The Capital Gate in Abu Dhabi is the furthest leaning tower in the world. How far does it lean? Let’s look at the universally known Leaning Tower of Pisa for comparison. It leans at 3.97 degrees, which seems like a pretty good amount. The Capital Gate leans at 18 degrees, or over 4x more. Below is a comparison of other notable leaning buildings.
So how did they accomplish this feat? The Capital Gate was built using a pre-cambered core and 490 piles drilled 20-30 meters underground with the core placed marginally off-center. Considered an engineering breakthrough, the floor plates were designed to stack vertically up to the 12th floor, then staggered, one over the other by 300mm to 1400mm. The external skeleton uses a steel diagrid consisting of 790 nodes, with every element geometrically unique. 15,000 cubic meters of concrete and 17,000 tons of steel were used during the process. In 2010, the Capital Gate was certified by the Guinness World Records as the world’s furthest leaning man made tower.
