Lafarge cement used in One World Trade Center

Rising a symbolic 1776 ft above the skyline of Manhattan and standing as the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere, One World Trade Center is setting new standards in building a more resilient, safe and sustainable urban landscape. Monumental in scale, this landmark 104-story tower features 3.5 million ft² of space that will accommodate activities vital to the nation's economy.

Taking advantage of innovative construction materials, One World Trade Center is designed to be the safest and most environmentally friendly commercial building in the world. The structure includes a massive cast-in-place, reinforced concrete inner core that runs the full height of the tower, an extra-strong backbone that provides support for gravitational loads as well as resistance to wind and seismic forces. The concrete core walls measure 3 ft thick or more above ground and up to twice that below grade. Higher up, the concrete core walls slim down to 2 ft thick.

The 200 000 yd³ of concrete used in the tower's superstructure – with a strength that has never been used on such a scale in building construction –was custom-designed to ensure high levels of durability, constructability and sustainability. Supporting columns on the first 40 floors were made from 12 000 – 14 000-psi self-consolidating concrete and the upper floors with 8600 – 10 000-psi mix designs. To meet the compressive strength requirements, the design and engineering team relied on a highly specialised concrete mix that included Lafarge Portland Type I/II and NewCem^® slag cements, as well as other supplementary cementitious materials. Engineered for high strength and long-term durability, NewCem slag cement helps achieve greater strength potential and helps control shrinkage, creep and cracking in mass concrete structures.

High-strength concrete was the ideal material for meeting the high-priority safety requirements for One World Trade Center because key supporting members – such as elevator and stair enclosures – often relied upon to resist wind, seismic and other impact forces, are designed with an extra measure of durability and resilience. The concrete also made a strong contribution to the sustainable design of the building, which is expected to receive LEED^® Gold certification when it opens later this year. In addition, the tower was constructed with mostly post-industrial recycled materials, including the NewCem slag cement, which is a byproduct of the steel-making process.

Adapted from Lafarge press release by Katherine Guenioui

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/29072014/lafarge-slag-cement-used-in-one-world-trade-center-195/