At 200 floors high, Saudi Arabia’s world’s tallest “Kingdom Tower” is hair-raising

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Dubai has always held the crown for the world’s “biggest,” “longest,” and “most expensive” feats, butSaudi Arabia plans to build an even more magnificent and towering KingdomTower(Kingdom Tower).

▲ Saudi Arabia to build the world’s tallest tower, reaching 1 kilometer into the sky (Image / viaskyscrapercenter)

Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa is currently the world’s tallest building, but according toConstruction Weekly, Saudi Arabia will break ground next week, and its Guinness World Record title will soon be handed over.Advanced Construction Technology ServicesConsultants have announced that they have tested various construction materials to build the 3,280-foot (1,000-meter) Kingdom Tower (the Burj Khalifa is 2,716 feet, or about 827 meters).

The Kingdom Tower is estimated to cost $1.23 billion (NT$36.9 billion), will have 200 floors, and will offer views of the Red Sea. According to the project team, constructing the tower will require approximately 5.7 million square tons of cement and 80,000 tons of steel.

▲ Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (Burj Khalifa Tower) in the United Arab Emirates will lose its title as the world’s tallest tower to the Kingdom Tower in 2018 (Image / via wikipedia)

However, being built near the coast poses additional challenges, as seawater may erode the building’s foundation, making the project even more difficult. Its 200-foot (60-meter) foundation must be able to withstand the nearby ocean’s saltwater, so the team will test the strength of different types of cement. Additionally, wind load on the structure is a major challenge, so the interior framework will vary in shape across floors. The interior design will include, from the base to the top, a Four Seasons Hotel, Four Seasons service apartments, premium office spaces, luxury apartments, and the world’s highest observation deck. Completion is expected in 2018, and it will surely become another luxurious skyscraper attracting tourists seeking a lavish experience.

Council on Tall BuildingsDirector Sang Dae Kim stated that the ambition to build the Kingdom Tower is absolutely feasible. Nowadays, for any towers exceeding 1 kilometer or even reaching 2 kilometers in height, extensive research will be conducted to achieve any highly challenging construction tasks. This is bound to make many people eagerly await the day of its completion.