Tower over Chicago’s streets
6th July 2009
The Sears Tower in Chicago, the tallest building in America, has opened a new glass viewing deck.
Dubbed The Ledge, the vertigo-inducing five-sided box juts out around 1.2m (4ft) from the Skydeck on the 103rd floor of the tower. It’s nearly 400m (1,300ft) above the city’s streets below.
The box is made from 3.8cm (1.5in) thick glass and can hold up to 5 tonnes in weight.
Ingeniously, The Ledge can be retracted into the building for cleaning.
The Ledge was inspired by visitors leaving prints of their heads on the glass of the Skydeck’s windows as they tried to see the streets below.
The Sears Tower, which opened in 1973, is the fourth tallest building in the world, behind Taipei 101, Shanghai’s World Financial Centre and Malaysia’s Petronas Towers.
The Sears Tower will be renamed the Willis Tower this month, much to the consternation of many locals, when the insurance company Willis moves in.
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