The Burj Dubai

The Burj Dubai, at 818m (or 824m? ) the tallest free-standing structure in the world by Emaar Properties of Dubai will be inaugurated tomorrow, Jan 04, 2010 (construction had begun on Sept 21, 2004)

The date Jan 04, 2010 is specifically chosen to mark the fourth anniversary of the accession to the throne of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum as the Ruler of Dubai.

The exact height of the Burj Dubai is still subject to speculation as it is being kept confidential only to be made known by Emaar after the inauguration. However, it surpassed the two previously held records of:

1) a TV mast (held by the KVLY-TV mast in Blanchard, North Dakota),at 629m and
2) the tallest free-standing structure, (previously held by the Toronto’s CN Tower) at 553m

Other high-rise buildings are not anywhere near it.

Two local dailies carried a news item on the Burj Dubai, one yesterday and the other this morning (there may be others that I may have missed, though). It is therefore superfluous to repeat all of the record breaking numbers associated with the Burj Dubai, which are many and are very intriguing to say the least.

Among them which make for quick reference are the:

Highest number of storeys in the world
Highest occupied floor in the world
Highest outdoor observation deck in the world
Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world
Tallest service elevator in the world and many others.

This is apart from other superlatives heard before on Dubai, i.e. the biggest building, the biggest Mall, the largest airport, the tallest hotel, (the Burj Al Arab, the only 7-star hotel in the world) and the richest horse race (leave it to the Arabs).

There is however one significant item (though mentioned elsewhere before) that needs mentioning again. It is the Malaysian connection, which should be a shining example of our rallying call of ‘Malaysia Boleh’. It is the direct involvement of Eversendai, a Malaysian company associated with steel structure construction.

Eversendai Corporation, had its beginnings in the high-rise building construction of the then Dayabumi in K.Lumpur. This was followed with strings of jobs through the years locally and in Singapore until they landed the ‘biggie’, the steel works for the Petronas Twin Towers. When the Koreans through the primary builder the South Korean Samsung Engineering & Construction, (who also built the Taipei 101 and the Petronas Twin Towers) were awarded the Burj Dubai, they naturally brought in Eversendai and renewed the relationship again.

According to Datuk A.K. Nathan, the Group MD as quoted by Bernama last year, “ the final 260m of the soaring tower was an all-steel structure, and Eversendai had the privilege of putting it up successfully. In fact, we're the first company in the world to have worked above 700m. No one in the world has worked above this height,"

Can you beat that?