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Monday 30 Nov 2015 - 21:30 Makkah mean time-18-2-1437
Jeddah, (IINA) - Saudi Arabia's government stated on Sunday that Jeddah Economic Company and Saudi Arabia's Alinma Investment have signed a financing deal for $2.2 billion to renovate Jeddah City and build a sky-piercing tower, which will become the world's tallest building, CNN reported.
The tower, which is expected to be completed by 2020, is currently built up to the 26th floor. It is estimated to be 1 kilometer tall, 173 meters higher than the current tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa or Khalifa Tower in Dubai.
"With this deal, we will reach new, as yet unheard of highs in real estate development, and will fulfill the company's objective of creating a world-class urban center that offers an advanced lifestyle, so that Jeddah may have a new iconic landmark that attracts people from all walks of society with comprehensive services and a multitude of uses", said Mounib Hammoud, Chief Executive Officer of Jeddah Economic Company.
The building will boast 200 floors and overlook the Red Sea. Its construction will require about 5.7 million square feet of concrete and 80,000 tons of steel, according to Saudi Gazette.
Experts say that building a structure that tall on the coast where saltwater could potentially damage it is no easy feat. The foundations, which will be 200 feet (60 meters) deep, need to be able to withstand the saltwater of the nearby ocean. As a result, Advanced Construction Technology Services will test the strength of different concretes.
Wind load is another issue for buildings of this magnitude. To counter this challenge, the tower will change shape regularly.
"Because it changes shape every few floors, the wind loads go round the building and won't be as extreme as on a really solid block", Gordon Gill explained to Construction Weekly. Gill is a partner at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the design architects for the project.
Director of the Council on Tall Buildings noted that building the Kingdom Tower should be feasible. "At this point of time we can build a tower that is one kilometer, maybe two kilometers. Any higher than that and we will have to do a lot of homework", he told Construction Weekly.
AG/IINA
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