TheJacobMail

Saratoga,CaliforniaMonday,March18,20132pages
fivecents
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A
fterdesigningBurjKhalifa
(828meters)intheUAE.
AmericanarchitectAdrianSmith
willbeatallrecordswiththe
TowerJeddahinSaudiArabia.
Whatisthebiggestchallengein
thistypeofconstruction?
AfterdesigningBurjKhalifa(828
meters)intheUAE.American
architectAdrianSmithwillbeat
allrecordswiththeTowerJeddah
inSaudiArabia.Whatisthe
biggestchallengeinthistypeof
construction?
_______________________________

Pharaonicbuildingtocomplete
the167habitablefloorsofthe
TowerJeddah,itwilltakemore
than63monthsofwork,80,000
tonsofsteel(abovetheweightof
6Eiffeltowers)and500million
cubicmetersofconcrete.Six
hugecraneswillbeused,the
largestofwhichcangoupto18
tonsofmaterialataspeedof44
m/min.31,000glasspanels
equipthefacade.Therewillbe
5,654doors.Setuponeachother,
theyreachaheightof16,368
kilometers,1.8timesEverest.

Headline
TheKingdomTower,Kingdom
TowerinArabic,is
buildingskyscrapersinJeddah,
SaudiArabia,whichreach1001m
high.Ataprojectedcostof4.6

billionSaudiRiyals,itisfully
JeddahTower
fundedbyPrinceAlWaleedbin
___________________________________
Talal'sKingdomHolding
AdrianSmith:"Finda
Companyvia.Itwillbethefirst
synchronizationbetweenthe
stepinadevelopmentcalledthe
architecture,structure,technique
CityoftheKingdom(Kingdom
andmechanicsEnsurethatallfits City,)whichwillbe
locatedalongtheRedSeanorthof
perfectlytoallowmuchspaceas
possibletothosewhowilloperate Jeddah.Ifrealizedasplanned,the
towerwillreachan
itandliveit.therewillbeoffices,
unprecedentedheight,becoming
apartments,ahotel."
theworld'stallestbuilding,in

additiontothefirststructureto
exceedonekilometer.
PrinceAlWalidwanteda
heliport,wherethisprominent
roundterraceintheinitialplans.
Butthehelicopterpilotsdidnot
feelcomfortablebecauseofthe
forceofthewindsatthisheight.
Soweconvincedtheprinceto
makethehighestobservatoryin
theworld.

Facewindsof150km/hAtthe
topChammalwindstormscan
reach150km/handthebuilding
swaywillbeabout2meters.
157thstage,morethan634
meters,theamplitudewillalready
be1meter.Toremedythis,the
movementofthespireofthe
towerwillbecontrolledbya
damper(photoabove)andinthe
residentialfloors,thewindwill
bemitigatedbytheaerodynamic
shapeofthebuilding.

Theheighthasalwaysbeena
symbolofprestige.Inthebiblical
accounts,Babeltowerreachedto
heaven.Othernamesareknown
toall:Eiffel,Pisa,BigBen...and
sadly,thetwintowersofthe
WorldTradeCenter.Sincethe
beginningofurbansociety,the
statusandroleofheightbuildings
havelargelyevolved.Untilthe
latenineteenthcentury,the
towerswereexclusivelyreserved
forthelocationofahigher
power,whetherpoliticalor
religious.Thetwentiethcentury
markedthearrivalontheNorth
Americancontinentforthefirst
lapshabitablethetertiarysector.
The"skyscrapers"thenwerethe
symboloftheeconomicpowerof
agroup.Theraceforheightand
innovationwaslaunched.Now
thesesteelandglassmonsters
dominateallmajorcitiesofthe
world,asanacceptanceof

Thefastestelevatorsintheworld capitalistideology,morethan
eversymbolizesthestrengthand
TheJeddahTowerisequipped
modernityofanation.Today,the
with59elevators,including5
towersarenotessential.She
doubledeckerand12Escalator.
Theelevatorsthatwillservicethe neverthelessarepartofthe
landscapeoflargecities
observatorywilltravel634
metersin66.5secondsat36km/ worldwide.Eachcontinent,each
countryandeveneachtownhas
h.Itwillstill1minuteand12
itsowncultureandappropriates
secondstoreachthetop.Or
verydifferentlythisurban
climb5512stepsforthe
morphology.
claustrophobic.

Moreover,itisobviousthata
towerhasadvantagesand
disadvantages.Amongthe
advantages,wecanmentionthe
businessspace(landand
functionalbusiness),
participationinurbancentralities
(concentrationofactivities,
reducedtravel),theabilityto
integratethefeaturesinthecity
center,thesymbolicandthe
imageitcanbecoated,orthe
diversityofscaleitbringsinto

perspective.Amongthe
disadvantagesarepointingthe

constructioncostandexpenseof
highoperating(duetonecessarily
presenttechnologiesfortheuse
ofthetower),theimpactonuser
comfort(windeffects,shadow,
confinement),difficulties
realization(regulatoryframework
andfunctionalspecializationof
investors).

Thetechnicalandtechnological
advancesregardingconstruction
ofthetowersareimportant.
Engineering,developmentof
calculationandsimulationtools
usedtobuildhugeprojects
(towers,bridges,stadiums,etc.)
andtheriskofcollapseare
normallyprovidedbyengineers,
especiallyinearthquakezones.
"Thequalityandaccuracyof
calculationsembodimentand
constructionareveryimportant.
Ifallprecautionsaretakenby
engineers,thereislittlerisk.
Collapsesoftenarrivewhenthe
buildingstructureisdamaged
afterafire,forexample.The
problemofhighriseismainly
arounddamagethatcouldcausea
collapse."

Thespacesavingisnot
necessarilythefinalgoal,
althoughitisoftenusedasan
argumentinatowerconstruction
project.Bynature,manseeksto
risemoreandmoreabove.The
currentrecordisheldbytheBurj
Khalifa828metersfromexcess
totheheavens,abovethecityof
DubaiintheUnitedArab
Emirates.Buthumanitydoesnot
intendtostopthereway...There
istheKingdomTowerbeingbuilt
inJeddah(SaudiArabia)tobe
completedin2020andreaching

1007meters!"Theverysymbolic
onekilometerwillprobablybe
reached!Personally,Ithinkthe
interestsofthosefoolishenough
projectsandIprefertomakea
mountainhiketoreachsuch
heights,"saystheyoung
researcher.

TheprinceAlwaleedtoldin
2014thatthefoundationsof
skyscrapers,completedonfour
levels,werecompleted,adding:
"Nowweareabouttobuildone
flooreveryfourdays."
Atthisrate,thetowerhadtobe
todaysome90floors,butin
realitywedoisnowat26thFloor
".
TheDirectorGeneralofJeddah
EconomicCompany,Mounib
Hammoud,saidheexpectednow
thattheprojectiscompletedon
time"sincetheagreementwas
signedandthefundsare
guaranteed"tofinancethe
remainingwork.

IntheMiddleEast,especiallyin
MeccaandDubai,isplanningthe
constructionofskyscrapersinthe
frameworkofgiantprojectssuch
asMecca,orinmanybuildings
typesandcolorsasDubai,which
isnowthecitywithbyfarthe
mostskyscrapersplannedor
underconstruction,although
manyofthemwillprobablybe
canceledordelayedbythe
20082009financialcrisis.The
objectiveofDubaiisturningto
masstourism,toreorientits
economyevenwhencarriedby
oil:themostmajorhotelsinthe
worldfinditorfindit.