Songjiang Waterfall Hotel

There are many marvels of civil engineering and architecture both in the ancient world as well as the modern world.  These structures range from the Parthenon in ancient Greece to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world, in Dubai.  Both of these structures have one thing in common.  A creative and intuitive mind envisioned their construction.  The Burj Khalifa may be the tallest structure in the world, but the Songjiang Hotel is amazing in its own right.  The following discusses the details of the hotel as well as the values civil engineers hold when designing a project and seeing it through to fruition.

Aerial view of the quarry in Shanghai, China.

The Songjiang Hotel was to undergo construction in 2009, however due to various factors, groundbreaking for the hotel began in early March of this year.  What makes this hotel different from others you might ask?  To begin with, the hotel is being built in a 100 meter deep quarry in Shanghai, China.  The existing water in the quarry will be added upon to make an artificial lake.  This means that two of the floors in the hotel and an aquarium will be completely submerged beneath the lake.  Additionally, this five-star hotel will have 19 stories, containing upwards of 380 guest rooms.  As if this wasn't enough, a man-made waterfall will be constructed to flow over the front of the hotel.  If you find yourself as the thrill-seeking type, have no fear!  The Songjiang Hotel will provide its guests with the opportunity to bungee jump of the quarry ridge coming within feet of the artificial lake below.  This hotel will provide its guests with unique opportunities not found in other hotels.

Artist's rendering of the Songjiang Waterfall Hotel.

One area of focus very important to civil engineering is the environmental factor.  Civil engineers take careful consideration of their projects’ effects on the surrounding terrain.  The engineers of the Songjiang Hotel have carefully considered their constructions impact on the environment.  By using an already existing terrain, the excavating “footprint” left on the environment will be significantly smaller than starting from scratch.  The hotel will contain a naturally lit atrium and green roof.  This green roof will use geothermal heat as electricity and a heat source.  The environmental considerations don’t stop here, however.  The surrounding area on the ledge of the basin will be engulfed with a variety of vegetation.  All of these environmental factors will help the Great Britain civil engineers working on the project, maintain a positive image in the public’s eyes.

Artist's rendering of the hotel at night.

In addition to civil engineers’ concern for the environment during projects, civil engineers possess other values.  These include meeting deadlines on time and meeting them with precision.  This precision allows civil engineers to stay a step above the rest as professionals in their technical career fields.  The engineers behind the Songjiang Hotel project are undoubtedly experts in their career fields.  It is important to realize that one other important area of value to engineers is collaboration.  Referring back to the example of the Parthenon and the Burj Khalifa, I guarantee these were not one man’s or woman’s effort.  Behind every skyscraper, Girder Bridge, and dam, there exists a team of skilled engineers and other professionals.  These people work together to complete a task, no matter how small or large-scale it might be.  Simply put, this project is a team effort, and when completed, will be the next engineering marvel of the world!

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All Pictures: http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/10/construction-of-amazing-underground.html