Page 28 - English for Construction 2

Focus on a project: The Shard, London

Reading The Shard is a skyscraper in he centre of London, just near the famous Tower
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Bridge. It is one of he tallest buildings n Europe. Designed by Renzo Piano, the
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tower has 88 levels and is clad entirely in glass. It contains offices, restaurants,
bars, cafes, viewing galleries, a hotel and residential apartments. One of the
biggest challenges the developers had o deal with was to minimise isruption
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in he local area: The Shard is located next o London Bridge station, one of the
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busiest ransport hubs in London, and Guy's Hospital, a large teaching hospital.
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Noise and dust had o be kept o a minimum. On his page you will look at some
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of he equipment hat was used n he construction of The Shard.
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N o r m a l l y a ift
shaft has to be
complete before a
lift can be installed.
W i t h j u m p lift
technology this
is not necessary.
As the b u i l d i n g
These cantilever loading platforms rises, the u m p lift,
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are easy to install and move. Cranes w h i c h contains its
lift the platforms nto position. own machine room,
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They are flush w i t h the floor rises w i t h t .
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allowing the movement of large
objects i n and out of the structure.
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High-rise buildings ike the Shard The Shard
construction site
need a lot of concrete. This project
used a powerful, high-performance used a number
p u m p w h i c h can p u m p more than of cranes. The
9 0 m 1 of concrete per hour. lead crane i n the
centre occupied the
highest spot. This
crane was mounted
inside the core.
As the b u i l d i n g
rose the crane was
jacked up.
Vocabulary 1 Read the text and look at the photos. Find words which are close in meaning to
these words.
1 simple 5 tall
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2 on he same level as 6 middle
3 elevator 7 uppermost
4 finished
Speaking 2 Think bout he four pieces of equipment mentioned n he texts. What are they
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for? Make notes and discuss your ideas with a partner.
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3 How do you hink the op crane was removed at he end of the construction phase?
4 Find photos of The Shard construction site on he internet. Can you identify
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any other pieces of equipment? Report back o he class. Explain what the
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equipment is for.
26 3 Equipment