5 ms·

How many inches of lean can a building support before it just falls over WTC style?

• IAmEveryone 9y ago
  I this "lean" is measured at the top, and the buildings weight is equally distributed from top to bottom (i.e. its centre of gravity is right in the middle) it can lean half its radius until the CoG is no longer above its support and it should topple. That's very rough of course. Many bad things could happen much earlier, such as unexpected forces causing structural damage. Note also that the WTC didn't exactly "fall over". It collapsed on itself.
• onion2k 9y ago
  A really long way. The center of mass has to move past the edge of the base for something to fall over. I can't find how big the Millennium Tower is to work it out, but I'd guess at least 30 feet.
  • baud147258 9y ago
    > at least 30 feet [of lean] I'm pretty sure the building would have lost structural integrity from the force applied by gravity before the lean can reach 30 feet.
    • antognini 9y ago
      The lean of the leaning tower of Pisa is nearly 13 feet. The millennium building is over three times taller than that.
• Camillo 9y ago
  > before it just falls over WTC style? The WTC did not fall over.