Burj Dubai team set to break world record for highest vertical pumping of concrete.

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3 Apr 2007

The project 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. Greg Sang, Assistant Director - Projects with Burj Dubai 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.

Burj Dubai, that now has reached 119 levels and stands over 400 metres high, 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, as far as Sang is aware, the first in the world to use GPS for this purpose.

The project team is 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 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."