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Most of our big coastal cities are like that. Boston is about twice as big as it was in colonial times; all of the Back Bay is landfill. A lot of Cambridge is l

Most of our big coastal cities are like that. Boston is about twice as big as it was in colonial times; all of the Back Bay is landfill. A lot of Cambridge is landfill. And yes, most of the taller buildings cluster around the more solid bedrock areas closer to downtown. But the engineering principles needed here aren't unknown--cities like Las Vegas and New Orleans have modern buildings that are much taller than were thought possible in earlier times. If the developers didn't do it right because it was expensive, then it is on them.

was_boring 10y ago
To add on, Chicago and New Orleans are both built on swamps, and the outer edges of New York are filled in -- making land for cities isn't the issue with the tower.
- Animats 10y ago
  The tallest buildings in Chicago have foundations drilled down to bedrock. The Sears Tower (now Willits Tower) is built on bedrock. The Trump Tower [1] has pilings down to bedrock. The John Hancock building has foundations down to bedrock, even though they had to go down almost 200 feet.[2] How unusual is 83 floors in earthquake country without foundations down to bedrock? [1] http://faculty.arch.tamu.edu/media/cms_page_media/4433/trumptowechicago.pdf http://faculty.arch.tamu.edu/media/cms_page_media/4433/trump... [2] http://khan.princeton.edu/khanHancock.html http://khan.princeton.edu/khanHancock.html
- vacri 10y ago
  As an aside, the land in New Orleans is so flat that the zoo has a 28' hill donated by a benefactor, "so that the children of New Orleans can know what a hill is like" according to the plaque next to it. And when I visited, the kids were going nuts over this little hillock, running up and careening down it, giggling.
jghn 10y ago
As a kid I always wondered why so many of the taller buildings clustered up near DTX and then down that little strip down Boylston. As I got a bit earlier and learned what Boston originally looked like, it all made sense.
- Finnucane 10y ago
  Of course, all of this landfill area is going to be the first to go back into the sea when the water rises. I figure our house is going to be riverfront property some day.
  - jghn 10y ago
    My house is one above where they draw the line on the sea rise lines. If I can stick around for a couple of hundred years I'm golden
  - jghn 10y ago
    My house is one above where they draw the line on the sea rise flood. If I can stick around for a couple of hundred years I'm golden
- dmux 10y ago
  Part of the clustering is planned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Spine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Spine

was_boring 10y ago

To add on, Chicago and New Orleans are both built on swamps, and the outer edges of New York are filled in -- making land for cities isn't the issue with the tower.

Animats 10y ago
The tallest buildings in Chicago have foundations drilled down to bedrock. The Sears Tower (now Willits Tower) is built on bedrock. The Trump Tower [1] has pilings down to bedrock. The John Hancock building has foundations down to bedrock, even though they had to go down almost 200 feet.[2] How unusual is 83 floors in earthquake country without foundations down to bedrock? [1] http://faculty.arch.tamu.edu/media/cms_page_media/4433/trumptowechicago.pdf http://faculty.arch.tamu.edu/media/cms_page_media/4433/trump... [2] http://khan.princeton.edu/khanHancock.html http://khan.princeton.edu/khanHancock.html
vacri 10y ago
As an aside, the land in New Orleans is so flat that the zoo has a 28' hill donated by a benefactor, "so that the children of New Orleans can know what a hill is like" according to the plaque next to it. And when I visited, the kids were going nuts over this little hillock, running up and careening down it, giggling.

jghn 10y ago

As a kid I always wondered why so many of the taller buildings clustered up near DTX and then down that little strip down Boylston. As I got a bit earlier and learned what Boston originally looked like, it all made sense.

Finnucane 10y ago
Of course, all of this landfill area is going to be the first to go back into the sea when the water rises. I figure our house is going to be riverfront property some day.
- jghn 10y ago
  My house is one above where they draw the line on the sea rise lines. If I can stick around for a couple of hundred years I'm golden
- jghn 10y ago
  My house is one above where they draw the line on the sea rise flood. If I can stick around for a couple of hundred years I'm golden
dmux 10y ago
Part of the clustering is planned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Spine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Spine