432 Park Avenue NYC - Mass Damper in Action

A damping system at the top of the tallest residential tower in New York City keeps the structure stable during a high wind event. See the damping system in action during a high wind event on October 28, 2015. Yes, it works well! Wind engineering by RWDI. Fabrication and installation of the steel damper by Metropolitan Walters. Viewing was part of a technical tour during the New York Conference of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)

[chaznaps]

Sears (Willis) tower could have used a big damper when I worked in it on the 75th floor for years. The building would sway so much on windy days you'd get dizzy walking around inside the office and you could literally hear the building creak like a wooden sailing ship as it swayed back and forth. People above the 90th floor used to get the day off on really windy days as it was just too much sway to work on those upper floors. Actually gave me a case of vertigo after about 2 years that needed treatment by my GP.

[RonHutchCraft]

wow that is incredible, that damper shows just how much the building itself moves & sways at any given time.

[KubiqFeet]

Things like this are just jaw droppingly amazing. Just think of the sheer size of everything involved.

[jeremyslawson]

This video is interesting this damper actually shows how much this building is moving

[miasun]

somebody should tape some markers on the bottom and put some paper under it. I wonder how much art created by wind and building would sell for.

[Krymsyn_Rydyr]

I was a steamfitter on this job. My partner and I stacked and welded the hot and chilled water risers. I have never been in a bldg, that swayed as much as that one. On rain days, on open floors, you could literally see puddles with waves, sloshing across the floor.

[Pheorize]

Although it has the same functionality, I still think that Taipei 101's tuned mass damper is much more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

[stickyfox]

I've sat up at my friend's place on E 54th staring out the window and idly wondering if the "empty floors" hold tuned mass dampers. I googled the address to see if this was the same building.... I guess now I know!

[FSKPilot]

My understanding is that 432 Park Avenue has such a lack of rigidity that even with that mass damper, it tends to oscillate in the second mode.

[tboake]

This sort of system is designed to be fairly low tech so reacts quite naturally to movement. Difficult for something that is non electronic to malfunction.

[lelsewherelelsewhere]

I wonder how far into construction these things needed to be installed at, and if they hand to adjust anything due to the building not being finished.

[anb]

Even cooler is the video of the monstrous mass damper swaying around inside the Taipei 101 building in the middle of a typhoon.

[d.jensen]

Crazy thinking of that much weight hung that high in a building. 😲 Gives me a better appreciation of the whole biz!

[memyself]

Wow!
Such excitement………..I hope I don’t have nightmares.

[JerseyShore]

Do you know of someone I could talk to that could possibly have a private tour of the top of 432 Park of some sort? I'm an architecture student in college, it would be the opportunity of a lifetime for me. Thanks for any info!

[ChadMichaelSimon]

Just think of the poor guys who had to lug that thing up the steps! 😀

[morten]

Imagine living in the top apartment just underneath this

[kingtubbyleeperry]

I wonder how that small window beam @0:25 can hold this much weight and withstand all those forces.

[dougn]

I had a friend who resided on the 29th floor of Mansion House in downtown St Louis. Total floor count was 30 with a pool on the roof. The building was iron construction built in the mid 1960s, over engineered.
He said it never moved in winds of over 100 mph. It was super stiff. But things were constructed better then.

[roberhatube]

Terri, have you ever needed to replace the shocks in your car? Mechanical failure happens over time. We, nor the thing we build is invincible.