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Dubai: Just 1,325 days since excavation work started on the site of the $900 million Burj Dubai, the tower is now the world's tallest free-standing structure, surpassing the 553.3 metre CN Tower in Toronto, which held the record since 1976.
Emaar Properties' tower has risen to 150 liveable storeys, the largest number of storeys for any building in the world. It has already surpassed Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which at 508 metres (1,667 feet) held the title since it opened in 2004.
More than 320,800 cubic metres of reinforced concrete and 63,300 tonnes of reinforcing steel have been used in its construction so far.
Approximately 5,000 consultants and construction workers are employed on site, and the world's fastest high-capacity construction hoists, with a speed of up to two metres per second move men and materials.
"The Burj Dubai is setting new world records in construction of super-tall buildings, and the accomplishment of being the world's tallest free-standing structure is another defining moment for the multinational team of over 5,000 people who are using their collective intelligence to make this iconic structure a symbol of human achievement," said Mohammad Ali Al Abbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, the project developer.
"This architectural and construction master-piece is truly an inspirational human achievement that celebrates the 'can do' mindset of Dubai."
The tower is now entering a new phase in its development. Emaar said structural steel work for will begin soon, while the cladding of the concrete building with reflective glazing, aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrel panels and vertical stainless tubular fins will continue.
Last year, Emaar officials admitted that the tower was "a couple of months" behind schedule, mainly due to the bankruptcy of Swiss-based curtain walling giant Schmidlin, the parent company of Schmidlin, which was contracted to install the tower's exterior materials.
But Emaar officials have consistently said the building will meet its scheduled fourth quarter 2008 completion date.
Once completed, Dubai's landmark tower will be the tallest structure in the world in all four of the criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The council measures height to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, to the top of the roof, and to the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flag pole.
Burj Dubai is billed to scale past the KVLY/KTHI television mast in Blanchard, North Dakota, which at 628.8 metres (2,063 feet) is the world's tallest mast and technically qualifies to be the world's tallest structure, even though it is stabilised with a series of guy-wires.
However, the tower's final height and storey count remain a secret.
In an earlier interview with Gulf News, Greg Sang, Emaar's assistant director of projects and the man overseeing the entire $20 billion Downtown Burj Dubai development, said the tower will be more than 700 metres tall and will rise to an unspecified figure above 160 floors.
Burj Dubai will be at the centre of Downtown Burj Dubai, a $20 billion, 500-acre development. The tower will feature the world's first Armani Hotel and Armani Residences.
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