ABOUT BURJ KHALIFA
The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world. At a cost of 1.5 billion it is designed like a desert flower- Hymenocallis. It has won 17 awards like, tallest freestanding structure, tallest structure ever built, building with most floors, etc. Burj Khalifa is 2722 feet tall with 163 floors. The Burj khalifa was given a special “Y” shape so it doesn’t fall or twist. It was supposed to be called Burj Dubai but later the king of Dubai decided to call it Burj Khalifa in honor of the president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan. More than 1.9 million people visit the Burj Khalifa each year. |
ARCHITECTURE & FACTS
The stunning architecture of Burj Khalifa is a wonder by itself. To build a structure with great height, many safety features have to be taken into consideration. Special care has to be taken for safety during extreme events, such as fire, severe storms, earthquakes, high uv radiation at heights etc. Few of the amazing facts of the building are listed below: 1. Concrete Buttressed Core: To rise to such great height, buildings require proper structural support. 31400 metric tons of concrete was used to build the Burj Khalifa. It was given a special “Y” shape so that the building could deflect the wind in certain directions. This way it wouldn’t create wind vortices that could make the building fall. One problem the engineers faced when they built the Burj Khalifa was the foundation. The rock underneath the Burj Khalifa is weak and the building could sink, so the people that built it had to make concrete columns. Then the problem was that if they make a huge hole it will cave in immediately, so they had to put a special substance called polyvinyl slurry. It can push the rock fragments to the side of the borehole. After that they pour in concrete which displaces the slurry and then hardens. They had to create 200 of these piles to stop the Burj Khalifa from sinking. 2. Earthquake Resistance: The Burj Khalifa has the ability to withstand earthquakes up to a 7.0 magnitude. In addition, motion sensors located throughout the building detect and report unusual structural movement which could mean there is an earthquake. It has a strong elastic covering to protect the Burj Khalifa from earthquakes. 3. Conquer The Wind: The Burj Khalifa has been specially designed to deflect the wind in certain ways so it doesn’t create wind vertices that could make the building collapse. Even with these special designs the building will sway up to two meters. 4. The World’s Fastest Elevators: There are 57 elevators that go 40 miles per hour. It has powerful steel clamps to protect the elevators from falling. Around 12-14 passengers can travel in one elevator. The elevators are located in the building’s central core. 5. Fire Resistance: If there is a fire people don’t get out, they go to a refuge area which is at every 25 floors. The refuge room can resist a fire and smoke for 2 hours until help arrives. It has a lot of fresh oxygen pumped by powerful tubes. There are a lot of fire alarms, sprinklers, high powered fans, and more fire detection sensors located in all rooms throughout the building. 6. Window Technology: High structures like the Burj Khalifa have to control extreme heat to protect its residents. The special windows reflect daily solar heat. It is coated with a thin layer of metal, which deflects ultra-violet radiation but it is useless against infrared radiation. So, the inner pane is coated with a thin layer of silver, which keeps the infrared rays out. |