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The team behind the construction of Burj Dubai, on course to be the world’s tallest building on completion, is set to break the world record for the
highest pumping of concrete.
Burj Dubai developers Emaar
Properties is confident the record for pumping concrete vertically, which currently stands at 448 metres, will fall within the next few months. The present record is held by the
508-metre-high Taipei 101 building in Taiwan.
The
Burj Dubai currently 119 levels and over 400-metres high and is on course to replace Taipei 101 as
the world’s tallest building.
To date, 267,426 cubic metres of reinforced concrete and 49,684 tonnes of reinforcing steel have been used in the construction of Burj Dubai, the
final height of which remains a closely guarded secret.
Usual surveying techniques using lasers to monitor the verticality of the structure were not viable in the case of the
Burj Dubai due to lasers’ limited range of around 400 - 500 metres. Instead the Burj Dubai construction team
is using GPS for this purpose.
The team is
also using airlocks to combat the ‘chimney effect’, which typically affects very tall buildings with high contrasts
between interior and exterior temperatures. If left unremedied, the cool air inside the building during Dubai’s hot summer months would sink
creating high pressure at the bottom and causing problems such as stuck doors and whistling sounds, however airlocks prevent this by
controlling airflow.
Greg Sang, Assistant Director - Projects,
Emaar Properties has worked on the Burj Dubai project for two-and-a-half years and previously was part of the team constructing the tallest building in
Hong Kong, the 420-metre-high Two International Finance Centre.
“It’s always exciting to create landmark buildings, something which becomes an icon for a city,” he said. “I’m lucky in the sense that my work
involves creating something physical, and I get a great sense of satisfaction from being able to look back at a project and recall that I was
involved in its creation.”
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