The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest man-made structure on the To cope up with the numbers, Burj Khalifa

urj Khalifa has 57 (55 single deck and 2

planet. In fact, it’s one of the greatest achievements in the engineering
history, with 17 records and 25+ awards in its name. To make something
this big, Burj Khalifa owes its success to seven key inventions. Seven
construction challenges which the construction team tackled. In this
article, we discuss seven landmark buildings, which will be used as an
example of how each building moved, one by one, up the scale with
a major technological innovation. We will reveal the incredible stories
behind these structures, and the inventions which helped them to go
higher.
Construction Challenge #1: Mobility – Introduction to High-End
Elevators
The first and foremost obstacle to skyscrapers were – stairs.
The first breakthrough happened in 1870 with the Equitable Life Building
in New York which was only 40m tall. Builders realized that they could
go taller, however, they need to find an alternative to make people
climb higher. There was an obvious solution for the problem – the
elevator.
Prof. Andrew Scott Dolkart, Historic Preservation at Columbia, GSAPP,
and Director of the school’s Historic Preservation Program says that
“people were reluctant to walk stairs in old buildings as they were dark,
and climbing stairs get them incredibly winded. Before elevators were
introduced, if you have a business on the fifth floor, you are
undoubtedly going to lose clients.”
But early elevators had one deadly fault, nothing stopped them from
falling if the hoist cable failed. That’s when Elijah Grave Otis,
demonstrated free-fall safety. A safety device that prevents elevators
from falling even if the hoist cable broke. Equitable Life Building
included the first fully automated safety elevator and was the first office
building to feature passenger elevators.
Equitable Life Building had only seven stories, however, Burj Khalifa has
163 floors. The height that stretches elevator technology to its absolute
limit. The Burj Khalifa took the idea of elevators to its extreme, as it
accommodates over 35,000 people, and getting these people in and
out is a herculean task.
double deck) elevators made by Otis Elevator Company. Some reach
a maximum speed of 36km/h and move 120 floors within 50s. Another
issue with the elevators was stopping 50 tons of moving mass. To stop
these juggernauts speeding, emergency brakes spring into
action. Metal brakes bite down on the guide rails and produce enough
braking power to stop these elevators.
Construction Challenge #2: Materials – Reinventing New Materials
Safety elevators guided skyscrapers to break through the barriers, but
when they approached 93m for the Flatiron Building in New York,
traditional building materials weren’t suitable for the task. New
materials needed to be used because the Monadnock Building in
Chicago (60m) began to sink into the soft Chicago soil due to its
extremely heavy structure. Thus, stones weren’t suitable as skyscraper
material.
When the architect of the Monadnock Building, Daniel Burnham, was
planning the Flatiron Building he faced a problem. The extremely
narrow plot prescribed a triangular 22 story skyscraper. He knew that
there was no room for stone walls, as it would waste valuable
space. This took stone out of the equation, so he designed the building
out of steel columns and beams, locked together into a steel
skeleton. Steel was much stronger than stone, and so the skeleton can
be light and thin, yet it can support the entire weight of the whole
structure. To keep the weather out Burnham simply hung thin masonry
walls off the steel frame, like curtainwalls.
Flatiron Building was one of the tallest buildings in New York on its
completion, which was only possible with its steel skeleton. Steel
construction truly moved the skyscraper a step further and was
considered to be the new breed of building.
The skeleton of the Burj Khalifa integrates the best of steel and
stone. Over 30 thousand tons of steel is used. The steel is embedded in
artificial stone – concrete. The reinforced concrete backbone is
covered with a high-tech curtain wall of glass and steel. The curtain
wall of the Burj Khalifa cost around hundred million dollars, and various
prototypes were tested before the final cladding was selected.
Glass materials for curtain walls were also reinvented, which we will
discuss in our next construction challenge.
Construction Challenge #3: Heat – Turning the Building into a Giant
Oven
The next construction challenge for the engineers at Burj Khalifa was to
stop the baking Desert Sun from turning the building into a giant oven.
As steel catapulted skyscrapers to unseen heights, and walls no longer
had to bear the entire weight of the building, it gave architects the
complete freedom to use new materials. In 1947 when the
Headquarters of the United Nations (155m) was designed in New York
they wanted a building with glass so that the interior would be light and
bright. However, they faced an issue – heat. They didn’t want a 39-story
greenhouse.
Willis Carrier, an American Engineer cracked the problem by inventing
modern air conditioning. His machine could cool and dry hot moist air
by simply making it wet with a fine mist of cold water. The invention from
Carrier was an ideal solution to the heating problem faced by the
Headquarters of the United Nations. Thus, air conditioning allowed the
skyscrapers to rise, even in the hottest climates.
When it comes to Burj Khalifa, air conditioning matters more than any
place. In Dubai, temperatures easily reach 40°C in the shade, and the
average humidity is 90%, which makes an extreme environment for a
skyscraper. The key element to withstand the brutal desert sun is built
into the glass skin
The glass has two coatings on it. The outside coating is titanium, which
captures the UV rays and reflects it just like sunscreen. However, it is
useless against IR rays that radiate from the hot desert sand. The inner
coating is silver that reflects the IR rays back out of the building. When
UV and IR rays are reflected, it drastically reduces the amount of heat
penetrating into the building. John Zerafa, the Façade Project Director,
conducted a test with normal glass and found that when the outside
temperature reaches 46 °C the inside temperature is 98 °C. The internal
temperature was just below boiling point. The new glass panels solved
the heat problem, keeping the heat out, with a total of 24,348 specially
coated panels for Burj Khalifa.
Construction Challenge #4: Speed – for Faster Completion.
New construction methods and equipment. The next construction
challenge was to complete the Burj Khalifa within the allotted time.
The same issue was faced with the twin towers, the World Trade Center.
To reach the dizzying 417m developers had to find a solution for this
mammoth problem since every day the building isn’t finished costs
money. The idea was to reduce the construction time to the minimum
and the solution was to use prefabricated sections for the towers which
were then assembled on site. They built the sections offsite and shipped
the prefabricated sections to the site precisely when they were
needed. The next problem was to quickly lift and place these 50-ton
prefabricated sections. The developers found a revolutionary crane in
Australia known as the Kangaroo Crane. It could lift 50 tons and 4 of
them could reach every corner of the twin tower. Once the crane
assembles the 3rd floor, the bottom of the crane jumps to the 3rd floor
and locks into position – thus moving up with the completion of each 3
floors.
With the help of prefabricated sections and jumping kangaroo cranes,
the builders of the Twin Towers could finish 2 floors every week.
The jumping kangaroo crane was the first choice at Burj Khalifa,
however, builders took the prefabrication to the next level – Jump
forming. The team built molds at the base, inserted steel reinforcement
bars and poured concrete in. Once the concrete set, the team lifted
the molds to the next level and repeated the process. Kangaroo
cranes hoist the steel cages up. This way, builders could go at a pace
of one new floor every week.
When Burj Khalifa reached higher, builders faced another challenge,
they needed to pump concrete higher. Putzmeister created a new
super high-pressure trailer concrete pump to pump concrete higher
than anyone has ever done. Due to this amazing pumping system
challenge, it owns a record for a building for the highest vertical
concrete pumping (606m). It was the combined effort of raw machine
power and subtle chemistry.
Construction Challenge #5: Wind – Deceiving it to go higher
With Burj Khalifa soaring higher into the clouds it became exposed to a
new enemy. The one that exploited every weakness – wind.
At high speed, wind can be extremely dangerous for skyscrapers. Air
rushes around the building and creates mini tornadoes called vortices
which create areas of low pressure that suck the building sideways. The
taller the skyscraper gets, the more dangerous the vortices.
To build Sears Tower (442m) in Chicago, a reputedly windy city,
architects had to turn the skyscraper inside out. As the Sears Tower
would be 100+ floors tall, a height which exposed it to enormous wind
forces. Building a skyscraper using a traditional steel skeleton would
create massive problems. The taller a steel skeleton gets, the more it's
prone to bending in high winds. Gusts off Lake Michigan could buffet
the skyscraper at 80 km/h plus, this would cause the upper floors to
sway, affecting the people inside. Sears Tower’s architects invented a
technology that could beat the wind. The steel frames were shifted
from the inside to the outside of the building. This exoskeleton helped
the building resist bending from the wind. Sears Tower consists of 9 such
tubes which lock together to make it rock-solid. It is said, that even
when the wind speeds are over 90km/h the top floors move only 15
cm. An insignificant value for a skyscraper.
For Burj Khalifa, rather than fighting the wind, Bill Baker, the Structural
Engineer at SOM went with a design to deceive it. Burj Khalifa was given
an unpredictable shape, which breaks the winds hold on the
building. Bill said, “when we were designing the building, we were
actually designing the wind. In a way, the wind behaves around the
building and it makes a tremendous difference. We would never be
able to go this tall if we had not done that.”
Construction Challenge #6: Earthquake
After conquering mobility, materials, gravity, heat, and wind,
skyscrapers faced their next big challenge – earthquakes.
In Asia, where booming economies wanted to showcase their wealth,
super-tall skyscrapers became the objects of desire. However, Asia is
the nemesis for skyscrapers because of earthquakes. To make Taipei
101 possible, skyscrapers had to take another leap forward. As
earthquakes hit the city about twice a year, it was not a question of if,
but when an earthquake would strike Taipei 101. To survive the violent
quakes, Taipei 101 needed a dash of elasticity. Designers made the
building rigid where it had to be, and flexible where it could afford to
be. The 36 rigid steel shoes filled with concrete gave the building
strength. This forms the columns, and they stand firm during
earthquakes while the rest of the structure is elastic. In fact, halfway
through the construction process, Mother Nature tested this design to its
limit. On 31st March 2002 an earthquake shook Taipei 101. It shattered
the smaller buildings nearby, however, Taipei 101 stood still.
Engineers of the Taipei 101 claim that during an earthquake Taipei 101
is the safest place in the city.
Burj Khalifa has a massive reinforced concrete skeleton which can
withstand earthquakes of up to 6 on the Richter scale. However, the
engineers faced another problem. To make this skyscraper stand on
the desert sand, it required extraordinary measures. The ground below
Burj Khalifa consists of a 3 to 4 meter layer of sand. Below this are weak
sandstones and limestones which aren’t suitable to support the
structure. The future of the Burj Khalifa and its colossal weight rests on
one scientific principle – friction. Engineers went with skin friction piles,
where the weight of the skyscraper is carried on the friction of the pile,
the side of the pile. The foundation totally relies on the super strong grip
created between the ground and the sides of the each pile. Beneath
the tower, engineers drove 192 pile to a depth of 50m, to support a 3.7m
thick raft of solid concrete. Bill Baker, the Structural Engineer at SOM says
that “The building so far has gone down around 30 mm, which is just
slightly more than an inch, about the thickness of my thumb. It is very
small number for a building of this size.”
In just 130 years skyscrapers conquered all the forces of nature with the
power of human ingenuity.
Construction Challenge #7: Evacuation – During an Emergency
As skyscrapers soared higher and higher into the sky, they became
more vulnerable. One of the fears which threaten their existence is
terrorism. Now the final technological leap of the world’s biggest
skyscraper is to keep its occupants safe.
After the attack of 9/11 many believed that no super tall building would network of high-powered fans kick in. These fans force clean cool air
ever be built again. Mike Hurley, former fire director at the World Trade into the building through the fire resistant ducts. The fresh air forces the
Center says “I don’t think anyone could foresee those events of smoke out of the stairwell, thus keeping the evacuation routes clear.
September 11th, where planes would be used basically as missiles to fly
Thus Burj Khalifa comes with fire safety kit for the 21st-century skyscraper.
into a building. But once that occurred it became a fire safety issue,
and then we began our typical plan to evacuate the occupants.” Conclusion: With its inauguration on 4th January 2010, Burj Khalifa
became the tallest structure that mankind has ever built on this
Evacuating occupants from a skyscraper is not an easy challenge. The
planet. Standing on the shoulders of historic engineering marvels, the
taller the building gets the further people must walk to get to
Burj Khalifa is really an ultimate skyscraper, until someone builds an even
safety. Mike Hurley says that “Making the occupants walk down the
bigger one.
stairs is a real challenge for the rescuing team. You may think that
walking down the stairs would be a lot easier than walking up the
stairs. But it is not, it’s almost as difficult as walking up. Everybody has a
different pace of walking, few may be physically fit, a few could be
injured, some may have lost their shoes and it's sure isn’t going to be
easy for anybody.”

Burj Khalifa has built-in fire protection as its concrete backbone is

naturally fire resistant. But the skyscraper is nearly twice the height of
the Twin towers, so how do people get out during an emergency. The
answer is – they don’t.

Burj Khalifa contains nine very special rooms – refuge rooms. These
refuge rooms are built from layers of reinforced concrete and fireproof
sheeting. The walls can withstand the heat of the fire for 2 hours. A
special supply of air is pumped into the refuge rooms through fire
resistant pipes, and the sealed fireproof doors ensure that no smokes
leaks into the room. Occupants in the refuge room can seek shelter
from a fire until the emergency services bring the fire under
control. Refuge rooms are available at every 30 floors, which make
them easily accessible without much effort.

Refuge rooms are a fundamental concept, however, the safest place

is of no use if the access route is blocked by smoke. Dale Mills, Fire
Fighter says that “in a fire, it’s not normally the fire that kills you, but the
smoke inhalation. 98% die in a fire because o smoke.”

Architects and engineers have thought of this situation and have come
up with a technology to take the smoke out of the equation. The Burj
Khalifa comes with an early warning system which guards it 24/7. If the
fire is initiated, the smoke detectors and heat sensors detect it, and a