Moscow Breathes Sigh of Relief at Completion of 15 Year Long Struggle to Build Massive Skyscraper
The construction of the Eastern Federation Tower in Moscow is finished. 374 meters and 95 floors. It's the highest residential skyscraper in Europe and one of the most complex engineering projects. The Tower is mentioned twice in the Guinness Book of Records. And, of course, we mustn’t forget the marvelous panorama.
Yaroslav Krasiyenko has seen the new high-rise that changed Moscow’s image.
The Federation Tower, which is almost 400 meters high, is the dominant construction of the business center of Moscow. It took a long time to build. The contractors, clients, and technologies were constantly replacing one another. After 15 years of construction the building was presented to the State Commission.
High-rise building construction worker: "The air is warm to fully heat the atrium. Look, 26 degrees. Approved".
Everything is being checked. Buildings like this were never built in Russia and in the world. At the groundwork stage, it was already mentioned in the Book of Records. No one has previously used 14,000 tons of extra-strong concrete. The engineers faced new challenges at every stage of the construction.
Dmitry Andreyev, CEO of the client company: "We had all sorts of engineers in our crew developing new standards".
While the top floors were being built, the tenants already moved into the first 30 floors. That's the first time that a building was commissioned piecemeal. The builders had advisors from the US, Germany, and China. The building was tested by the May hurricane. At 500 meters the wind speed reached 200 kmph.
Mikhail Smirnov, CEO of ZAO Federation Tower "The building stood almost still. We have an engineering structures monitoring system. What we saw was a slight vibration".
The high-rise building construction worker: "Elevator A26 to the fifth floor".
The elevator literally takes off. At five mechanical floors there are the newest automatic systems providing energy, water, heat, and fresh air for the whole building.
Oleg Moshkin, top technician of the Federation Tower: We have a reserve engine in case the first one malfunctions. It helps preserve the functional capability".
There are special elevators for firemen that work under any conditions. In case of an emergency, people are evacuated through a concrete shaft that can withstand 4 hours of the highest temperatures. The rooms are equipped with fireproof curtains in order to localize the fire.
Dmitry Stasevich, head of the safety service: "We have emergency water tanks on every mechanical floor that can supply water for fire extinguishment".
The Tower will be commissioned as a conventional residential house, in shell & core fit-out: future tenants will redecorate the rooms themselves. At least 20,000 people will be living and working here at the same time. Those who are not fans of heights should choose the lower floors. All windows are panoramic and not everyone would enjoy being at such height.
Yaroslav Krasiyenko, Ilya Kuzmin, Artem Kuznetsov, and Anna Bolan for Vesti