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Tue, 09 Feb 2010 | 22:49 GMT
Tue, Feb 09, 2010, 22:49 GMT
 

Burj Dubai cranes to be down by August

Emirates Business 24/7
 
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Emirates Business 24-7, 25 May 2009

The cranes atop the Burj DubaiBurj DubaiLoading... will be dismantled by August this year, according to a senior EmaarEmaarLoading... executive.

"The project is expected to open by the end of the year," said Greg Sang, Project Director at Emaar PropertiesEmaar PropertiesLoading.... "But we are still looking at all of the programming elements. After lowering all the cranes in August, we still have to finish all the fitouts, As of now, the basic core and shell is all finished in Burj DubaiBurj DubaiLoading.... But every floor is at a different stage of being completed."

The groundbreaking for Burj DubaiBurj DubaiLoading... occurred in September 2004 and completion was expected by late 2008. But in June 2008, EmaarEmaarLoading... admitted to a delay, "We believe that a completion date of September 2009 is possible and reasonable for a project of this global magnitude and significance," said Mohamed Ali AlabbarMohamed Ali AlabbarLoading..., Chair?man, Emaar PropertiesEmaar PropertiesLoading....

Meanwhile, the market is rife with speculations about the height of Burj DubaiBurj DubaiLoading... when completed. It is reportedly standing at 818 metres with rumours adrift about the number 888 being the favourite number of EmaarEmaarLoading...'s Chairman. The developer is tight-lipped about the final figure and had officially confirmed that the building has reached 780 metres in height by end-December 2008. "From ground level, to what you see now up to the spire, is more than 800m tall," said Sang in an exclusive interview with Emirates Business.

Web-media and others are also talking about the possibility of raising and lowering the spire like the Taipei 101. This could reverse all speculation about a new height by the end of the year. The spire was visible on the building in the third week of December 2008 and since then a beacon has also been installed on the top.

"That is another rumour that we are not going to comment on. We don't need to raise or lower the spire if it is a windy day. What we have built has been designed for every situation," added Sang. "Yes, it is possible to jack up the spire from the inside of the building. That is how we built it."

So will that change the rumoured height? "We are not going to comment about the future," said Sang.

Burj DubaiBurj DubaiLoading... is part of the $20 billion (Dh73.4bn) Burj DubaiBurj DubaiLoading... development, which includes a shopping mall, hotels and residential buildings. When completed, the building will meet all four criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which classifies the world's tallest structures. CTBUH measures the height of buildings to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flagpole.

"The building has more than 160 floors," said Sang. "The tiers above the floors starting from Tier 24 are the maintenance areas for the spire. We are still working on the project and the cladding is still not finished."

Sang expects to see all the cranes come down in August. "It should be all done by early August. The last crane is coming down slowly because it is still working, while it is lowering itself down. It is lifting up cladding panels," said Sang.

"During construction, we had three big tower cranes of 25 tonne capacity, which we call M1, M2 and M3. The building is reducing in size as you go up. It reached a certain point where they could not fit anymore. We took two of them down and they were dismantled component by component. The last one is still up there and it needs to come down. Right now, it is 700m above ground."

The first process is to bring it to Level 159 (see graphic). "You have a recovery crane on Level 159 called R1. The crane can climb itself down by removing sections of masts - it has a hydraulic system within it. The R1 crane will start to dismantle it component by component. The boom is in sections - around two to three metres long each. It will lower the pieces down to the transfer level 99, which has a deck. The M3 crane will lower them down to the ground. It is the one that was at the top and we moved it down to L99 to help with the operations."

A second recovery crane called the R2 is at SDD5/15. "Once M1 is gone, R2 takes down R1 the same way down to 99 and then down to the ground. The R2 will take it down in the hoist to level 99," said Sang. "At Level 99, it takes down the M3 and then lowers it down to the ground. The R2 goes down the hoist to the ground level and the cranes will be off the Burj DubaiBurj DubaiLoading...."

With a development value of more than $1bn, Burj DubaiBurj DubaiLoading..., a mixed-use development, features two million sq ft of residential and more than 220,000 sq ft of prime business space, in addition to the Armani Hotel Dubai and Armani Residences Dubai.

In just 1,325 days since excavation work started in January 2004, Burj DubaiBurj DubaiLoading... became the tallest free-standing structure in the world. More than 9,800 consultants and skilled construction workers are employed on-site, and the world's fastest high-capacity construction hoists - with a speed of up to two metres per sec (120m/min) - move men and materials. When completed, the tower will have used 330,000 cubic metres of concrete, 39,000 metric tonnes of steel rebar, 142,000 sq m of glass and 22 million man hours.

The design inspiration for Burj DubaiBurj DubaiLoading... is drawn from the desert flower, Hymenocalis, and incorporates patterning systems that are embodied in Islamic architecture.

Construction Schedule
Excavation: Jan 2004
Piling: March 2004
Superstructure: March 2005
Level 100: Jan 2007
Level 110 (tallest structure in the Middle East and Europe): March 2007
Level 141 (world's tallest building): July 2007
Level 150 (world's tallest free-standing structure): Sept 2007
Level 160 (world's tallest man-made structure): April 2008

Project team
Architects and Engineers: Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM)
Designer: Adrian Smith
Main Contractor: South Korea's Samsung Corporation in a joint venture with Besix and Arabtec
Project and Construction Manager: Turner International

By Sona Nambiar

© Emirates Business 24/7 2009

 
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