The Spinnaker Tower and St Pancras Station Essay

The Spinnaker Tower and St Pancras Station - Essay Example The notable difference between these two projects is that the development of the St. Pancras project was an example of a lean construction while the development of the Spinnaker Tower went through several obstacles before the project reached completion. The Spinnaker Tower stands at a height of 170 metres, towering over Portsmouth harbour. The notable aspect of the construction is its representation as a sail blowing in the wind, and this objective was achieved by using two steel arcs. The construction material used was a composite mixture of steel and concrete, and there are three different viewing levels. It is built upon a 3m thick pile cap and 84 piles, with two steel cross bows rising from the ground and connecting with the central structure, comprising two inclined, hexagonal concrete shafts. Two cross bows rise elegantly from the ground, cross between the shafts and connect at the top of the tower, with aerofoil shaped ribs spanning between the bows to give it the distinctive look of the spinnaker sail. The Spinnaker Tower is situated on the Gunwharf Quays and offers 350 degree views of Portsmouth harbour, the South Coast and the Isle of Wight. The Tower was opened up to the public on 18th October 2005 and has received over 600,000 visitors within the first year of its opening. The concrete that has been used to build the tower is of an amount sufficient to fill five and a half Olympic sized swimming pools. Project management has been defined as the process by which projects are defined, planned, monitored, controlled and delivered in order to achieve the desired benefits (www.apm.org.uk). The Spinnaker Tower project was initiated in September 1995, when the proposal to erect a millennium tower was mooted for the renaissance of Portsmouth harbour and approved by the Millennium Commission. There were several problems associated with the development of this project that cost 23 million pounds. At the outset, there were