THE BURJ OF HEIGHTS

The Burj Tower - is definitely and presently the world's highest tower.  What made this structure possible still marvels me.  I could only try to study or describe this wonderful achievement from here.  The structure is built in downtown Dubai and is described to be part of their very important development scheme.  In short, the building is known as "The Burj" or "The Burj Tower". The duration of its construction only lasted for forty seven months. (February 2005 - December 2008) That's only less than four years of construction.

The project construction cost reached Eight Hundred Seventy Six Million Dollars (876,000,000 USD). The tower has above one hundred sixty (160) floors, and has a height of above eight hundred (800) meters making it the highest structure in the world.The Burj is used for hotel, residence and office and is owned by EMAAR Properties.  The tower has a level exclusively for an observatory and for communications. A pinnacle and a spire is found on the top floors.

The Burj was designed by the architects at Skidmore, Owings & Merill (SOM) and is supported by a company of project managers, supervisions, and surveyors.  The Tower has a gross area of two hundred seventy nine thousand square meters (279,000 sq. meters).  The overall quantity of concrete used for the building is two hundred sixty thousand cubic meters (260,000 cu. m.) and overall rebar quantity of thirty four thousand tons (34,000 tons).

It is not so known and described that the building's floor plan is Y-shaped.  Said to be ideal for residential program.  Thus, it maximizes window parameters.  At first, for me the plans were shaped like a three-winged propeller or a leaf.  And so the core is buttressed.  Three wings arranged around a central core having each wing supporting the other two. Makes me think of "the power of three". Seismic and wind activity only governs near the top typically.

I know I heard from somewhere, and I need to confirm it someday, that what makes the construction fast and efficient was the use of the "kangaroo crane".   Nonetheless from this source, it was not mentioned to be so.  But the equipment used for cranage and hoisting are three FAVCO tower cranes each weighing from 11 to 25 tons. Cranes were installed  and dismantled in different methods. For hoisting, the structure used fourteen (14) cages on three phases including the jump hoists.  The structure also used four concrete High Pressure and Secondary Pumps.  And also they used Concrete Placing Booms for center and wing cores.  All of this gives the basic facts of its construction.  I could only imagine the thrill of having this structure designed and built for the Dubai environment.  It is again the tallest of them all.

It is surely the greatest if not the highest and tallest built achievement. But I still have to point out and tell you.  I was never there.