Saudi Arabia To Build World's Tallest Skycraper
DUBAI, long champion of all things biggest,
longest and most expensive, will soon have some
competition from neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest
building, could be stripped of its Guinness title if
Saudi Arabia succeeds in its plans to construct
the even larger Kingdom Tower in Jeddah — a
prospect looking more likely as work begins next
week, according to Construction Weekly.
Consultants Advanced Construction Technology
Services have recently announced testing
materials to build the 3,280-feet (1 kilometer)
skyscraper (the Burj Khalifa, by comparison,
stands at a meeker 2,716 feet, or 827 meters).
The Kingdom Tower, estimated to cost $1.23
billion, would have 200 floors and overlook the
Red Sea. Building it will require about 5.7 million
square feet of concrete and 80,000 tons of steel,
according to the Saudi Gazette.
Building a structure that tall, particularly on the
coast, where saltwater could potentially damage
it, is no easy feat. The foundations, which will be
200 feet (60 meters) deep, need to be able to
withstand the saltwater of the nearby ocean. As a
result, Advanced Construction Technology
Services will test the strength of different
concretes.
Wind load is another issue for buildings of this
magnitude. To counter this challenge, the tower
will change shape regularly.
“Because it changes shape every few floors, the
wind loads go round the building and won’t be as
extreme as on a really solid block,” Gordon Gill
explained to Construction Weekly. Gill is a
partner at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill
Architecture, the design architects for the project.
Delivering the concrete to higher floors will also
be a challenge. Possibly, engineers could use
similar methods to those employed when
building the Burj Khalifa; 6 million cubic feet of
concrete was pushed through a single pump,
usually at night when temperatures were low
enough to ensure that it would set.
Though ambitious, building the Kingdom Tower
should be feasible, according to Sang Dae Kim,
the director of the Council on Tall Buildings.
“At this point in time we can build a tower that is
one kilometer, maybe two kilometers. Any higher
than that and we will have to do a lot of
homework,” he told Construction Weekly.
Quick Fact about the project:
It is expected that construction of the tower will
require 5.7 million square feet of concrete and
80,000 tons of steel.
For buildings of this stature, wind load could
also put stress on the structure. To battle this, the
design of the structure will change every few
floors.
There are plans for a 98-foot sky terrace on the
157th floor. When completed, it will be the
highest terrace in the world.
The structure will overlook the Red Sea, posing
additional challenges to the building process. It’s
particularly important that the foundations —
200 feet deep — won’t be affected by saltwater
from the ocean.
Like the Burj Khalifa, the Kingdom Tower will have
a flower-shaped footprint.
The project is expected to cost $1.2 billion.
Engineers will also need to design a pump to help
deliver concrete to high levels.
cording to Construction Weekly, construction will
start on the Kingdom Tower — slated to be the
world’s tallest at 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) tall —
next week
longest and most expensive, will soon have some
competition from neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest
building, could be stripped of its Guinness title if
Saudi Arabia succeeds in its plans to construct
the even larger Kingdom Tower in Jeddah — a
prospect looking more likely as work begins next
week, according to Construction Weekly.
Consultants Advanced Construction Technology
Services have recently announced testing
materials to build the 3,280-feet (1 kilometer)
skyscraper (the Burj Khalifa, by comparison,
stands at a meeker 2,716 feet, or 827 meters).
The Kingdom Tower, estimated to cost $1.23
billion, would have 200 floors and overlook the
Red Sea. Building it will require about 5.7 million
square feet of concrete and 80,000 tons of steel,
according to the Saudi Gazette.
Building a structure that tall, particularly on the
coast, where saltwater could potentially damage
it, is no easy feat. The foundations, which will be
200 feet (60 meters) deep, need to be able to
withstand the saltwater of the nearby ocean. As a
result, Advanced Construction Technology
Services will test the strength of different
concretes.
Wind load is another issue for buildings of this
magnitude. To counter this challenge, the tower
will change shape regularly.
“Because it changes shape every few floors, the
wind loads go round the building and won’t be as
extreme as on a really solid block,” Gordon Gill
explained to Construction Weekly. Gill is a
partner at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill
Architecture, the design architects for the project.
Delivering the concrete to higher floors will also
be a challenge. Possibly, engineers could use
similar methods to those employed when
building the Burj Khalifa; 6 million cubic feet of
concrete was pushed through a single pump,
usually at night when temperatures were low
enough to ensure that it would set.
Though ambitious, building the Kingdom Tower
should be feasible, according to Sang Dae Kim,
the director of the Council on Tall Buildings.
“At this point in time we can build a tower that is
one kilometer, maybe two kilometers. Any higher
than that and we will have to do a lot of
homework,” he told Construction Weekly.
Quick Fact about the project:
It is expected that construction of the tower will
require 5.7 million square feet of concrete and
80,000 tons of steel.
For buildings of this stature, wind load could
also put stress on the structure. To battle this, the
design of the structure will change every few
floors.
There are plans for a 98-foot sky terrace on the
157th floor. When completed, it will be the
highest terrace in the world.
The structure will overlook the Red Sea, posing
additional challenges to the building process. It’s
particularly important that the foundations —
200 feet deep — won’t be affected by saltwater
from the ocean.
Like the Burj Khalifa, the Kingdom Tower will have
a flower-shaped footprint.
The project is expected to cost $1.2 billion.
Engineers will also need to design a pump to help
deliver concrete to high levels.
cording to Construction Weekly, construction will
start on the Kingdom Tower — slated to be the
world’s tallest at 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) tall —
next week
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