Hey guys. Anyone able to help me here or give me advice. I'm a Carpenter from Canada with experience in formwork, I'm looking to go oversees. And I see this project as a major experience and learning curve in this industry, I really really would love to help do formwork on this project, I would work major hours too. Can any one help me find a job there??????

http://center.jeddahbikers.com/uploads/jb13276732351.jpg

^^

thats actually a bad sign, that would make the idea of a small spire invalid :bash:

its not the floor plan.. this is to show the express transportation system (express elevator) plus the the core shape..
any way, I think that the last inhabitable floor wont be above 750-800, after that we have the alternative energy generators and for some other mechanical needs and then the spire??!!!

its not the floor plan.. this is to show the express transportation system (express elevator) plus the the core shape..
any way, I think that the last inhabitable floor wont be above 750-800, after that we have the alternative energy generators and for some other mechanical needs and then the spire??!!!

yes i think so too. considering burj khalifa is quite similar in design and it shares the same architects, so i think inside it may also be similar. :cheers:

http://www.kingdomtowerskyscraper.com/

^^

thats actually a bad sign, that would make the idea of a small spire invalid :bash:

This tower is one big spire.

its not the floor plan.. this is to show the express transportation system (express elevator) plus the the core shape..
any way, I think that the last inhabitable floor wont be above 750-800, after that we have the alternative energy generators and for some other mechanical needs and then the spire??!!!

Dear Rody, thanks for adding the info! As I look at your image it comes to my mind this drawing might be the part of the tower that's concrete and the part that's steel. Constructing this high makes the use of steel on the top needed. Burj Khalifa comprises of ± 600m concrete, and the remaining part 218 meter of steel. Steel is lighter, stiffer than concrete, and resists bending stresses, so it makes sense the top of Jeddah Kingdom Tower is constructed in a similar way. I agree the highest floors are maybe between 750 and 850 meters. The Tower is a stunning masterpiece of architecture!

its not the floor plan.. this is to show the express transportation system (express elevator) plus the the core shape..
any way, I think that the last inhabitable floor wont be above 750-800, after that we have the alternative energy generators and for some other mechanical needs and then the spire??!!!

Good one, Rody. The KT uses the 'sky lobby' concept that is the most efficient for supertalls. It also allows for the vertical zoning of tall buildings allowing vertically stacked mixed use. Do we have a use mix diagram for the KT?

Dear Rody, thanks for adding the info! As I look at your image it comes to my mind this drawing might be the part of the tower that's concrete and the part that's steel. Constructing this high makes the use of steel on the top needed. Burj Khalifa comprises of ± 600m concrete, and the remaining part 218 meter of steel. Steel is lighter, stiffer than concrete, and resists bending stresses, so it makes sense the top of Jeddah Kingdom Tower is constructed in a similar way. I agree the highest floors are maybe between 750 and 850 meters. The Tower is a stunning masterpiece of architecture!

It is a masterpiece of ENGINEERING, not architecture. There are no arquitects calculating the structure.

It is a masterpiece of ENGINEERING, not architecture. There are no arquitects calculating the structure.
+1 ! If it wasn't for Engineers nothing that architects designed would stand up.:lol:

But only future can tell :cheers:

of course :)

Truth is, I can't see a competition either between the two. But we shall see. While I give a 90% chance for the Kingdom Tower to be finalized, right now I give only 10% chance to the Azerbaijan Tower to be finalized at the proposed height of 1,050 meters.

But we need to give it some time and see.

Dear Rody, thanks for adding the info! As I look at your image it comes to my mind this drawing might be the part of the tower that's concrete and the part that's steel. Constructing this high makes the use of steel on the top needed. Burj Khalifa comprises of ± 600m concrete, and the remaining part 218 meter of steel. Steel is lighter, stiffer than concrete, and resists bending stresses, so it makes sense the top of Jeddah Kingdom Tower is constructed in a similar way. I agree the highest floors are maybe between 750 and 850 meters. The Tower is a stunning masterpiece of architecture!
that's possible, hence this's the elevators system diagram..
on the other hand, I agree with you on the rest :cheers:

Good one, Rody. The KT uses the 'sky lobby' concept that is the most efficient for supertalls. It also allows for the vertical zoning of tall buildings allowing vertically stacked mixed use. Do we have a use mix diagram for the KT?
I hope I would be able to provide the forum with that before one of the "Chicagoans" :lol::lol::lol:

we need some photos :/

I read in newspaper, as they started to build it. Is this true?

+1 ! If it wasn't for Engineers nothing that architects designed would stand up.:lol:

If it wasn't for the Architect's vision, Engineers would have nothing to do! I'd rather be an Architect dreaming up fantastic buildings, than an Engineer crunching boring numbers.

^^ Not really. An engineer with his/her knowledge of physics could design a building however an architect couldn't build a building without an engineer so I think engineers are more important than architects :cheers:

when will update?

when will update?

i think the tower site has preparation going on so its updating all the time, but we will not see what was done until we see photos of users. :cheers:

^^ Not really. An engineer with his/her knowledge of physics could design a building however an architect couldn't build a building without an engineer so I think engineers are more important than architects :cheers:

Its not just about the knowledge to build it. You need the creativity and vision but more importantly the procurement and design responsibility lies in the hands of the architect. They are the ones that negotiate the contracts and prepare all the necessary documents for the project. Its the architect that runs the show, not the engineer. The engineer calculates all the necessary structural elements and may suggest reasons why a design would need to be altered and so on.
S4 is a load of crap like bob lazar and the rest of you ufo huggers, just because you want to believe it doesn't make it true! :lol:

^^ LOL, I'm not a Bob Lazar supporter, in fact I think Bob Lazar is nothing more than a hoaxer who is telling a facinating sci-fi story. The S-4, Papoose lake location I have in my profile is just a joke :hilarious

Its not just about the knowledge to build it. You need the creativity and vision but more importantly the procurement and design responsibility lies in the hands of the architect. They are the ones that negotiate the contracts and prepare all the necessary documents for the project. Its the architect that runs the show, not the engineer. The engineer calculates all the necessary structural elements and may suggest reasons why a design would need to be altered and so on.
S4 is a load of crap like bob lazar and the rest of you ufo huggers, just because you want to believe it doesn't make it true! :lol:

Architects only make drawings of the tower. Enginners builds the tower.

Construction started Unknown (scheduled)
Estimated completion Unknown

Kingdom Tower got a concurence. Which tower will be build before?

Architects only make drawings of the tower. Enginners builds the tower.

Architects: Come up with the design, make the design functional, make the project happen...

Engineers: Work with the architect to make the sure the building will be strong and how it will be built.....

Builders: Build it....

Adrian smith said : it WILL start in Jan. and now we are in Feb. So, it must be U/C by now ,isn't it ?

Adrian smith said : it WILL start in Jan. and now we are in Feb. So, it must be U/C by now ,isn't it ?

well preparation started in january. so well it started in january and he wasnt wrong. :cheers:

Adrian smith said : it WILL start in Jan. and now we are in Feb. So, it must be U/C by now ,isn't it ?

wouldn't there be news of it though? unless i missed something..

If preparations have started, shouldn't this be in the Under Construction Thread?

^^ Nope, buildings in preparation are still located in the proposed section :cheers:

I somehow dont like the shape of it. It could have been something like WFC in Shanghai.

we still don't know what's going on in the site of the project !!! ........ something should appear soon ..

So whats the latest news??
any pics??

we should send a SKYSCRAPERCITY Satellite into the cosmic for this one ;)

Adrian smith said : it WILL start in Jan. and now we are in Feb. So, it must be U/C by now ,isn't it ?

Dear Fayzoon, I agree on this one. Building projects are always delayed and never completed in time. But... if in april,may still no huge construction work is going on there might be some worry.. by the way, before piling starts I believe the whole foundation has to be dugged out, only then the boreholes can be drilled and filled with rebar reinforced concrete. So my ""hunch"" is the great start of everything will be a massive excavation operation and the use of huge cofferdams because the soil is of such poor quality. This poses extra problems, extra delays, but no doubt the project will go on, the wonder will rise up towards the sky! Anthonie (Lelystad Netherlands)

This Rody guy :lol: He just vaguely mentioned in his post in saudi section the tower will be taller than we thought for some time now. Believe me, it wasn't easy to get it from him but he eventually gave me vague hint that the express elevator on the diagram he posted lately goes up to more than 550m. Taking that information and the fact that this elevator goes to the half of the towers total height we can easily calculate the tower may be even above 1100 meters mark :cheers:

^If so, I hope for it to be 1111m. That number seems quite magical :)

Hi there. While I couldn't wait for the next news I started to lurking around and here's set of pics and infos I found.

Most importantly I found pics :cheers: And apparently preparations for the project last longer that we thought, since first pics are two months old allready. The construction/preparations are divided into stages and one of the forumers on aqarcity where I found pics explained it, but unfortunately he did it in Arabic and not everything is so crystal clear as we would want it to be. I really would appreciate if anybody with proper language skill would translate what he said properly. Here's his post from yesterday:



Here's google translation:



I'm especially courious of that "hemical treatment of the soil" thing...
Anyways from the information we got and pics which clearly shows pilling works I would say this should go straight to the U/C.

Oh, and the pics, enjoy :cheers:
all images are curtesy of Azam, user of the aqarcity forum. They were taken on various days of november.

7.11.12
http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/817/00000000000002r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/5029/00000000000001a.gif)

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/5191/kingdomtower005r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/2032/kingdomtower005.jpg)

21.11.12
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/1197/kingdomtower007r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/4125/kingdomtower007.jpg)

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7265/kingdomtower009r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8596/kingdomtower009.jpg)

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/5254/kin0001.jpg

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/2872/kingdomtower011r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/390/kingdomtower011t.jpg)

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/443/kingdomtower012r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/6343/kingdomtower012.jpg)

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/1944/kingdomtower013r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/7701/kingdomtower013.jpg)

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/990/kingdomtower014r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/9184/kingdomtower014.jpg)

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/976/kingdomtower015r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1623/kingdomtower015.jpg)

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/8755/kingdomtower016r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/5314/kingdomtower016.jpg)

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/2394/kingdomtower018r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/4192/kingdomtower018.jpg)

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/6322/kingdomtower019r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/1525/kingdomtower019.jpg)

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/4439/kingdomtower020r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/1571/kingdomtower020.jpg)

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/512/kingdomtower021r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/9186/kingdomtower021.jpg)

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/1161/kingdomtower022r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/9189/kingdomtower022.jpg)

http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/2333/kingdomtower024r.jpg
Large format (2592x1944) (http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/3626/kingdomtower024.jpg)

OK, some extra pics !!! :) :) :)

January 1 http://www.vb.eqla3.com/images/smilies/038.gif

Happy New Year to everyone :D

http://www.traidnt.net/vb/attachments/281010d1217874259-239.gif


I went today to the project site


Congratulations to start work
:dance:

I have seen a number of equipment and the number of employment...:nuts::nuts:


:banana::banana::banana::banana:


http://img102.herosh.com/2012/01/01/166198508.jpg
Equipment from a remote


http://img102.herosh.com/2012/01/01/349370541.jpg
Gateway Project


http://img102.herosh.com/2012/01/01/467689302.jpg



http://img102.herosh.com/2012/01/01/86161072.jpg

some more recent photos would be amazing :cheers:

simply awesome pics !!

Am just waiting for any more ..

Am just waiting for any more ..

fayzoon, you should totally get in your car and drive the 1400km just to take some photos for us all :cheers:

:lol:

When it will be finished? :D

euhm, why are they building a 1000+m tower in the middle of nowhere or am i seeing that wrong, amazing though they take it up to such hights, middle east for the extremes ^^

euhm, why are they building a 1000+m tower in the middle of nowhere or am i seeing that wrong, amazing though they take it up to such hights, middle east for the extremes ^^

from urban population and metro population jeddah can be compared to Berlin. So Jeddah is quite a big city, it has more inhabitants than dubai. a building of this site is needed nowhere, yet can it bring publicity and also brings demand with it. The reason buildings like this are built in cities like jeddah and dubai is that the investors hope that such a building will also sell itself due to the surrounding area. This is not one building, yes has several smaller projects next to it which all will sell in higher prices because prestige projects like this get the prices up, this would not be possible in new york, where the prices are already high and it wouldnt really increase the demand. Also these cities do have a much lower cost in building. Think about it, Burj Khalifa costs half as much as 1WTC did. When you consider all these things, it finally makes a bit more sense, yet its still crazy and out of mind, but it starts sounding possible :D

this tower is only bigger than burj khalifa because the top point is extended, from the pics I see their is no livable area beyong 800-810 meters.

^^ And you think that there is liveable space in BK's spire? The highest liveable floor in BK is around 620m........so this IS a lot taller in any term......

That building is sick :O Over one kilometer... terrific!!
just when I thought I had seen everything
Congratulations :)

More pics and other material...

Construction of piles and barrettes for the Kingdom Tower.

We have just won our first contract in Saudi Arabia. It concerns a preliminary trial involving two piles and two barrettes, at depths of 45 and 75 m, for the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah (this tower will be taller than the tallest building in the world: The Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai).

These piles and barrettes have been fitted with Osterberg cells that are already being used on the test barrettes for the Nakheel Tall Tower (Dubai) and the Gazprom Tower (Saint-Petersburg).

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5085660760_59ea8b82ca.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5085063307_e37c123604.jpg

link: http://www.bachy-soletanche.com/SBF/sitev4_uk.nsf/webNews/65973D84EBB002B3C12577EB004642D3

http://www.pbase.com/temper/image/138921288.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/temper/image/138921287.jpg

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6311/diagramnj.jpg


YOUTUBE VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqP5DjCx2r0

Adrian Smith Talks About Kingdom Tower (the tallest in the world).



http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/9628/clipboard08p.jpg

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/9467/clipboard09d.jpg

amazing, so piling will start soon? :cheers:

^^These are old pictures except these two pics
More pics and other material...


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5085660760_59ea8b82ca.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5085063307_e37c123604.jpg

link: http://www.bachy-soletanche.com/SBF/sitev4_uk.nsf/webNews/65973D84EBB002B3C12577EB004642D3

by the way, Thank you for new information:cheers:

Guys this is old stuff. The article from soletanche is dated 08/05/2010 (they even mention nakheel tower as alive project ;) ) I'm just not sure about these two photos. But I think I've seen them in this thread some time ago. Buyckske Ruben please just new stuff here. And if I am mistaken please tell us where did you get that pictures from, and how old are they?

pictures date back to 2010

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=65435531&postcount=894

[QUOTE=Buyckske Ruben;88476606]More pics and other material...

Construction of piles and barrettes for the Kingdom Tower.

We have just won our first contract in Saudi Arabia. It concerns a preliminary trial involving two piles and two barrettes, at depths of 45 and 75 m, for the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah (this tower will be taller than the tallest building in the world: The Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai).

These piles and barrettes have been fitted with Osterberg cells that are already being used on the test barrettes for the Nakheel Tall Tower (Dubai) and the Gazprom Tower (Saint-Petersburg).

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5085660760_59ea8b82ca.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5085063307_e37c123604.jpg
When these pictures were taken? Today?

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5085660512_44e1307db6_z.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/5085063437_4e10b348cf_z.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5085660666_e090c3dcc7_z.jpg

When these pictures were taken? Today?

october 2010.

Since then build the old version, not the new one?

So we want to see some real construction photos :lol:

OK Naif should appear now ..

Guys this is old stuff. The article from soletanche is dated 08/05/2010 (they even mention nakheel tower as alive project ;) ) I'm just not sure about these two photos. But I think I've seen them in this thread some time ago. Buyckske Ruben please just new stuff here. And if I am mistaken please tell us where did you get that pictures from, and how old are they?

Construction Photos (Oct 10 2010)

But just posting it because some people are begging if the tower is really underway.
I think we will see new updates soon.



World's tallest tower to begin construction in Jan.

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill, the Chicago-based architecture firm behind the Kingdom Tower, has confirmed that construction will start on Jeddah's 1km-high structure in January 2012.

link: http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-14670-worlds-tallest-tower-to-begin-construction-in-jan/

If started in January, to July I think there must be progress :D

^^ but we just want a photo of update :rant:

so has it actually started or not? How do we not know this?

because we don't know anybody from Jeddah who's able to help us for any update ..

^^ but we just want a photo of update :rant:

You ask for pics almost every day....

Drive out and do it yourself, if you can't just wait until you get pics :ohno:

^^ LOL, I don't think there will be many pics before it starts making an impact on the skyline :dunno:

^What skyline? It's literally surrounded by sand for quite a ways around.

^^ LOL, that might be. I must admit that I never saw a photo of Jeddah :dunno:

Why don't you find one before posting then?

^^ The part about making impact on the skyline wasn't a refference to Jeddah but to the time when people start noticing a tower :cheers:

^^ LOL, that might be. I must admit that I never saw a photo of Jeddah :dunno:

even if you had seen photos, the plot is quite on the northern edge of the city and quite far away from the other skyscraper projects in the center.

If you want to see some photos of jeddah here is huge photo set by polish forumer from his 2010 business trip. Not particularly beautiful or even spectacular city. Always been a bit impressed that such a big project is taking off in such a place...

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1125863

it's only been 1 month and a bit we do need to wait some more on this one patience is the key :)

If you want to see some photos of jeddah here is huge photo set by polish forumer from his 2010 business trip. Not particularly beautiful or even spectacular city. Always been a bit impressed that such a big project is taking off in such a place...

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1125863

Better yet: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=294912&page=26

I'm sorry my friends

I can not take any pictures of the project site because prevents the entry and photography and I have tried twice and failed :ohno:

But I promise you that I might think that I'm trying again :)

^^ Don't ask the guards just go to the fence where there are no guards and shoot through the fence ;)

^^ Don't ask the guards just go to the fence where there are no guards and shoot through the fence ;)

Promoting illegal activities? I'm calling the police :laugh:




















:jk:

I'm sorry my friends

I can not take any pictures of the project site because prevents the entry and photography and I have tried twice and failed :ohno:

But I promise you that I might think that I'm trying again :)

Maybe if you can just write about what you saw. I guess its better than no updates at all. We need some update in any form because this is the KING of all the skyscrapers!!!

Is there any website of the building or a contractor one?

If you want to see some photos of jeddah here is huge photo set by polish forumer from his 2010 business trip. Not particularly beautiful or even spectacular city. Always been a bit impressed that such a big project is taking off in such a place...

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1125863
Whatever dude, I think it's a charming city with lots of character.

Whatever dude, I think it's a charming city with lots of character.

:yes:

Thats the old design..............

doesnt matter. i love the poster :D

^^ Doesn't give you any reason to post it though......It just confuses people!

hey everybody!!
I had a talk with the "my source" last night..and we came across the failed soil test and the whole story came out last year..
what actually happened through 2011 was:
-finishing the "EIA" for the project between September 2010 and March 2011.
-The assessment established a baseline of current site conditions; data regarding ambient air/water/soil quality, background noise levels, meteorological phenomena, and terrestrial habitats and their associated fauna and flora were collected.

In addition, finishing the detailed water circulation study and marine survey of the impact that the canal will cause on Obhur Creek.
and according to these studies and survey's the have modified the master plan.
so basically that what they have achieved through 2011..

http://center.jeddahbikers.com/uploads/jb13293914941.jpg

hey everybody!!
I had a talk with the "my source" last night..and we came across the failed soil test and the whole story came out last year..
what actually happened through 2011 was:
-finishing the "EIA" for the project between September 2010 and March 2011.
-The assessment established a baseline of current site conditions; data regarding ambient air/water/soil quality, background noise levels, meteorological phenomena, and terrestrial habitats and their associated fauna and flora were collected.

In addition, finishing the detailed water circulation study and marine survey of the impact that the canal will cause on Obhur Creek.
and according to these studies and survey's the have modified the master plan.
so basically that what they have achieved through 2011..

So what you're saying is that there actually never was such thing as rumored failed soil test, but rather normal procedure, right?

^^ yup

I was saying that right from the begging ;)

My bad :D

hey everybody!!
I had a talk with the "my source" last night..and we came across the failed soil test and the whole story came out last year..
what actually happened through 2011 was:
-finishing the "EIA" for the project between September 2010 and March 2011.
-The assessment established a baseline of current site conditions; data regarding ambient air/water/soil quality, background noise levels, meteorological phenomena, and terrestrial habitats and their associated fauna and flora were collected.

In addition, finishing the detailed water circulation study and marine survey of the impact that the canal will cause on Obhur Creek.
and according to these studies and survey's the have modified the master plan.
so basically that what they have achieved through 2011..
Interesting stuff/ Is everything progressing well at the site Rody?

good news, so everything works as planned, thats amazing :)

amazing!

hey everybody!!
I had a talk with the "my source" last night..and we came across the failed soil test and the whole story came out last year..
what actually happened through 2011 was:
-finishing the "EIA" for the project between September 2010 and March 2011.
-The assessment established a baseline of current site conditions; data regarding ambient air/water/soil quality, background noise levels, meteorological phenomena, and terrestrial habitats and their associated fauna and flora were collected.

In addition, finishing the detailed water circulation study and marine survey of the impact that the canal will cause on Obhur Creek.
and according to these studies and survey's the have modified the master plan.
so basically that what they have achieved through 2011..

Really great news :nuts:

Dear Thank you

So ,how much we've gotta wait ? when will we see it rising ? :)

So ,how much we've gotta wait ? when will we see it rising ? :)

rising? when we are lucky then in about one year i think :cheers:

Hi all.

Thanks for the info Rody.

So there was cause for a change in plans because of the studies / surveys then. Being one of the parameters of the assesment was soil quality, the previous news of the failed soil test may have some merit.

Regardless, the assesments may be normal proceedure but the results warranted changes that although aren't abnormal, they did cause delays.

That's my take on it.

:cheers:
Ray.

rising? when we are lucky then in about one year i think :cheers:

Sorry wrong word I think , not rising .. digging or .. making the foundation or .. just working I need anything which proves !! :nuts:

Sorry wrong word I think , not rising .. digging or .. making the foundation or .. just working I need anything which proves !! :nuts:

well i was hoping they ARE already digging, but we just don't have any photos :cheers:

^^ They're not digging yet....they are doing pilling and putting the chemicals into the ground atm, which has been said a few times now!

^^ They're not digging yet....they are doing pilling and putting the chemicals into the ground atm, which has been said a few times now!

i always thought piling was a part from digging, but okay thanks for the information.

^^ more like drilling than digging ;)

^^ more like drilling than digging ;)

yes i think i do understand now. see i also learn stuff on here, that's good :cheers: . But piling means that work on this project indeed has started :)

this should be in birmingham ;)

yes i think i do understand now. see i also learn stuff on here, that's good :cheers: . But piling means that work on this project indeed has started :)

zavatar, you were correct before. the digging of foundations involves piling. there is no need to distinguish between digging and piling when referring to this.

Too much :blahblah: in here. Someone, deliver evidence with real photos of the site!

What's going on there?

Too much :blahblah: in here. Someone, deliver evidence with real photos of the site!

What's going on there?

+1

Or piling, then digging through the ground while using the piles as the supports, then pouring the basement slabs and jump starting the core.
I have got to design something taller than this and I'm only 13;).

this should be in birmingham ;)

:cheers:

this should be in birmingham ;)

:nono:

this should be in birmingham ;)
Well the whole world should be like Birmingham!:lol:
I have an idea for the photo updates...
Somebody local to the site would install a live streaming web camera looking right towards the site and we would never complain again!

^^ Power source from were? And where would you put it? And it just won't happen......

Indeed, there is no place yet to put a webcam.

Will there be a webcam?

Look, observatory deck it's 157 floor. Count how many more
http://i52.tinypic.com/2lcu1j4.jpg

I'd like to see the side mounted observatory deck cancelled,It's so Star Trek.Replace it with a fully enclosed wrap around OB deck at 812M (12 representing Dhu al-Ḥijjah)?.

Perhaps a smaller internal lift can transport people from the Star Trek deck to this height.I'd imagine it would look similar to the top OB deck located on the CN Tower.

I love how they count the spires of Burj and Kingdom but 1 WTC is "417 meters"

That's an exception usually. Most fan-sites or other press I've personally seen have credited 1WTC with being the full height.

Gizmodo is shite for the masses, not a skyscraper fan site, so you shouldn't worry about that :)

Will there be a webcam?
I expect them to be rather closed-off to the public. New York is an exception here, because it's a completely different culture and mindset.

The owners has finished all the legal stuff..they have received the license to start with the construction works just this morning.. :)

Excellent news Rody!

Great, please keep us updated, we need to know everything :D

The owners has finished all the legal stuff..they have received the license to start with the construction works just this morning.. :)
Thanks :cheers:
الأمانة تصدر رخصة بناء برج المملكة
الإثنين 28 ربيع الأول 1433هـ - 20 فبراير 2012م
صرح معالي الدكتور هاني بن محمد أبو راس أمين محافظة جدة بأن الأمانة قد أصدرت يوم الأثنين رخصة بناء برج المملكة في أبحر الشمالية وقد تم تسلمت شركة جدة الاقتصادية المحدودة مالكة البرج رخصة البناء الخاصة بالمشروع.
الجدير بالذكر أن برج المملكة في أبحر الشمالية بجدة سيتكون من 161 دور وهو مخصصا للاستخدمات الادارية والتجارية بحسب رخصة البناء التي أصدرتها أمانة محافظة جدة.
It will be 161 floors :ohno:
Burj Khalifa (162 floors) has more floors than Kingdom Tower :bash:

This is the link: :banana:
http://www.jeddah.gov.sa/MediaCenter/News/News.php?NewsId=2883

@SirAdrian:
it says on the license that the tower is mixed use tower, has 161 "habitable" floors (sky villa/office on 161). :)

Thanks :cheers:

It will be 161 floors :ohno:
Burj Khalifa (162 floors) has more floors than Kingdom Tower :bash:

This is the link: :banana:
http://www.jeddah.gov.sa/MediaCenter/News/News.php?NewsId=2883

161 habitable floors..then you have the mechanic floors and some facilities.. Although there is a rumor (:)) says that there is an additional floors going to be added. for two sky-villas and a "sky palace!!"

161 habitable floors..then you have the mechanic floors and some facilities.. Although there is a rumor (:)) says that there is an additional floors going to be added. for two sky-villas and a "sky palace!!"
Thanks for clarification :)

Maybe the 161 floors figure is just a teaser. They have released it so everyone knows how much space it will have but then they increase the number to 180? It would be great to have a 200 floor building but I guess it is not this one. Yet :)

WOW


Amazing news :banana::banana::nuts:


Google Translation
Secretariat issued a building permit the Kingdom Tower

http://sabq.org/files/news-image/63449.jpg

HE Dr. Hani ibn Muhammad Abu Ras, Mayor of Jeddah that the Secretariat had issued a building permit on Monday, the Kingdom Tower in the North have been sailed company received the Jeddah limited economic owner of the tower building permit for the project.

It is worth mentioning that the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah sailed North will consist of 161, a role reserved for the administrative and commercial uses of the building permit as issued by the Jeddah Municipality.


I'm sorry if the translation is inaccurate


http://sabq.org/dZcfde

so how many habitable floors does Burj Khalifa have? :cheers:

This is the best news by far in a long time. Thanks Rody for the news and KingdomTower for the link. Going to update the site with this news, thanks a lot!

I followed Saudi Arabian newspapers but I did not see any news about it (yet). I will watch them and if I see any other news, I will make sure to post it.

from Riyadh newspaper two hours ago :banana:
Google Translation

Jeddah Municipality issued a building permit in the world's tallest tower

http://s.alriyadh.com/2012/02/20/img/367336336057.jpg

Jeddah - Saleh Al Ruwais:
Jeddah Municipality has issued today a building permit in the Kingdom Tower sailed north, the Secretary said the province Hani Abu Ras: Company received the Jeddah limited economic owner of the tower building permit for the project.

The Kingdom Holding Company announced last August signed a contract for the construction world's tallest tower in Jeddah, $ 4.6 billion riyals, up more than 1000 meters, within the first phase of the project Kingdom City north of Jeddah area of ​​5.3 million square meters, overlooking the Red Sea and Gulf of sail . Also entered into a partnership agreement to enter the Bin Laden Group, Saudi Arabia as a partner in a company Jeddah Economic share 16.63%, as the company begins work in the construction of the tower.

The Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of the company at the time that the cost of the project the city of the Kingdom about 75 billion rials, adding that the actual length of the tower will not be announced until after the voting has been completed through 63 months ahead, he said, adding that the project is profitable for the shareholders of the Kingdom for the years to come.

It made Prince Alwaleed that the project was delayed for 4 years he has received extensive study and adequate to all requirements and key allies, indicating that the entry of Bin Laden in the company's need for more than two years, which will be implemented by the tower after entering a share equal to one billion and a half billion rials, stressing that the political circumstances of regional current not impede the real estate business in the Kingdom, but an oasis to attract foreign investment and a source of reassurance to investors.

http://www.alriyadh.com/net/article/711652

The owners has finished all the legal stuff..they have received the license to start with the construction works just this morning.. :)

Great news Rody! Thanks a lot, you convinced me indeed today is the starting point of the building!

I am flying to Dubai next month, and -of course- I am going to visit Burj Khalifa, to see and enjoy this marvel! When I have seen the Burj, it will show me what 1 kilometer or more actually means visually!

I will be at the observation deck (122th floor) so if ASGG is talking about 160 livable floors it must be just staggering to make the ride there in 2017 again!

I will blog you my experiences in Dubai, and compare all of this to the upcoming rise of the Jeddah Kingdom Tower! In 2017 I will be in Jeddah to marvel the great Tower there! Warmest regards to everyone from Holland!

well how about that, crazy feat of engineering.

I wonder how long it would take to build

Great news. :)

Hi all.

so how many habitable floors does Burj Khalifa have? :cheers:

Hi Killer.

The BK has 163 plus 2 lower levels.
The council doesn't count one mezzanine and calls level B1 an above ground level because they start their measurements there - so 163 plus 1 lower level.
Bear in mind these are all the named levels and the count includes MEP levels and mezzanines that aren't open to the public.

If by using the term habitable they mean tenant levels then the BK has 145 counting the MEP levels that have tenant storage plus 2 lower levels.

So, if habitable means tenant then 161 sounds about right for this project - with ~ 180 named levels.

Awesome news to hear the process is moving forward.

:cheers:
Ray.

well how about that, crazy feat of engineering.

I wonder how long it would take to build

Burj Khalifa took 6 years to build.

Since this is taller, I would say 7 or even 8 years.

So it will be finished by 2019 or 2020.

I always had a good feeling with this project...and now it will become reality :cheers:

Hi all.



Hi Killer.

The BK has 163 plus 2 lower levels.
The council doesn't count one mezzanine and calls level B1 an above ground level because they start their measurements there - so 163 plus 1 lower level.
Bear in mind these are all the named levels and the count includes MEP levels and mezzanines that aren't open to the public.

If by using the term habitable they mean tenant levels then the BK has 145 counting the MEP levels that have tenant storage plus 2 lower levels.

So, if habitable means tenant then 161 sounds about right for this project - with ~ 180 named levels.

Awesome news to hear the process is moving forward.

:cheers:
Ray.
thanks for clearing that up.
even if kingdom tower had not more levels at all i wouldn't mind too much. But around 180 seems legitimite :cheers:

I hope they will start soon.

Tallest tower project gets govt permit
JEDDAH – The proposed Kingdom Tower, which when built is expected to become the world’s tallest building, has been okayed by Jeddah Mayoralty.

Jeddah Mayor Dr. Hani Abu Ras announced that the mayoralty issued a license on Monday for constructing the tower in North Obhur. He said that the Jeddah Economic Company has received the permit.

The 161-storey tower is projected to be completed in 63 months.

Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learnt from sources that work on the project is expected to begin soon. The tower will be over 1000 meters in height and it will be the heart of the project located over an area of 5 million sq. meters.

Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) had earlier announced its signing of a contract with Jeddah Economic Company and Saudi Binladin Group to carry out the tower project at a cost of SR4.6 billion.

Prince Waleed Bin Talal, Chairman of KHC, recently said: “The tower is a socio-economic and political message to the world that we, as Saudi investors, invest our money in our country.” – Okaz/SG __

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=20120221118026

so mid 2017. sounds very optimistic to me, but well when we get delays i dont care aslong we have steady progress forward or better upward during that time x)

:banana::banana:

Google Translation

He promises lucrative returns for the shareholders of the "Kingdom Holding"

Alwaleed bin Talal, announces receiving the final license for the giant tower of Jeddah


http://sabq.org/files/news-image/63691.jpg


Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, on Tuesday, for get (Jeddah Economic Company (JEC on the final license to create the world's tallest tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, $ 4.6 billion riyals in the Jeddah project Giant increase over 1000 meters.

Work has begun already in the Kingdom Tower on 7 February last in the first phase of the city of the kingdom, which is located north of Jeddah and occupies an area of ​​5.3 million square meters, overlooking the Red Sea and Gulf of sailing.

Prince Alwaleed commented: "Project Jeddah giant promises lucrative returns to shareholders of Kingdom Holding Company." He Prince Alwaleed, who took part in the selection of design and Smoal Mr. Bakhsh and Mr. Abdulrahman Sharbatly impressed with courage and simplicity of design made by Smith Gordon Gill Adrian architecture. Tower height and features a remarkable and attractive design simple, making it one of the most beautiful and finest buildings in the world.

Five companies were invited to apply for the establishment of the project, including the trade-off where it was left in the competition for the three companies a major, was chosen Bin Laden Group to build the Kingdom Tower, in view of cost, quality and schedule to complete the project.

The area of ​​the tower flat 500,000 m 2, consisting of Four Seasons Hotel and Apartments Four Seasons hotel and residential apartments and offices of category A, in addition to special housing units and the highest observation tower in the world also includes several other facilities.

The cost of the Kingdom Tower at 4.6 billion Saudi riyals (1.2 billion dollars) and the total project cost of Kingdom City about 75 billion Saudi riyals (20 billion dollars).


And supervised the design of the Kingdom Tower architect specialized engineering team, led by Adrienne Gordon Smith and the bulk of Smith Gordon Gill Adrian, based in Chicago, USA.

It also includes the design team Tomaseta Thorton Thorton Tomasetti Engineer is responsible for the design of three towers within three tallest towers in the world.

Was chosen as Smith Gordon Gill Adrian by the company after the Jeddah Economic competition included all of Pickard Chilton and Kohn Pederson Fox and Billy Clark Billy Fosters and their partners.


http://sabq.org/Xcdfde

Officially start work yesterday

Today Tuesday, February 21


http://www13.0zz0.com/2012/02/21/19/320268570.jpg


http://www13.0zz0.com/2012/02/21/19/253341840.jpg


I'm sorry if the pictures are not clear Because the dust on the air

:cheers2: Thanks for the update, much appreciated :)

finally some new photos, thanks naif :cheers:

Good to read.


Aren't there any roads leading to the site? Could you actually reach the site or is it all closed to the public?

^^ I understand it's being fenced.

:master:A picture update!
The work has officially started on the tallest building to be!:banana::banana::banana:
Which is soon to be beaten by mine!:tongue:

Picture of the actual official permit to build this monster :

http://i41.tinypic.com/55p90.jpg

source : https://twitter.com/#!/JKhashoggi/status/172038195737919489/photo/1

Good to read.


Aren't there any roads leading to the site? Could you actually reach the site or is it all closed to the public?

All you can see on the naif's pictures IS The Site :D It's simply huge. So yeah, no roads yet since the whole kingdom city is yet to be build from scratch :cheers:

And as far as I remember the site is (at least partially) fenced quite some time already.

wow brilliant news, so now this beast is officially under construction ?

http://up.arab-x.com/Jan12/xEi63139.jpg
It say 161 habitable floors :lol:

Alwaleed bin Talal, announces receiving the final license for the giant tower of Jeddah


http://sabq.org/files/news-image/63691.jpg


http://sabq.org/Xcdfde

Nice proposal :D

No one can enter

There is a fence around the land of the project

I shoot photos from behind the door by zoom

http://www9.0zz0.com/2012/02/21/23/925683829.jpg

quite sad, but well it's understandable. still amazing updates on this project finally these days :cheers:

Reminds me of Nakheel tower construction site which never happened.

This portal along with the land of the project

The front gate of the land of the project is open

Reminds me of Nakheel tower construction site which never happened.

well let us all hope that this project will be different. :cheers: which i am very positive at the moment that it will.

I was looking through news about it in English and I found some. But it is 2:35 AM here and I should be sleeping now, so posting them below:

Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learnt from sources that work on the project is expected to begin soon.
Source: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=20120221118026

Other English articles about it:
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/final-licence-awarded-start-1km-kingdom-tower-446405.html
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article578390.ece

I was just looking through it, did not see anything new, that would be worthy to update the site, so will inspect more Arabian newspapers tomorrow.

Sorry if any of the above articles were posted before, I did not have time to look thoroughly through the thread this evening.

What's the point of building a worlds tallest if no one can come to see it due to how bigtoed this country is?

There are no other skyscrapers around it either, it will look silly being a lone supertall in the desert. Burj Khalifa at least has plenty of company.

^^ Learn to read!!!! As has been mentioned hundreds of time in this thread there is a whole new city/town being planned around this tower "just like the Burj Khalifa"...........If your new to a thread its usually good to go back and read a few pages before posting.....

What's the point of building a worlds tallest if no one can come to see it due to how bigtoed this country is?

There are no other skyscrapers around it either, it will look silly being a lone supertall in the desert. Burj Khalifa at least has plenty of company.


It's a huge city and around the Kingdom Tower many of the towers :nuts:

ftymigV1mhQ

http://up.arab-x.com/Jan12/xEi63139.jpg
It say 161 habitable floors :lol:

that's right !! so it's 161 floors ,guys :)

Kingdom Tower project in Jeddah gets final go-ahead


By ARAB NEWS
Published: Feb 22, 2012 00:01 Updated: Feb 22, 2012 00:01

JEDDAH: A Jeddah-based project to build the tallest tower in the world has been given the go-ahead after it received its final license, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) Prince Alwaleed bin Talal confirmed

The SR4.6 billion Kingdom Tower, which will stand over 1,000 meters tall, is the centerpiece and the first construction phase of Kingdom City, Jeddah Economic Company’s (JEC) new urban development covering more than 5.3 million square meters of land in the north of Jeddah overlooking the Red Sea and Obhur Creek. Work on the project began on Jan. 1.

Partners of JEC include KHC, Samaual Bakhsh, Abraar, International Holding Company, prominent Jeddah businessman Abdulrahman Hassan Sharbatly and Saudi Binladin Group (SBG).

“This project will provide sustainable profits to shareholders,” said Prince Alwaleed.

He also thanked various supporters of the project, including Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Prince Mansour bin Miteb, Jeddah Mayor Hani Aburass, and Gen. Adil Zamzami and Lt. Gen. Abdalah Jedawi from the General Directorate of the Civil Defense.

“The vision of constructing the tallest tower in the world in Jeddah belongs to Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who was closely involved in the selection of the scheme currently under design,” said Talal Al-Maiman, a board member of KHC and Jeddah Economic Company, which was formed in 2009 to develop Kingdom City in Jeddah.

“Kingdom Tower’s height is remarkable, obviously, but the building’s iconic status will not depend solely on that. Its form is brilliantly sculpted, making it quite simply the most beautiful building in the world of any height. The decision of the partners to build the world’s tallest building further demonstrates their belief in investing in this nation.”

Five contractors were invited to offer proposals for the Kingdom Tower and a shortlist of three firms submitted final offers for the tower construction. SBG was chosen for the project.

SOURCE : http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article578390.ece

:cheers:

Officially start work yesterday

Today Tuesday, February 21


http://www13.0zz0.com/2012/02/21/19/320268570.jpg


http://www13.0zz0.com/2012/02/21/19/253341840.jpg


I'm sorry if the pictures are not clear Because the dust on the air
WOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!!!
:cheers::cheers::nuts::nuts::banana::banana:

It's a huge city and around the Kingdom Tower many of the towers :nuts:

video

surrounding towers

looks like two of them could be about 250m tall. Although i think that the surrounding towers aren't really planned yet, so we will see

http://i.imgur.com/k1Xzo.jpg

:)

Please change the Topic Title

to


JEDDAH | Kingdom Tower | 1007m | 3304ft | 161 fl+ | U/C l

^^

http://cfgfactory.com/images/i/4f2d27b992a2a_tumblr_lvrp8bU9AV1qibz0jo1_500.png

wow this monster is approved to built... so excited on this one! :)

Great news, I hope this huge project will not be delayed.

It's a huge city and around the Kingdom Tower many of the towers :nuts:

ftymigV1mhQ

Nice video, I though the side round circle extended from building is a helipad. But turn out is restaurant, very interesting.

Nice video, I though the side round circle extended from building is a helipad. But turn out is restaurant, very interesting.

it's an observation deck and a very open one can't imagine the wind there :cheers: .

I really like this render here,, it shows the "character" of this tower

http://center.jeddahbikers.com/uploads/jb13139921011.jpg

CTBUH mentions Jeddah Tower in there global news section and links to this article:

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article578390.ece

it is the same as we had a page before, but it's nice to see that ctbuh links to it.

It's a huge city and around the Kingdom Tower many of the towers :nuts:

ftymigV1mhQ

Awesome video,
the tower will be pure crystal :cheers:

So cool that this will be moving to the U/C Tread soon !!!

When will this go from Prep to U/C?

^^^If there is a lot of foundation work and drilling and piling on the site, than soon.

it should be soon, where just waiting for the mods to move it

^^ No were waiting until it's U/C, it's only in the prep stage at the moment and will be for at least another month or two.......Just like any other building on here. :)

I can't wait to watch gradual progress soon :)

I really like this render here,, it shows the "character" of this tower

http://center.jeddahbikers.com/uploads/jb13139921011.jpg

^^ That render looks really cool, with some mistery :) and nice forms.
COME ON KINGTOM TOWER GROW BABY GROW AS FAST AS YOU CAN :lol:

I wonder why they want to build such a nice structure in such a dirty city. The municipality should look at cleaning the city first. Also as KSA is a closed country there will be few people who can go to view it. At least Dubai is free to enter.

^^

All people can enter to Saudi Arabia (Mecca for Muslims only)

Jeddah city is not dirty , There is progress and development of fast

Will change the face of Jeddah in full, because there are dozens of major projects now in JEDDAH

I also think Jeddah will develop beautifully. Especially that the Kingdom Tower will be part of a bigger development.

And I wouldn't call the city dirty either. Although, I saw it from pictures only, it seemed charming. Not ultramodern (yet) but cozy and nice.

And I will definitely visit Jeddah once the Kingdom Tower is under development/finished together with Jordan. Yes, I would need a visa to enter, but that's ok.

^^

All people can enter to Saudi Arabia (Mecca for Muslims only)

Jeddah city is not dirty , There is progress and development of fast

Will change the face of Jeddah in full, because there are dozens of major projects now in JEDDAH

+2012

I wonder why they want to build such a nice structure in such a dirty city. The municipality should look at cleaning the city first. Also as KSA is a closed country there will be few people who can go to view it. At least Dubai is free to enter.

Dude there are ALOT of foreigners from different countries in the World have you ever been to Jeddah do you even know Jeddah international airport is the second busiest after Dubai seriously :nuts::nuts: Go Jeddah

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_busiest_airport

This tower will bring in a lot more tourist traffic to the airport.

KSA is a closed country there will be few people who can go to view it. At least Dubai is free to enter.

JEDDAH IS THE GATE WAY TO MAKKAH, MILLIONS LAND HERE. TRY TO REMEMBER THAT SAUDI IS OPEN TO 2 BILLION MUSLIMS AROUND THE WORLD. NOT TO MENTION THE LUCKY NON-MUSLIMS WITH THE VISA TO ENTER.

JEDDAH IS THE GATE WAY TO MAKKAH, MILLIONS LAND HERE. TRY TO REMEMBER THAT SAUDI IS OPEN TO 2 BILLION MUSLIMS AROUND THE WORLD. NOT TO MENTION THE LUCKY NON-MUSLIMS WITH THE VISA TO ENTER.



Uh yea it's also not open to the other 5.5 billion people on earth which is why no one really likes you... sorry. Maybe you should learn some respect and tolerance for people different from your own.. thanks

JEDDAH IS THE GATE WAY TO MAKKAH, MILLIONS LAND HERE. TRY TO REMEMBER THAT SAUDI IS OPEN TO 2 BILLION MUSLIMS AROUND THE WORLD. NOT TO MENTION THE LUCKY NON-MUSLIMS WITH THE VISA TO ENTER.

Calm the fudge down :lol:

JEDDAH IS THE GATE WAY TO MAKKAH, MILLIONS LAND HERE. TRY TO REMEMBER THAT SAUDI IS OPEN TO 2 BILLION MUSLIMS AROUND THE WORLD. NOT TO MENTION THE LUCKY NON-MUSLIMS WITH THE VISA TO ENTER.

Who defines visiting a country where gays get the death penalty and women have absolutely no rights as 'lucky'? LOL

Who defines visiting a country where gays get the death penalty and women have absolutely no rights as 'lucky'? LOL
^^:ohno:

^^:ohno:


What? He's right

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_busiest_airport

This tower will bring in a lot more tourist traffic to the airport.

hey wait !! how could they build this in a very closed area to the airport area ?:ohno:

Haha! That doesn't make sense indeed. It's impossible to get built if it's close to the airport.

hey wait !! how could they build this in a very closed area to the airport area ?:ohno:

this building in a ( 1000 m zone ) so basically the 1000m zone doesn't have a limit according to the height zones plan..
have a look at this official document:

http://center.jeddahbikers.com/uploads/jb13300780841.jpg

Let´s think that the height of one floor is 4m (such a tall storey), and there will be 10 technical floors.

161*4 +10*4= 684m Roof is only at 684 m above ground level!

1007-684= 323

323 m of spire!

I really doubt that this only has 161 floors, it should be at least 180+.

i still feel trolled i mean that is so damn near to the airport
http://oi40.tinypic.com/alm041.jpg

i still feel trolled i mean that is so damn near to the airport
http://oi40.tinypic.com/alm041.jpg

+1

^^ it's 8.75 Kilometers or 5.43 miles away >> so not as closed as what I expected !! :)

Great project. MODs plz now move this thread to "Supertall" from "Proposed Supertall"...

^^ it's 8.75 Kilometers or 5.43 miles away >> so not as closed as what I expected !! :)

oh i dont think so, look at the picture, the airport has landingstrips quite near to the site

it's an observation deck and a very open one can't imagine the wind there :cheers: .

Wow, more interesting, if built, mayb the tallest observation deck from ground in the world?

i still feel trolled i mean that is so damn near to the airport
http://oi40.tinypic.com/alm041.jpg

Anymore other airport in the world where building more than 40 ft build near to it? 8km is consider near to airport.

For example Singapore is a city state, CBD area is 25 km away from airport but building maximum height is 280m.

oh i dont think so, look at the picture, the airport has landingstrips quite near to the site

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/418397_282208891848521_100001782376546_695569_1322693390_n.jpg

at least :banana:

Every country has other rules about that.

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/418397_282208891848521_100001782376546_695569_1322693390_n.jpg

at least :banana:

do you see how tall the airport is? thats the distance to the middle of the airport, but all the landing strips are nearer. set the point to the most northern part of the airport and the numbers look different...

^^ again...have a look here...

the height zones according to this document from Jeddah municipality and the general presidency of civil aviation (GACA)..


http://center.jeddahbikers.com/uploads/jb13300780841.jpg

oh now i can see the plot of kingdom tower on the airport map. just imagine you land there and bypass the building only by a few hundret meters that would be an amazing sight. :cheers:

^^ this is not the airport map..this is the building heights zones according to Jeddah municipality..and you can see the height is written on each zone.
the the closest pass by point for an air craft is 3 Km on the height level of ~ 8000 ft

http://center.jeddahbikers.com/uploads/jb13301200111.jpg

^^ as I said few minutes ago, the closest pass by point is a whole 3 Km (horizontal distance = 3 Km) and that will be on the height level of 8000 feet (or 2400 m) (the vertical distance is around 4500 feet or 1372m)
that's ofcourse if we're talking about the closest runway to the project

I can't believe it Oo.

Wonderful, Looking foward to see the first pics' pilling zone.

Someone knows about how long it will takes to build ?

^^ 63 months for the tower.. 10 years for the whole "Kingdom City"

^^ 63 months for the tower.. 10 years for the whole "Kingdom City"

That's pretty ambitious!

^^ let's hope for the best :|

^^ Yeah it will be longer then that! It would take them 63 months to build just the 161 floors at 1 floor every 1 and a half weeks. So add the foundation construction, observation deck and a few more floors that this tower will have and the spire, I would add another 2 years onto that!

I would be very happy to be proved wrong though. :)

Don't really like this tower. It would be nice if the world's tallest had SOMETHING going for it besides height. I see nothing interesting in it. :dunno:

Hi all.

Thanks for the info Rody.

So there was cause for a change in plans because of the studies / surveys then. Being one of the parameters of the assesment was soil quality, the previous news of the failed soil test may have some merit.

Regardless, the assesments may be normal proceedure but the results warranted changes that although aren't abnormal, they did cause delays.

That's my take on it.

:cheers:
Ray.

Hello Ray...and sorry for the late response...
lets talk about this in details:banana:

actually the parameters were made of the collected samples made them make some changes to the master plan, not the tower it self, in particular some changes to the shape and depth of the lagoon and the canals.
In fact, the Geotechnical engineers were the happiest on site, as they reached a solid rocky plain on the depth of 17m, with relatively low humidity for the soil in the the way down (0.84 - 1.17 Inches/Ft)

Hi all.

Hi Rody.
Thanks for the details.
It will be nice to see some more plans when they slip out through the cracks.
A barrett / pile layout including depth would be great.

I see that just like the early days of the BK, the haters seem to come out of the woodwork ...

Oh well, each to their own. I think this is yet another fantastic project and being the next WTS makes it even better.

:cheers:
Ray.

Actually there are two departures from 34L that involve a left turn that gets the planes uncomfortably close to the tower. I used to have the Jeppessen chart, unfortunately I can't find it.

If it wasn't for pressure from up top, the project site would be in the "inner horizontal zone".

Well looking at that jut-out of land there, KT must be very near the coast indeed if it's to hit the 1KM zone. It's at least good to know it is carefully allowed by the zoning / flight paths though. I wonder other than the old Chai Lap Kok (spelling) airport if there are any others so near skyscrapers or supertalls?

I'm sure it's safe. It's just unusual to have a relatively close distance between an airport and a tower of this size. Even the old Las Vegas Tower proposal once posted here was moved numerous times or tried to get lots of zoning waived and it was I thought, planned to be 15-20 KM (~10MI or so) from Vegas' airport - and that was cutting it close. Then again, from my understanding, that particular project had a lack of funding so was never built. I don't know if LVT was parallel to the runways though or perpendicular.

Hi there just found it. Masterplan of the city with the exact towers location:

http://www.aqarcity.org/up2011/upload/images/RJ9J.jpg

Btw it seems the canals won't be connected with the see as on the original plans.

Great project. MODs plz now move this thread to "Supertall" from "Proposed Supertall"...
No. We said this for like hundred times. As long as KT is in preparation phase, the thread remains in this section.

^^ this is old..came out in 2008..The final master plan was done by AS+GG + omrania.co "which is owned by kingdom holding"..
any way (HUTA) is doing the marine works and I heard their contract starts in June.

ps: this one was done by ibiGroup :)

^^ Oh I see. Is at least the towers location correct (I mean exact location)? because if not I will remove it from my post.

Btw are you talking about some huta's contract in particular? I'm asking this because we already seen huta's equipment on site back in November.

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/817/00000000000002r.jpg

Btw2 are there any ongoing preparations directly for the tower? We figured out they are preparing soil grouting for the tower but now I'm not so sure... Do you know for certain what was the huta's job on site back in november?

^^ I was actually reading on a Saudi forum (I'm translating letter by letter :lol: ) replying on a guy asking about the foundation works:
"We will start to see some foundation works as soon as they finish with drilling..maybe a month..two?"
any way, I cant confirm it at the moment, but hopefully I'll be able to catch something when I go back to Jeddah in Mid March :)

^^ Oh I see. Is at least the towers location correct (I mean exact location)? because if not I will remove it from my post.

Btw are you talking about some huta's contract in particular? I'm asking this because we already seen huta's equipment on site back in November.


yup, I guess is right :)

regarding Huta (http://www.hutamarine.com).. Huta is one of the biggest frames in Saudi, specially in the marine works.
they own one of the largest drilling ships in the world (they are using it at the moment in King Abdullah Economic City (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=296977&page=40)).. official KAEC Website (http://kingabdullahcity.com/en/CityInProgress/CityPhases.html)
this is one of their works.. Durrat AL-Arus (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=737428)


http://center.jeddahbikers.com/uploads/jb13302597261.jpg

^^ I was actually reading on a Saudi forum (I'm translating letter by letter :lol: ) replying on a guy asking about the foundation works:
"We will start to see some foundation works as soon as they finish with drilling..maybe a month..two?"
any way, I cant confirm it at the moment, but hopefully I'll be able to catch something when I go back to Jeddah in Mid March :)

don't forget to provide us with photos when you are back in jeddah x)

Hi all.

Hi there just found it. Masterplan of the city with the exact towers location:

Btw it seems the canals won't be connected with the see as on the original plans.

^^ this is old..came out in 2008..The final master plan was done by AS+GG + omrania.co "which is owned by kingdom holding"..
any way (HUTA) is doing the marine works and I heard their contract starts in June.

ps: this one was done by ibiGroup :)

Hi guys.

Perhaps this masterplan is old Rody but this is the kind of stuff that makes this forum great. Thanks for posting Pat and thanks for your insight Rody.

:cheers:
Ray.

When the construction will begin?? :dunno:

That is one big tower.

http://enr.construction.com/buildings/building_types/2012/0305-designers-apply-lessons-learned-from-worlds-tallest-tower-to-future-megatallest-.asp

"After tortured beginnings that included a false start followed by a protracted design competition during which the eventual winner "gambled" $2 million, a shroud of secrecy has enveloped the planned 1-kilometer-tall Kingdom Tower, to be sited north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. If built, the estimated $1.2-billion megatower would replace the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest building. It would also owe the burj a major debt. The design team, many of whom worked on the burj, is applying lessons learned in Dubai to the Kingdom Tower in a concerted effort to simplify design and construction of the concrete structure.

Currently, there is no mention of the Kingdom Tower—the pet project of a Saudi prince named Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz—among the projects listed on the website of the skyscraper's general contractor and part owner, the Saudi Binladin Group. SBG is mute on the subject. The developer, Kingdom Holding Co.'s Jeddah Economic Co., has muzzled the entire design team. The Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat lists the building as proposed, though pile construction was scheduled to begin last month. Reports that the work has begun could not be confirmed, but sources familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity, do confirm that design development continues.

Last summer, the developer unveiled a scheme for a 5.3-sq-km mini-city called Kingdom City, which would cost $20 billion and include the Kingdom Tower. The sleek, tapered tower—designed by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), with the Chicago office of structural engineer Thornton Tomasetti (TT) and mechanical engineer Environmental Systems Design Inc., also of Chicago—would enclose 530,000 sq meters.

AS+GG was formed in 2006, after Smith and Gill left the Chicago office of Skidmore Owings & Merrill. While at SOM, Smith was the lead designer for the Burj Khalifa. Many from the burj team currently work at AS+GG, including Peter A. Weismantle, AS+GG's director of supertall building technology. Robert C. Sinn, currently a TT principal, also worked on the burj while at SOM. And both buildings have the same wind engineer, Guelph, Ontario, Canada-based Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc. (RWDI) and the same elevator consultant, Galveston, Texas-based James A. Fortune.

In retrospect, one could almost consider the Burj Khalifa as a living laboratory for supertower design. During interviews last fall (before the project went quiet), members of the Kingdom Tower design team talked about lessons they learned from the burj, mostly pertaining to the megatower's shape, structure and skin.

The Kingdom Tower's design may be simpler to build, but the project's beginnings were much more complicated than the burj's. For the burj, the developer held a three-week ideas competition, suggested by Smith, to narrow the field from the several architects interviewed. The deal with SOM was soon sealed on a handshake. After the selection, conceptual design matured over one and a half years.

The building now known as the Kingdom Tower was initially called the Mile High Tower. Eventually, the developer abandoned as impractical the idea for a tower a mile tall. After that followed a strung-out design competition, which lasted nine months instead of two, for a shorter building. During the competition phase, representatives of AS+GG made eight trips to Saudi Arabia to present schemes. The firm even built and shipped 10-ft-tall models. "It was really expensive," Smith said. The competition "wasn't for the faint of heart."

The selection was supposed to be made by September 2009. By that time, however, five of the eight initial submissions still had to present to the prince. By December, two teams were left: AS+GG and SOM. Ultimately, AS+GG was selected in February 2010.

Smith calls the selection process "torturous," for both his firm and SOM. "I knew it was a big gamble, but it was something we wanted badly," he said. "Had we not won, we would have lost $2 million and would have had to lay off 30 to 40 people because we were all holding staff for this project," he said.

The team wasn't out of the woods yet. In December 2010, well into design development, the project went on hold for six months. "The owner didn't have its own structure together yet," said Smith.

Design work started again last June. By the end of October, the team had secured a permit for the foundations.

Plans call for a mostly residential, mixed-use tower, including a hotel, office space and condominiums. The tower would also contain the world's highest observation level. Smith calls the architecture an evolution of the Y-in-plan concept used on the burj and first introduced in the early 1920s by architect Mies Van Der Rohe. The evolution mostly relates to the structure and the perimeter wall, he adds.

To understand the evolution, it is necessary to compare the burj and the Kingdom Tower. The burj consists of a 585-m-tall, structural-concrete superstructure, with setbacks, topped by a 200-m-plus structural steel spire that culminates in a steel-pipe pinnacle. Through level 156, the burj is a high-performance concrete tower with a Y-shaped footprint. A hexagonal, shear-wall core is at the nexus of the Y’s wings. Every seven floors, an outer bay "peels away," creating a setback and 27 different floor plate sizes. Outrigger shear walls for stability are in three-floor mechanical levels, every 30 stories or so. Slabs are generally two-way, reinforced-concrete flat plates. Core slabs have beams. The tower is founded on a high-performance, reinforced-concrete raft on piles.

The Kingdom Tower's design also calls for a three-legged building. But gone are the setbacks, the outriggers and the transfers, which wreaked havoc with the construction pace. Instead, the legs are sloped and connected to each other by three tilted planes, which form the tower's outer walls. Each wall, or face, is a single plane, tilted at a slightly different angle, so that each wall reaches the tower's top at different heights. The only asymmetry is the three tilted planes, which form the gradual taper.

In plan, the three-winged building looks like three hammerheads because, near the tips of the wings, there are "serious walls" that cut across, said Sinn.

Inside, throughout each floor plate, a series of concrete walls would contain 12,000-psi concrete and be interconnected by link beams.

Avoiding setbacks and transfers translates to minimizing formwork resetting time. On the burj, the contractor lost three weeks at each setback redoing formwork for walls and slabs, said Smith. On the Kingdom Tower, a day, at most, will be lost to resetting forms, he added.

Thanks to the burj's shape, the terraces at the setbacks are very windy at the higher elevations. For the Kingdom Tower, the terraces are between the legs in so-called quiet zones, where there is not a lot of wind pressure. "That should be much more accommodating," said Smith. It also helps to increase the value of the rental units.

Another lesson from the burj relates to its 3.2-m floor-to-floor height. "It was a coordination nightmare to get the utilities, structure and headroom within the 3.2 meters," said Smith. That required too many beam penetrations, which were difficult within the robust structure, he added.

The Kingdom Tower has 4-m floor-to-floor heights. That eases coordination and means fewer beam penetrations.

The Kingdom Tower's foundation design is also simpler than the burj's. There is no bedrock at the site along the Red Sea, which contains a form of limestone made from decomposed coral. The foundation design calls for 270 augured piles that reach 50 to 70 m below grade, topped by a mat.

Once the piles are in, there is no excavation. The 4-m-deep mat is one level above grade. That means no digging down into the water table—which is close to the surface because of the proximity to the Red Sea—and no dewatering. "We couldn't get big enough pumps to dewater the site. It would have been like trying to dewater the sea," said Peter Weismantle.

The designers also learned that a simpler skin would be beneficial. "It's not anywhere near as complex as the burj," said Smith.

The design of the Kingdom Tower may be paying heed to issues of constructibility, but that in no way means the project is easy.

For example, during the time-out period, the developer made a decision to make every unit bigger and increase their number. The design team then went back to the drawing board and added one meter to the slabs around the perimeter and 20 more floors to the occupied space. "That reversed a lot of what we had done to make things more compact," said Smith.

As of last fall, the plan was for a building topped by a structural concrete spire. No one has ever pumped concrete up one kilometer. "The issue will be the mix design and labor at the top," said Weismantle. "To have a mix that can be pumped and placed at these heights [is a big challenge]," he added.

Wind loads also required attention. Early on, there was concern because the tower's edges were so sharp. But wind-tunnel tests showed no need to round the corners. "It's a well-behaved building," said Sinn. "The experience of Adrian and his team paid off," he added.

Peter A. Irwin, RWDI's chairman, agrees. For the burj, RWDI tested many iterations on the shape and "a lot was learned," said Irwin. "On Kingdom Tower, we started with a good shape and didn't do as many iterations."

John Galsworthy, RWDI's project director, agreed, saying, "In tests, the tapering form helped to mitigate cross-wind excitation, known as vortex shedding."

In terms of the building's technology, everything is pushed a step rather than being a radical departure—except for the elevator technology, said Weismantle.

Plans call for 59 elevators, including 54 single-deck and five double-deck cabs. The dedicated elevator serving the observatory is designed to travel 10 m per second in both directions.

The top occupied floor is more than 600 m high. For the elevators, the key issue is building sway. The elevator design incorporates "followers," cables that keep the main cables from hitting the shaft walls. The followers are more than half the height of the occupied levels of the building—more than 300 m.

Though the tower's form is inspired by the folded fronds of young desert plant growth, the three-petal footprint is ideal for residential units and the tapering wings produce an aerodynamic shape that helps minimize structural loads due to vortex shedding, said Smith. He is satisfied that the lessons learned from the burj construction will result in a better building that is much quicker to build."

Wow, thanks a lot that is one professional and informative article right here. Not like most of the repetitive crap posted here. There is many new things we can learn from it. I let myself bold the most interesting stuff and do some commenting.

http://enr.construction.com/buildings/building_types/2012/0305-designers-apply-lessons-learned-from-worlds-tallest-tower-to-future-megatallest-.asp

"After tortured beginnings that included a false start followed by a protracted design competition during which the eventual winner "gambled" $2 million, a shroud of secrecy has enveloped the planned 1-kilometer-tall Kingdom Tower, to be sited north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. If built, the estimated $1.2-billion megatower would replace the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest building. It would also owe the burj a major debt. The design team, many of whom worked on the burj, is applying lessons learned in Dubai to the Kingdom Tower in a concerted effort to simplify design and construction of the concrete structure.

Currently, there is no mention of the Kingdom Tower—the pet project of a Saudi prince named Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz—among the projects listed on the website of the skyscraper's general contractor and part owner, the Saudi Binladin Group. SBG is mute on the subject. The developer, Kingdom Holding Co.'s Jeddah Economic Co., has muzzled the entire design team. The Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat lists the building as proposed, though pile construction was scheduled to begin last month. Reports that the work has begun could not be confirmed, but sources familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity, do confirm that design development continues.

Last summer, the developer unveiled a scheme for a 5.3-sq-km mini-city called Kingdom City, which would cost $20 billion and include the Kingdom Tower. The sleek, tapered tower—designed by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), with the Chicago office of structural engineer Thornton Tomasetti (TT) and mechanical engineer Environmental Systems Design Inc., also of Chicago—would enclose 530,000 sq meters.

AS+GG was formed in 2006, after Smith and Gill left the Chicago office of Skidmore Owings & Merrill. While at SOM, Smith was the lead designer for the Burj Khalifa. Many from the burj team currently work at AS+GG, including Peter A. Weismantle, AS+GG's director of supertall building technology. Robert C. Sinn, currently a TT principal, also worked on the burj while at SOM. And both buildings have the same wind engineer, Guelph, Ontario, Canada-based Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc. (RWDI) and the same elevator consultant, Galveston, Texas-based James A. Fortune.

In retrospect, one could almost consider the Burj Khalifa as a living laboratory for supertower design. During interviews last fall (before the project went quiet), members of the Kingdom Tower design team talked about lessons they learned from the burj, mostly pertaining to the megatower's shape, structure and skin.

The Kingdom Tower's design may be simpler to build, but the project's beginnings were much more complicated than the burj's. For the burj, the developer held a three-week ideas competition, suggested by Smith, to narrow the field from the several architects interviewed. The deal with SOM was soon sealed on a handshake. After the selection, conceptual design matured over one and a half years.

The building now known as the Kingdom Tower was initially called the Mile High Tower. Eventually, the developer abandoned as impractical the idea for a tower a mile tall. After that followed a strung-out design competition, which lasted nine months instead of two, for a shorter building. During the competition phase, representatives of AS+GG made eight trips to Saudi Arabia to present schemes. The firm even built and shipped 10-ft-tall models. "It was really expensive," Smith said. The competition "wasn't for the faint of heart."

The selection was supposed to be made by September 2009. By that time, however, five of the eight initial submissions still had to present to the prince. By December, two teams were left: AS+GG and SOM. Ultimately, AS+GG was selected in February 2010.

Smith calls the selection process "torturous," for both his firm and SOM. "I knew it was a big gamble, but it was something we wanted badly," he said. "Had we not won, we would have lost $2 million and would have had to lay off 30 to 40 people because we were all holding staff for this project," he said.

The team wasn't out of the woods yet. In December 2010, well into design development, the project went on hold for six months. "The owner didn't have its own structure together yet," said Smith.

Design work started again last June. By the end of October, the team had secured a permit for the foundations.

Plans call for a mostly residential, mixed-use tower, including a hotel, office space and condominiums. The tower would also contain the world's highest observation level. Smith calls the architecture an evolution of the Y-in-plan concept used on the burj and first introduced in the early 1920s by architect Mies Van Der Rohe. The evolution mostly relates to the structure and the perimeter wall, he adds.

To understand the evolution, it is necessary to compare the burj and the Kingdom Tower. The burj consists of a 585-m-tall, structural-concrete superstructure, with setbacks, topped by a 200-m-plus structural steel spire that culminates in a steel-pipe pinnacle. Through level 156, the burj is a high-performance concrete tower with a Y-shaped footprint. A hexagonal, shear-wall core is at the nexus of the Y’s wings. Every seven floors, an outer bay "peels away," creating a setback and 27 different floor plate sizes. Outrigger shear walls for stability are in three-floor mechanical levels, every 30 stories or so. Slabs are generally two-way, reinforced-concrete flat plates. Core slabs have beams. The tower is founded on a high-performance, reinforced-concrete raft on piles.

The Kingdom Tower's design also calls for a three-legged building. But gone are the setbacks, the outriggers and the transfers, which wreaked havoc with the construction pace. Instead, the legs are sloped and connected to each other by three tilted planes, which form the tower's outer walls. Each wall, or face, is a single plane, tilted at a slightly different angle, so that each wall reaches the tower's top at different heights. The only asymmetry is the three tilted planes, which form the gradual taper.

In plan, the three-winged building looks like three hammerheads because, near the tips of the wings, there are "serious walls" that cut across, said Sinn.

Inside, throughout each floor plate, a series of concrete walls would contain 12,000-psi concrete and be interconnected by link beams.

Avoiding setbacks and transfers translates to minimizing formwork resetting time. On the burj, the contractor lost three weeks at each setback redoing formwork for walls and slabs, said Smith. On the Kingdom Tower, a day, at most, will be lost to resetting forms, he added.


This is the main reason why they claim so fast construction. And it makes a lot of sense. Just saying cause many people here just add the construction time as the height is going up and the truth is that it may be wrong thinking to begin with since this is quite different and much simpler structure.


Thanks to the burj's shape, the terraces at the setbacks are very windy at the higher elevations. For the Kingdom Tower, the terraces are between the legs in so-called quiet zones, where there is not a lot of wind pressure. "That should be much more accommodating," said Smith. It also helps to increase the value of the rental units.

Another lesson from the burj relates to its 3.2-m floor-to-floor height. "It was a coordination nightmare to get the utilities, structure and headroom within the 3.2 meters," said Smith. That required too many beam penetrations, which were difficult within the robust structure, he added.

The Kingdom Tower has 4-m floor-to-floor heights. That eases coordination and means fewer beam penetrations.

The Kingdom Tower's foundation design is also simpler than the burj's. There is no bedrock at the site along the Red Sea, which contains a form of limestone made from decomposed coral. The foundation design calls for 270 augured piles that reach 50 to 70 m below grade, topped by a mat.


so there is no bedrock at the site as expected. Rody are you sure about your inside information about the soil condition?


Once the piles are in, there is no excavation. The 4-m-deep mat is one level above grade. That means no digging down into the water table—which is close to the surface because of the proximity to the Red Sea—and no dewatering.


So there won't be huge hole, and this one goes U/C as soon as foundation drillers starts theirs work (if what they are doing now is not for the foundation already). I somehow felt it coming. Burj didn't have super deep hole either.


"We couldn't get big enough pumps to dewater the site. It would have been like trying to dewater the sea," said Peter Weismantle.

The designers also learned that a simpler skin would be beneficial. "It's not anywhere near as complex as the burj," said Smith.

The design of the Kingdom Tower may be paying heed to issues of constructibility, but that in no way means the project is easy.

For example, during the time-out period, the developer made a decision to make every unit bigger and increase their number. The design team then went back to the drawing board and added one meter to the slabs around the perimeter and 20 more floors to the occupied space. "That reversed a lot of what we had done to make things more compact," said Smith.


That is some foundation for the rumors about height increase we've heard lately. That also could explain those plans with 1007m mark which might simply be original plans later altered.


As of last fall, the plan was for a building topped by a structural concrete spire. No one has ever pumped concrete up one kilometer. "The issue will be the mix design and labor at the top," said Weismantle. "To have a mix that can be pumped and placed at these heights [is a big challenge]," he added.


Let me just say, that will be some epic staff :cheers: Although I Thing I love steel construction over concrete, this will be so much more challenging than burj's spire. Obviously they won't just erect it as they did it with burjs spire, and what that means is that there will be crane, concrete form-works, and workers working at the height of around 1km and maybe more, just imagine that :nuts: Burj proper construction actually reached maybe 700m mark at most and the rest was just erecting the spire. It's definatelly worth waitng to watch :cheers:


Wind loads also required attention. Early on, there was concern because the tower's edges were so sharp. But wind-tunnel tests showed no need to round the corners. "It's a well-behaved building," said Sinn. "The experience of Adrian and his team paid off," he added.

Peter A. Irwin, RWDI's chairman, agrees. For the burj, RWDI tested many iterations on the shape and "a lot was learned," said Irwin. "On Kingdom Tower, we started with a good shape and didn't do as many iterations."

John Galsworthy, RWDI's project director, agreed, saying, "In tests, the tapering form helped to mitigate cross-wind excitation, known as vortex shedding."

In terms of the building's technology, everything is pushed a step rather than being a radical departure—except for the elevator technology, said Weismantle.

Plans call for 59 elevators, including 54 single-deck and five double-deck cabs. The dedicated elevator serving the observatory is designed to travel 10 m per second in both directions.

The top occupied floor is more than 600 m high. For the elevators, the key issue is building sway. The elevator design incorporates "followers," cables that keep the main cables from hitting the shaft walls. The followers are more than half the height of the occupied levels of the building—more than 300 m.

Though the tower's form is inspired by the folded fronds of young desert plant growth, the three-petal footprint is ideal for residential units and the tapering wings produce an aerodynamic shape that helps minimize structural loads due to vortex shedding, said Smith. He is satisfied that the lessons learned from the burj construction will result in a better building that is much quicker to build."

^^ Binladen group is building Abraj Al Bait in Mecca which is also a very big project and it's almost finished .. So, I think the group won't start seriously until they finish with Abraj Al Bait .. and that's off course soon :) ..

so there is no bedrock at the site as expected. Rody are you sure about your inside information about the soil condition?


:lol:
sorry my bad.. it's the limestone "layer", which is the normal under ground in Jeddah (except for east Jeddah).
when I said they were the happiest on site is because they didn't face high humidity levels (as they were expecting).

^^
the article was amazing and i share a lot of patrykus feelings about this. After reading this the 5 year shedule makes a lot more sense and i'm happy to see that this project will not sit years into a big hole but can instead rise a lot earlier than expected after piling is done. the spire thing might be very exciting to see when the tower is risen, but thats something we can think about when the time has come :)

Hi all.

Great article - thanks for posting Reinsdorf.

The foundation mat is a level above grade - very unique. It does make sense being so close to the sea. So 270 piles - sounds like no barretts. As we heard earlier they did test both piles and barretts.

So there will be no lower levels in the level count - that's cool.
Nice to get a reasonable sounding history of the project as well.

:cheers:
Ray.

Awesome article. Thank you!

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article578390.ece


By ARAB NEWS

Published: Feb 22, 2012 00:01 Updated: Feb 22, 2012 00:01

JEDDAH: A Jeddah-based project to build the tallest tower in the world has been given the go-ahead after it received its final license, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) Prince Alwaleed bin Talal confirmed.


The SR4.6 billion Kingdom Tower, which will stand over 1,000 meters tall, is the centerpiece and the first construction phase of Kingdom City, Jeddah Economic Company’s (JEC) new urban development covering more than 5.3 million square meters of land in the north of Jeddah overlooking the Red Sea and Obhur Creek. Work on the project began on Jan. 1.

Partners of JEC include KHC, Samaual Bakhsh, Abraar, International Holding Company, prominent Jeddah businessman Abdulrahman Hassan Sharbatly and Saudi Binladin Group (SBG).

“This project will provide sustainable profits to shareholders,” said Prince Alwaleed.

He also thanked various supporters of the project, including Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Prince Mansour bin Miteb, Jeddah Mayor Hani Aburass, and Gen. Adil Zamzami and Lt. Gen. Abdalah Jedawi from the General Directorate of the Civil Defense.

“The vision of constructing the tallest tower in the world in Jeddah belongs to Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who was closely involved in the selection of the scheme currently under design,” said Talal Al-Maiman, a board member of KHC and Jeddah Economic Company, which was formed in 2009 to develop Kingdom City in Jeddah.

“Kingdom Tower’s height is remarkable, obviously, but the building’s iconic status will not depend solely on that. Its form is brilliantly sculpted, making it quite simply the most beautiful building in the world of any height. The decision of the partners to build the world’s tallest building further demonstrates their belief in investing in this nation.”

Five contractors were invited to offer proposals for the Kingdom Tower and a shortlist of three firms submitted final offers for the tower construction. SBG was chosen for the project.

so is it pretty much under construction now?

^^ Yes, I think so ..

^^ There need to be pics as proof of that. Also, I doubt that after only 2 months of prep works they would already be in the construction phase :dunno:

Drilling for piles means construction and this tower won't have any hole that would have had to be dig, so yeah construction can start in anytime if it hasn't already.

The base of this tower will be so massive, that will take a long time to build.

I know this is quiet diffficult to see the pilling (the place seems to be closed to public) But they started 2 weeks ago now to pilling so ... with much curiousity ... someone can show some pics about it ?

^^ Yes , all we want is A CLOSED PICTURE !!

fayzoon ask your Saudi friends for pictures.

^^ :sad2: no friends from Jeddah at all !!

golly .... Does the phantom factor to this thread happen to surpass its very subject? http://www.emoticons.gr/albums/uploads/fool/kos.gif

5 days since the last post on this topic. Is it the location of the site or the lack of interest from the locals that contribute to this dearth of information?