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Dubai: The Dh3.67 billion Burj Dubai tower hit the giddy heights of 75 levels this week. Currently going up at one level every three days, approximately 125 floors remain to built.
Click here for Burj Dubai district layout (pdf)
When the tower is completed (scheduled for 2008) it will be the tallest tower in the world, peaking above the Sears Tower in Chicago, Malaysia's Petro-nas Towers and Taipei 101 in Taiwan.
As the centrepiece of Emaar Properties' Dh73 billion Downtown Burj Dubai district, the tower will include a hotel, recreational facilities and entertainment venues, serviced residences and apartments.
Other features include a cigar club, a library and an observation platform set a stomach-churning 442 metres above ground.
Designed by Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Burj Dubai is being constructed by South Korea's high-rise construction experts Samsung Corporation, while Turner Construction International is the project and construction manager.
Since construction began in January 2005, 216,000 cubic metres of concrete and 39,700 metric tonnes of reinforced steel have been used. Approximately 3,000 workers in total are currently working on-site.
"Burj Dubai is poised to become a global icon and engineering marvel, as it sets a new benchmark for architectural design," said Emaar Properties chairman Mohammad Ali Al Abbar.
Not content to produce the world's tallest tower, Emaar also launched Dubai Mall on the 500 acre Downtown Burj Dubai site. Once complete it will the world's largest shopping mall, bringing more than 3.7 million square feet of leaseable retail space onto the market. It will include an aquarium, a fashion show arena, a gold souq, an ice rink and 16,000 car parking spaces.
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