of iconic buildings such as the Shanghai Tower which, when finished in 2011, stood supreme above all buildings around it.

Construction of the 632 m high Shanghai Tower

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