I had written long back that Burj Dubai has raced past the CN Tower. A couple of months ago the final height of the Burj Dubai was announced after it reached 818 meters (2,684 ft). The height of the Burj Dubai was kept a secret until recently. Of course it was expected to be in the range of 800 meters; so it has lived up to its promise. Burj Dubai as you all know will become the tallest tower once it opens, and it is already the tallest unofficially. At 818 meters it is almost a Kilometer high. I went around the Burj Dubai Downtown area and caught a glimpse of it from right next to the Dubai Mall (one of the largest malls in the world that opened recently). I thought the Burj Dubai Tower looked really tall. The tower can be seen from anywhere in Dubai and can be used as a reference point to navigate your way when you are driving. The construction is 80% complete and the official opening could be the in January 2010 (probably New Year). Currently work on the interiors and some external glass cladding work is in progress. Burj Dubai is likely to retain its position as the tallest structure for a long time. With the ongoing global crisis there might not be any contenders in a long while to beat the record of the Burj Dubai. Nakheel had announced a 1 kilometer tower “Nakheel Harbour & Tower” last year but it either on hold or will not take off due to the ongoing recession.

The building is part of the two square kilometer (0.8 sq miles) development called “Downtown Burj Dubai” at the “First Interchange” along Sheikh Zayed Road. The tower’s architect is Adrian Smith, who worked with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill until 2006. The total budget for the Burj Dubai project is about US$4 billion, and for the entire new “Downtown Burj Dubai”, US$20 billion. The tower is being constructed by a South Korean company, Samsung Engineering & Construction, which also built the Petronas Twin Towers and the Taipei 101.

Close to the Burj Dubai will be a massive fountain system at a cost of US$217 million, illuminated by 6,600 lights and 50 colored projectors, it will be 275 m (900 ft) long and will shoot water 150 m (490 ft) into the air, accompanied by a range of classical to contemporary world music.

I leave a couple of photos that I took recently.

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