New world records in technology and construction – news from China

July has become very productive for engineers from China who surprised the whole world with their remarkable achievements.

How can one build an 11-storey building within 28 hours?

There is nothing surprising in the attempts of people to create fast constructions especially when it comes to residential areas as well as hospitals. The need for new technologies allowing people to create new building as fast as possible has become especially acute because of the outbreak of the corona virus which dramatically raised the number of ill people requiring hospitalisation. This fact itself pushed engineers into a search for solutions for this problem.

As a result, the Chinese Broad Group construction company was able to create an apartment building consisting of 11 floors within 28 hours and 45 minutes! According to the company itself, this is a world record for creating the buildings of such a type.

As you can imagine, such fast construction is possible due to a special module technology. The building somewhat resembles of Lego bricks, although the modules used by Broad Group were more complex. Actually, these blocks are already very large. Their typical size is 12,19 × 2,44 × 3 metres. The construction of these building blocks is taking place in the factory beforehand. Once the blocks are ready, they are transported to the construction site.

All the workers have to do is putting the blocks together and set the canalisation and electricity supply in the building.

Pay your attention to the fact the blocks are already equipped into many necessities so that the construction itself will take a minimum time. There is even an advanced system of air condition which is protecting the air inside the flats which can get rather dusty during the transportation.

Are such buildings safe?

Certainly, many people might be concerned about technologies of rapid construction of buildings. Yet, in the case of the apartment buildings constructed by Broad Group, there is no need to be concerned about the quality  of their constructions as the engineers are equipping them into state-of-the-art safety elements. For instance, there is a special layer of insulation in the walls of such building which has a width of 22 centimetres. This is nine times wider than a standard concrete wall.

A special patented technology allows the company to build the constructions which can withstand various natural disasters such as strong typhoons and earthquakes. Moreover, the designers of these building promise they will be able to stand up to a thousand of years.

Why people are using such a rapid technology for constructing buildings?

It turns out that the technology of rapid constructing is not simply fast. It is actually cheaper than traditional constructing.

By the way, this technology can be used for creating skyscrapers as well. Broad Group has their project for a building consisting of 220 floors, however, it is still has not been used in practice.

The fastest train in the world

Even if you have never used a superfast train for travelling, you have certainly heard about the existence of such vehicles. So far, the speed of such trains was around 300 km per hour with a maximum speed reaching around 400 km per hour, however, the transport which is used in the reality never travels with its maximum speed.

Yet, it turns out that there technologies allowing people to build a way faster trains. This July, China showed its brand-new superfast train which can travel with a speed of 600 km per hour. Needless to say, the difference is huge.

What is making a new Chinese train thus fast?

The technology presented by the Chinese engineers this year is absolutely new. The designers of a superfast train spent five years on the creation of this amazing vehicle of the future. Its prototype has been under various tests since the June of the previous year. It means that the engineers can already estimate its safety and effectiveness.

The major advantage of such trains is a unique technology of using an air pillow between the wheels of a train and rails. Such a structure of superfast trains decreases the friction which results in a higher speed and significant reduce of noise. In addition to it, such trains do not need thus much distance in order to make a turn. Usually, the distance required by superfast trains built on an air pillow is twice shorter than the distance required by regular trains. Needless to say, this increases manoeuvrability of these vehicles which makes it easier for people to plan the route and also does not make them to drop the speed thus frequently.

The trains using air pillows have already been in China since 2003. It is still not known when the superfast train of a new generation will be used for transporting people.