My Longkang

Pic courtesy of the BBC

Malaysia’s Petronas Towers at 452m (1,483 ft) will soon go one rung lower in its position on the list of the tallest buildings in the world. A new building in Dubai, the Burj Dubai is expected to be more than 690m tall when finished in 2008.

Uncompleted, it has already surpassed other existing structures in terms of height. It is now taller than Taiwan’s 508m (1,667ft) Taipei 101. Eventually it will reach 693m (2,275ft) tall.

“Burj Dubai has now reached 141 storeys, more storeys than any other building in the world. There is speculation that, spire included, the final height could be more than 800m.

It will be the symbol of Dubai, have more than 160 floors, 56 elevators, apartments, shops, swimming pools, spas, corporate suites, Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani’s first hotel, and an observation platform on the 124th floor.

The record for highest man-made structure is currently held by the wire-assisted KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, US, which is 628m (2,072ft) tall.

Building began on the structure on 21 September 2004, and is expected to be completed in 2008.

Previous skyscraper record-holders:
New York’s Empire State Building- 381m (1,250 ft)
Shanghai’s Jin Mao Building- 421m (1,381 ft)-
Chicago’s Sears Tower- 442m (1,451 ft)
Malaysia’s Petronas Towers at 452m (1,483 ft).