Saudi Arabia to begin building world’s tallest skyscraper

The Telegraph ^ | 18 Apr 2014 | Ben Lazarus

[MinorityRepublican]

Saudi Arabia is scheduled to begin building the world’s tallest tower next week, which will soar 1km in to the sky when completed.

The Kingdom Tower in the coastal city of Jeddah will measure 3,280 feet (1km), some 568 feet (173 meters) taller than the current Guinness world record holder, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which stands at 2,716 feet (827 metres).

At an estimated cost of $1.23bn, the tower in Saudi will require approximately 5.7 million square feet of concrete, 80,000 tonnes of steel for its 200 floors and will take five years to complete, according to The Saudi Gazette.

The tower, overlooking the Red Sea, will feature a five-star Four Seasons hotel, apartments, office space and an observatory.

But constructing the tower is not without its many challenges.

[varyouga]

It’ll definitely be designed and built by top firms from the USA, UK, Japan and/or Korea

[RichInOC]

The Tower of Bab Allah.

I didn’t think they had erections that big in Saudi.

[Cruz_West_Paul2016]

varyouga to Cruz_West_Paul2016
It’ll definitely be designed and built by top firms from the USA, UK, Japan and/or Korea
****************************
and maybe one of the 57 states?

[EricT.]

Better they spend money on this than suicide bombers and madrases.

[EricT.]

Hello, who do you think is building it ?

From what I saw in the Middle East, I'd say Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, Koreans, and Filipinos.

Arabs don't work, they hire others. (Then confiscate their passports and never let them quit.)

[Terry L Smith]

How Quaint!
A ‘tower of babble’, in a land of unintelligible phlegm removing nasal and throat soundings.

(There! I said it, and I meant it!)

[Dartman]

You think they’re trying to compensate for something?

Heh ...heh ...heh.

[2111USMC]

The one in Dubai is so tall you can view the curvature of the earth.

[ExCTCitizen]

Can we fly an airplane into it? Please...

[ExCTCitizen]

My thoughts exactly...

[Nepeta]

Skyscrapers only make sense when land is expensive and the only reasonable expansion is to build up. A 1 km skyscraper in a desert is absurd vanity.

Interesting that none of these Arab oil states has established a world class teaching/research hospital, a world class scientific research park, etc. All they build are mosques and monuments to their own vanity.

[lavaroise]

Wing Suit gallore?

[Rockpile]

So lead architects Smith and Gill are a Chicago based company are they?
Surely there cannot be any kind of payoff for a guy who likes to bow a lot. At least I hope that is not the case.

[MinuteGal]

Will they allow women in it unaccompanied by a male relative?

Leni

[TurboZamboni]

We still lead in most debt.

So we got that goin for us.

[Graybeard58]

the tower in Saudi will require approximately 5.7 million square feet of concrete,

That's dumb, it gives you no info about how much concrete will be used. Concrete is usually measured in cubic yards.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Pretty obvious copy of Frank Lloyd Wright’s plan for his “Mile-High” Tower.

[hattend]

Bet it won’t take 10+ years to complete, either

[Moonman62]

All this muss and fuss over Saudi Arabia building a skyscraper with our oil money.

I think most of their trade is with Europe, and ours is mostly with Canada and Mexico.

[AppyPappy]

I was thinking it needed Gabriel blowing a trumpet on top of it.