Incredible Planet: The World’s Fastest Ascending Elevator

This elevator could put a certain chocolate factory to shame. Taipei 101’s high speed elevator can climb at 37.7 miles per hour. That is the fastest ascending elevator in the world. It gains altitude a little less than twice as quickly as a human cannonball. It is an elevator that climbs as fast as a Boeing 737. I guess it makes sense that such an elevator is in one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers (the Burj Dubai is taller but incomplete).

A Rate of Climb Comparison

The building of such a tall structure in Taiwan demonstrates a certain amount of moxy on the part of…well…almost everyone involved. Taiwan is a seismically active area that has a history of getting pummeled by typhoons. It has the natural disaster downsides of both Florida and California. This is where they decided to build a huge skyscraper.

During the building’s construction the area was even hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake. Some cranes were knocked off the nascent structure, however, even in such an incomplete form the structure didn’t flinch. When the next typhoon hits, the building is designed to handle that too. Taipei 101 can sustain winds of up to 137 miles per hour.

Creative Commons picture by Wm Jas.