Global engineering consultant Aurecon has completed construction of a replica of Paris’s Eiffel Tower in Macau as part of an integrated resort project, The Parisian Macao.
The topping out ceremony for the project was held in the Chinese city last month, which is half the scale of the original 19th century tower in Paris.
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Development for ‘The Parisian Macao’ is underway, which is being built by Sands China, a subsidiary of resorts giant Las Vegas Sands.
Aurecon was involved in the planning and design and had delivered full structural engineering consultancy for the project.
Aurecon Macau Eiffel Tower project leader Dr Alecs Chong said: "The original structural performance criteria for this project was specified at an early stage and largely based on the criteria commonly used for conventional offices or residential buildings.
"However, given that the tower behaves as a slender, open-lattice structure, some of the serviceability performance criteria were too conservative and after consultation with stakeholders, these were subsequently relaxed.
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By GlobalData"So, clear communication between the design and construction teams, supported with sound technical evidence, delivered an outcome that would allow the design team maximum flexibility."
The firm had used Revit software for drafting the tower design, which enabled the team to visually represent the complicated design connections in 3D.
Chong added: "Recreating the Eiffel Tower using modern steel construction technology is vastly different from working with the wrought-iron that features on the original.
"Extensive consideration had to be paid to disguising the modern steel construction, while at the same time achieving a cast-iron lattice appearance.
"And it’s been rewarding to see how the extensive use of advanced techniques such as finite element analysis, 3D drafting and shop drawing preparation have delivered successful solutions for the design, fabrication and erection of the complex lattice geometry on this project."
The replica includes several decorative features of the original tower such as cornice scrolls, balustrades, gussets plates, lattices, staircases and mesh screens around the observation decks.
Image: Macau Eiffel Tower. Photo: courtesy of Sands China Ltd.
