DUBAI, April 7 (KUNA) -- Dubai-based Emaar Properties (PJSC) announced on Monday, that its structural miracle "Burj Dubai" has reached a new height of 629 metres (2063.6 feet).
Burj Dubai claimed the world's highest man-made structure after over-taking KVLY-TV in Blanchard, North Dakota, US, a television transmitting mast, which was completed in 1963 with a height of 628.8 metres (2036 feet).
The structure previously set the record for the world's tallest building after soaring past the Taipei 101 Hotel in Taiwan, 508 metres, and Toronto's CN Tower in Canada, 553.3 metres.
PJSC refused to comment on the final height Burj Dubai will reach upon its completion in December 2008.
Chairman of Emaar Properties Mohammed Al-Abbar said in a statement, that this will put Dubai on the map, referring to the 160-floor structure that achieves the highest number of floors contained in a building and sets a new standard in construction and architectural engineering.
The project is aided by more than 5,000 dedicated engineers, specialists and construction workers from all over the world, who have gathered together, presenting a new icon in international standards, he said.
An estimated 330,000 square metres of cement, 39,000 metric tonnes of steel rebar and 142,000 square metres of glass will be consumed in the construction of Burj Dubai.
Burj Dubai which was designed by Adrian Smith, an architect working under Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM) the Chicago-based architectural and engineering firm, stands in the middle of the Burj Dubai City project, which is estimated at a cost of AED 73 billion (USD 20 billion) and will include luxury compounds, commercial malls and the first hotel by retailer Giorgio Armani.
Copyright Kuwait News Agency 2008.
