The Tallest Building - Burj Khalifa (Burj Dubai)

Burj Khalifa (Arabic: برج خليفة‎ "Khalifa Tower"), formerly known as Burj Dubai, is a supertall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 828 m (2,717 ft).
Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the
structure completed on 1 October 2009 and the building officially opened
on 4 January 2010.



The building is part of the 2 km2 (490-acre) flagship development called
Downtown Burj Khalifa at the "First Interchange" along Sheikh Zayed
Road, near Dubai's main business district. The tower's architect and
engineer is Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, LLP (Chicago). Bill Baker, the
Chief Structural Engineer for the project, invented the buttressed core
structural system in order to enable the tower to achieve such heights
economically. Adrian Smith, who worked with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
(SOM) until 2006, was the Design Partner on the project.



The primary builder is a joint venture of South Korean Samsung C&T,
who also built the Taipei 101 and Petronas Twin Towers, Belgian group
Besix and Arabtec from UAE. Turner Construction Company was chosen as
the construction project manager. Under UAE law, the Contractor and the
Engineer of Record are jointly and severally liable for the performance
of Burj Dubai. Therefore, by adoption of SOM's
design and by being appointed as Architect and Engineer of Record, Hyder
Consulting is legally the Design Consultant for the tower.





The total budget for the Burj Khalifa project is about US$1.5 billion;
and for the entire new "Downtown Dubai", US$20 billion. Mohamed Ali
Alabbar, the CEO of Emaar Properties, speaking at the Council on Tall
Buildings and Urban Habitat 8th World Congress, said that the price of
office space at Burj Khalifa had reached US$4,000 per sq ft (over
US$43,000 per m2) and that the Armani Residences, also in Burj Khalifa,
were selling for US$3,500 per sq ft (over US$37,500 per m2).

Current records

• Tallest skyscraper to top of spire: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously Taipei 101 – 509.2 m (1,671 ft))


• Tallest structure ever built: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously Warsaw radio mast – 646.38 m (2,121 ft))


• Tallest extant structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously KVLY-TV mast – 628.8 m (2,063 ft))


• Tallest freestanding structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously CN Tower – 553.3 m (1,815 ft))


• Building with most floors: 160 (previously both 1 and 2 World Trade Center – 110)


• World's highest elevator installation


• World's fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) or 18 m/s (59 ft/s) (previously Taipei 101 – 16.83 m/s)


• Highest vertical concrete pumping (for a building): 606 m (1,988 ft) (previously Taipei 101 – 449.2 m (1,474 ft))


• Highest vertical concrete pumping (for any construction): 606 m
  (1,988 ft) (previously Riva del Garda Hydroelectric Power Plant – 532 m
  (1,745 ft))


• The first world's tallest structure in history to include residential space


• Highest outdoor observation deck in the world


• Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world


• Tallest service elevator in the world


• World's highest installation of an aluminium and glass façade, at a height of 512 m (1,680 ft)

Source: wikipedia.org

 

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Wembley - The Most Expensive Stadium Ever Built

Wembley - The Most Expensive Stadium Ever Built
Wembley Stadium (usually shortened to just Wembley) is a stadium, located in Wembley Park in London, England. Primarily an association football venue, Wembley is owned by The Football Association (The FA) via its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited, and hosts the home international matches of the England national football team and the main English domestic cup finals. The Stadium is also used for music concerts and other sporting events. Wembley will host the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final.

Wembley's 90,000 capacity makes it the second largest stadium in Europe (after Camp Nou) and one of the largest (and tallest) in the world with every seat under cover. It is one of the most expensive stadia ever built, costing close to £800 million (roughly US$1.57 billion). Immediately following its opening, it was often referred to as the "new Wembley Stadium" to distinguish it from the original stadium. The land has been used for football since as early as the 1880s.

The previous Wembley Stadium (originally known as the British Empire Exhibition Stadium or Empire Stadium) was one of the world's most famous football stadiums, being England's national stadium for football, and, because of the geographical origins of the game, was often referred to as "The Home of Football". It hosted the European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) final a record five times, and is one of seventeen stadiums to have held a FIFA World Cup final. Though the original structure was closed in 2000, it was not demolished until 2003, after which construction began on the new stadium, originally intended to open in 2006. This was later delayed until early 2007. The final completion date of the stadium was 9 March 2007, when the stadium was handed over to the FA.

Structure:

• The stadium contains 2,618 toilets, more than any other venue in the world.
• The stadium has a circumference of 1 km (0.6 mi).
• At its peak, there were more than 3,500 construction workers on site.
• 4,000 separate piles form the foundations of the new stadium, the deepest of which is 35 m (115 ft).
• There are 56 km (35 miles) of heavy-duty power cables in the stadium.
• 90,000 m³ (120,000 cu yds) of concrete and 23,000 tonnes (25,000 short tons) of steel were used in the construction of the new stadium.
• The total length of the escalators is 400 m (¼ mi).
• The Wembley Arch has a cross-sectional diameter greater than that of a cross-channel Eurostar train.
  

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Millau Viaduct - World's Tallest Vehicular Bridge

Millau Viaduct - World's Tallest Vehicular Bridge
The Millau Viaduct (French: le Viaduc de Millau, Occitan: lo Viaducte de Milhau) is an enormous cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France.

Designed by the structural engineer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster, it is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at 343 metres (1,125 ft) — slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 37 m (121 ft) shorter than the Empire State Building.

The viaduct is part of the A75-A71 autoroute axis from Paris to Montpellier. Construction cost was around €400 million.

It was formally dedicated on 14 December 2004, inaugurated the day after and opened to traffic two days later.

The bridge won the 2006 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award.

The bridge’s construction broke three world records:

• The highest pylons in the world: pylons P2 and P3, 244.96 metres (803 ft 8 in) and 221.05 metres (725 ft 3 in) in height respectively, broke the French record previously held by the Tulle and Verrières Viaducts (141 m/460 ft), and the world record previously held by the Kochertal Viaduct (Germany), which is 181 metres (590 ft) at its highest;
• The highest bridge tower in the world: the mast atop pylon P2 peaks at 343 metres (1,130 ft).
• The highest road bridge deck in the world, 270 m (890 ft) above the Tarn River at its highest point. It is nearly twice as tall as the previous tallest vehicular bridge in Europe, the Europabrücke in Austria. It is slightly higher than the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia in the United States, which is 267 m (880 ft) above the New River. Only the bridge deck of the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado, United States (mainly a pedestrian bridge over the Arkansas River, occasionally also used by motor vehicles) is higher with 321 m (1,050 ft), and is considered the highest bridge in the world.

The Millau Viaduct consists of an eight-span steel roadway supported by seven concrete pylons. The roadway weighs 36,000 tonnes and is 2,460 m (8,100 ft) long, measuring 32 m (100 ft) wide by 4.2 m (14 ft) deep, making it the world's longest cable-stayed deck. The six central spans each measure 342 m (1,120 ft) with the two outer spans measuring 204 m (670 ft). The roadway has a slope of 3% descending from south to north, and curves in a plane section with a 20 km (12 mi) radius to give drivers better visibility. The pylons range in height from 77 m (250 ft) to 246 m (810 ft), and taper in their longitudinal section from 24.5 m (80 ft) at the base to 11 m (36 ft) at the deck. Each pylon is composed of 16 framework sections, each weighing 2,230 tons. These sections were assembled on site from pieces of 60 tons, 4 m (13 ft) wide and 17 m (56 ft) long, made in factories in Lauterbourg and Fos-sur-Mer by Eiffage. The pylons each support 87 m (290 ft) tall masts.

The enormous pylons were built first, together with intermediate temporary pylons which were in themselves a massive record-breaking construction project.

Remarkably, the entire length of deck surface (that is to say, the bridge itself, the actual kilometers of roadway) was slid out, into the valley, across the pylons from both sides.

This feat was achieved using hydraulic rams that moved the deck about 600 mm every 4 minutes, over the course of many days.

While the kilometers of roadway was being slid-out through space, it was supported by both the final pylons and the temporary pylons.

Only after the roadway was completely slid-out in to the final position, were the masts erected on top of the deck (that is to say, over the pylons). To be clear, the masts on top are not continuing elements of the pylons underneath, although they appear to be. The masts are separate constructions which were built on land, wheeled out to position only after the pylons and roadway were complete, raised (with difficulty), and emplaced.

The construction of the massive cable-stay system between the masts and deck then followed.

Finally, the massive temporary pylons in the valley were removed.

Construction began on 10 October 2001 and was intended to take three years, but weather conditions put work on the bridge behind schedule. A revised schedule aimed for the bridge to be opened in January 2005. The viaduct was inaugurated by President Chirac on 14 December 2004 to open for traffic on 16 December, several weeks ahead of the revised schedule.

The construction of the bridge was depicted in an episode of the National Geographic Channel MegaStructures series, as well as Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering, both of which included time-lapse footage of the ultimate astonishing feat of sliding the roadway out over the valley, on to the plyons, to create the bridge.

Source: wikipedia.org, yawoot.com

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Ulm Minster - World's Tallest Church

Ulm Minster - World's Tallest Church
Ulm Minster (German: Ulmer Münster, literally: minster) is a Lutheran church located in Ulm, Germany; it is the tallest church in the world, with a steeple measuring 161.53 metres (530 ft) and containing 768 steps. Although sometimes referred to as Ulm Cathedral because of its great size, the church is not a cathedral as it has never been the seat of a bishop. (The responsible bishop of the Evangelical State Church in Württemberg - member of the Evangelical Church in Germany - resides in Stuttgart.) Ulm Minster is a famous example of Gothic ecclesiastical architecture. Like Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) - another building begun in the Gothic era - the Ulm Münster was not completed until the 19th century. From the top level at 143 metres (470 ft) there is a panoramic view of Ulm in Baden-Württemberg and Neu-Ulm in Bavaria and, in clear weather, a vista of the Alps from Säntis to the Zugspitze. The final stairwell to the top (known as the third Gallery) is a tall, spiraling staircase that has barely enough room for one person.

Measurements

• The church has a length of 123.56 metres (405.4 ft) and a width of 48.8 metres (160 ft).
• The building area is approximately 8,260 square metres (88,900 sq ft).
• The height of the central nave is 41.6 metres (136 ft), whilst the lateral naves are 20.55 metres (67.4 ft) high.
• The volume of the edifice is some 190,000 cubic metres (6,700,000 cu ft).
• The weight of the main steeple is estimated at 51,500 tonnes (50,700 LT; 56,800 ST).
• The church seats a congregation of 2,000.
• In the Middle Ages, before pews were introduced, it could accommodate 20,000 people.
• The Ulm Münster is the largest Lutheran church and the second largest church in Germany (after Cologne Cathedral).

Construction work

In the 14th century, the parish church of Ulm was located outside the walled city. The burghers of Ulm decided to erect a new church within the perimeters of the city and to finance the costs of the erection.

In 1377 the foundation stone was laid. The planned church was to have three naves of equal height, a main spire on the west and two steeples above the choir. In 1392 Ulrich Ensingen (associated with Strasbourg Cathedral) was appointed master builder. It was his plan to make the western church tower the tallest spire (which it is to the current day).

The church, consisting of the longitudinal naves and the choir, covered by a temporary roof, was consecrated in 1405.

However, structural damages, caused by the height of the aisles and the weight of the heavy vaulting, necessitated a reconstruction of the lateral naves. The side aisles were supported by a row of additional column in their centre.

In a referendum in 1530/31, the citizens of Ulm converted to Protestantism during the Reformation and in 1543 construction work was halted at a time when the steeple had reached a height of some 100 metres (330 ft).

The halt in the building process was caused by a variety of factors which were political and religious (the reformation, the Thirty Years' War, the War of the Spanish Succession) as well as economic (the discovery of the Americas in 1492 and of the sea route to India in 1497, leading to a shift in trade routes and commodities). One result was economic stagnation and a steady decline, preventing major public expenditure.

In 1817 work resumed and the three steeples of the church were completed. Finally, on 31 May 1890 the building was completed.

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Dubai...Too Much.too Soon

All This Dubai

While being on business in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, one Russian traveler and photographer decided not to spare a chance and made a helicopter trip around the center of the city to make a photo-story. To say that the city is rich means not to say anything. Dubai literally shines with luxury, mile-high skyscrapers and hi-tech facilities. These shots will carry you to the world of an incredible beauty with its fairy-like views.

To the fore you can see Dubai golf club which lies on the banks of Dubai creek. These train tracks below is a new railroad feeder which will be opened in the end of 2010.

Body of human-made isles which is called The World. As you understand, it is in the shape of the world and comprises all the countries. One of them is already finished and functions well enough. In the beginning sheikh used the isle for advertising purposes but soon afterwards gifted it to his daughter.

This palm-shaped island is Atlantis hotel. They say that one week stay in this hotel with your children and wife costs more than $12,000.

And here the symbol of Dubai and the highest building in the world enters the sight, Burj Dubai. The huge building behind Tower of Dubai is one of the biggest malls in the all world, Dubai Mall. There is an oceanarium located inside and also lots of waterworks. Each evening terrific waterworks show is being held there. It was made by the same company as in Las Vegas, but on a large-scale basis.

And now the rest, but not the least:

Just amazing

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Great Wall of China - World's Largest Engineering and Building Project

The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during various successive dynasties. Since the 5th century BC, several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority of the existing wall were built during the Ming Dynasty.

The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has recently concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi). This is made up of 6,259.6 km (3,889.5 mi) of sections of actual wall, 359.7 km (223.5 mi) of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

Visibility from the moon

Popular beliefs ranging from Ripley's Believe It or Not!'s cartoons from 1930s, which claimed that the Great Wall is "the mightiest work of man, the only one that would be visible to the human eye from the moon," to Richard Halliburton's 1938 book Second Book of Marvels which makes a similar claim, have persisted, assuming urban legend status, and sometimes even appearing in school textbooks. Arthur Waldron, author of The Great Wall of China: From History to Myth, has speculated that the belief might go back to the fascination with the "canals" once believed to exist on Mars.

One of the earliest known references to this myth appears in a letter written in 1754 by the English antiquary William Stukeley. Stukeley wrote that, "This mighty wall of four score miles in length (Hadrian's Wall) is only exceeded by the Chinese Wall, which makes a considerable figure upon the terrestrial globe, and may be discerned at the moon."

The Great Wall is a maximum 9.1 m (30 ft) wide and is about the same color as the soil surrounding it. Based on the optics of resolving power (distance versus the width of the iris: a few millimetres for the human eye, metres for large telescopes) only an object of reasonable contrast to its surroundings 70 miles or more in diameter (1 arc-minute) would be visible to the unaided eye from the moon, whose average distance from Earth is 384,393 km (238,857 miles). The apparent width of the Great Wall from the moon is the same as that of a human hair viewed from 2 miles away. To see the wall from the moon would require spatial resolution 17,000 times better than normal (20/20) vision. Unsurprisingly, no lunar astronaut has ever claimed seeing the Great Wall from the moon.

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