Currently, as landmark buildings of cities, super high-rise structures have become symbols of urban modernization. However, it cannot be denied that constructing such buildings is no easy feat; due to their nature, they are expensive to build and functionally complex, and because they accommodate a large number of people, the requirements for safety and security are extremely high, far exceeding those of ordinary high-rise buildings. Taking the Shanghai World Financial Center as an example, as a landmark building in Shanghai at that time, with a height of 492 meters, it became the tallest building in Shanghai and was rated by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) as the "Best Tall Building of the Year". In 2018, ten years later, it also received the "16th Annual Global High-rise Award - 'Decade Special Award'" from CTBUH.
The installation of cables in such super high-rise buildings poses very high demands on both the quality of the cables and the installation plans, which can even be described as stringent. Facing these challenges, Far East Cable Co., Ltd., under Far East Smart Energy Co., Ltd. (referred to as: Far East Shares, Stock Code: 600869), through continuous research and innovation, independently developed super high-rise vertical laying cables and lifting equipment, successfully applied in the Shanghai World Financial Center, breaking foreign technological monopolies and achieving complete independent research and development, design, production, and delivery. To date, it has been running safely for 13 years, becoming the best testament to the quality of Far East Cable's super high-rise building cables.
High Construction Difficulty and Technical Gaps
Cables, as the "blood vessels" of buildings, are indispensable, continuously supplying power to the building's power core, so their safety and stability are critical. Especially for super high-rise buildings like the Shanghai World Financial Center, their importance is self-evident. Once a cable problem occurs, unimaginably serious consequences could result.
Compared to general high-rise buildings, super high-rises have higher requirements for electrical design. For example, the small space of vertical shafts for cable installation increases the difficulty of installation, and the heavy weight of the cables themselves may cause damage during long-distance vertical installations, making long-term safety uncertain. These all become pain points in cable design and construction. At the same time, the technology for hoisting cables in super high-rises was controlled by Japanese companies, leaving a technical gap in China's cable industry. At that time, the investor, Mori Building Company, chose Fujikura's technology and decided to import this batch of 10kV hoisting cables from Japan.
Overcoming Difficulties and Breaking Technological Monopolies Through Innovation
So how did Far East Cable overcome this technical bottleneck and break the Japanese monopoly? It relied on innovation and an indomitable spirit. The founder of Far East Holdings Group, Chairman of the Board, Party Secretary Jiang Xipei once vowed: Landmark buildings standing on Chinese soil must use our own country's cables. Guided by this belief, the Far East Cable technology team, based on power supply design requirements, broke through traditional lifting methods, reduced the weight of the cable itself, improved bending performance, and other technologies, overcoming difficulties one after another, successfully developing super high-rise vertical laying cables and lifting equipment, passing comprehensive performance tests, and ultimately gaining recognition from the investors and constructors of the Shanghai World Financial Center. Among them, the longest cable was 708 meters long, weighing 14 tons, lifted from 131 meters to over 400 meters, passing through underground horizontal sections, vertical sections, and upper-level horizontal sections, which was unprecedented in domestic super high-rise vertical laying construction at that time.
Compared to traditional steel wire-armored cables, the super high-rise vertical laying cables developed by Far East Cable increase the current carrying capacity by about 10-30%, reduce the weight of the cable by 20-30%, and have no intermediate joints throughout the entire cable, greatly enhancing conductivity and safety. Additionally, the vertical section of the cable uses a self-supporting unit, embedding three steel ropes into the vertical segment of the cable and equipping it with a lifting plate. During the lifting process and long-term operation, the steel ropes and lifting plates bear the load, ensuring support regardless of length or weight, effectively guaranteeing the safety of the building's power system.
During installation, the cables hang vertically in the shaft without requiring a bridge rack, equipped with special lifting devices for installation, compact structure, occupying less space, providing safe and reliable load-bearing. This not only effectively solves the installation problems but also saves installation costs and improves overall economic efficiency. Moreover, the cables adopt environmentally friendly designs, featuring excellent halogen-free, flame-retardant, fire-resistant, low smoke emission, and low heat release properties, achieving green, safe, environmentally friendly, intelligent, and economical power distribution for buildings.
Improving Standards and Filling Technical Gaps
Innovation knows no bounds. Through continuous exploration and R&D, Far East Cable has gradually established a complete set of installation standards, serving as the main editor of the "Super High-rise Vertical Laying Cable and Lifting Equipment" group standard of the Architectural Society of China, filling the gaps in industry standards, which holds significant guiding significance for the future development of super high-rise buildings and provides "protection" for the safe operation of many super high-rise buildings, such as CITIC Tower.
For the special situation requiring the continuous safe arrangement of twelve cables within a 450mm wide electrical shaft, Far East Cable created several "world firsts", including an 820-meter special 10kV high-voltage suspended cable laying and a dual-lift plate lifting device, among others, laying a total of 24 suspended cables, totaling 15,132 meters in length and weighing 136.38 tons, ensuring the safe operation of CITIC Tower.
Over the years, Far East Cable has always focused on the design, R&D, production, and sales of smart cable products in the construction sector, actively serving the intelligent development of super high-rise buildings, leading major changes in power supply methods for super high-rises, and contributing Far East technology and solutions to the development of super high-rise buildings.
