By IANS
Dubai : Burj Dubai, the skyscraper under construction here which is planned to be the tallest in the world, has reached a height of 598.5 metres with 158 completed floors – the most in any building in the world – WAM news agency reported Saturday.
Burj Dubai is now taller than Taipei 101 (508 metres) in Taiwan and the CN Tower (553.33 metres) in Toronto, Canada.
A press release from the tower’s developers, United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Emaar properties, said that the cladding work of the tower is now going on at a fast pace with 58 storeys already wearing the shimmering sheen of the cladding system.
The primary materials used – reflective glazing, aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrels and vertical stainless tubular fins – accentuate the tower’s height and slenderness.
On its completion, the tower would have used 330,000 cubic metres of concrete, 39,000 metric tonnes of steel and 142,000 square metres of glass as well as 22 million man hours.
South Korean construction major Samsung Corporation and New York-based project manager Turner Construction are building the tower.