Wednesday, April 20, 2005

World's tallest tower begins ascent

burjdubai.jpg Holy freakin' crap.

The Burj Dubai building (Arabic for "Dubai Tower") has started to rise in earnest, marking a major milestone in the construction of what will be the world's tallest building:

“This is a very significant moment in the construction of Burj Dubai,” said Issam Galadari, Executive Director, International Projects, Emaar. “Over the next couple of years, Burj Dubai will rise one floor every week and people driving along Sheikh Zayed road will be able to witness its progress.”
Upon completion, the tower is expected to reach 160 stories into the sky. The developer, a company called Emaar, isn't releasing the building's final height, but estimates range from 2,300 to nearly 3,000 feet. That's over half a mile, folks, more than twice as tall as the Empire State Building. The tower will have a hotel on the lowest 37 floors, followed by more than 60 floors of apartments, with another 60 or so floors of office suites above that. Cost estimates range from $1-2 billion. Sweet.

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