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Every skyscraper is a new challenge even for experienced structural engineering experts. That was also true of the MAIN TOWER. With its innovative construction, the high-rise building is a technical masterpiece.
Whereas the outer walls in many high-rise buildings are designed to be load-bearing (what is called the tube method of construction), the vertical load of the MAIN TOWER is borne by means of the core structure and exterior supports. This was the only way to realize the fully-glazed facade. Like every skyscraper, however, the MAIN TOWER first grew downwards. After the foundation slab of reinforced concrete of up to 3.80 m in thickness had been cast, the building was constructed simultaneously upwards and downwards with what is called construction work under top cover. At times, a new story was constructed every four days.
The MAIN TOWER weighs a total of more than 200,000 tons - making it some twenty times heavier than the Eiffel Tower in Paris. But with its 112 foundation pillars (diameter: 120 to 180 cm), which extend 50 meters into the subsoil, it is firmly rooted in Frankfurt's soil.
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