Burj Dubai – The New Level Of Civil Engineering

On 4th Jan 2010, the biggest civil engineering marvel was inaugurated with a spectacular display of water, sound, light, and fireworks.

The biggest marvel which has amazed one and all has been in minds of not only civil engineers but also in the minds of common people. The world’s tallest building is being unveiled in the middle of the a huge financial crises but this has not marred the spirit of Dubai.

The inauguration show consisted of a pre-show and three themed acts – From the Desert Flower to Burj Dubai, Heart Beat, and From Dubai ‘&’ the UAE to the World.

People of Dubai can watch this much awaited inauguration ceremony from the Waterfront Promenade close to The Dubai Mall.

As per Ahmad Al Matrooshi, Managing Director, UAE, Emaar Properties, “Just as Burj Dubai leaves an indelible impression on the mind’s eye, so the performance dedicated to the tower’s inauguration on January 4 will be a memory to cherish.”

Burj Dubai is the tallest man-made structure with a staggering height of 824.55 m (2,705 ft). This ambitious project began on 21 September 2004 and is now opened exactly on schedule.

Here is the chronological overview of the project

In January 2004 the excavation of the area is started and piling work commenced in February 2004. The construction work was given to Emaar contractors in September 2004.

The real structure began to rise in March 2005 and after 15months in June 2006 50th level is reached. Then came 2007 when all the records began to shatter as in February 2007, it surpassed The Sears Tower as the building with the most floors.Then on 13 May 2007 it sets a record for vertical concrete pumping on any building at 452 m (1,483 ft), shadowing the current record of Taipei 101 at 449.2 m (1,474 ft). Then on 21 July 2007, it minnowed Taipei 101 and reached level 141. Then till the year end, Burj Dubai had surpassed Sears Tower antenna and CN tower and reached 150 level.

In 2008, it became the the tallest man-made structure at level 160. On 1 September 2008 its height tops 688 m (2,257 ft), making it the tallest man-made structure ever built, surpassing the previous record-holder, the Warsaw Radio Mast in Konstantynów, Poland.

In 2009, it reached a breath taking height of 818 m (2,684 ft) and in Oct Emaar announced that it has completed the exterior and it will be opened in Jan 2010.



My Verdict
the Burj Dubai become UAE latest pride...they has created the new era of civil engineering world..their enormous development in engineering is beyond amazing...with all the money from the oils..they can make impossible turn into possible...but to me...why proud to be the greatest while others still struggling to breathe...

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Langkawi Curved Suspension Bridge


In all honesty...I was not aware of this spectacular structure which was introduced in 2005 exist in Malaysia...Hahaha..I feel like katak bawah tempurung right now...Shame on me...Only after seeing the suspension bridge photos from some travel brochures online that I realised this steel structure is something of an engineering marvel that worth a visit while in Pulau Langkawi.

According to the brochures..this unique steel bridge is located some hundreds of feet below the Top Station of Langkawi Cable Car. To get here... one needs to disembark at the Top Station from the cable car and then head down on a clearly marked jungle trail for about 10 minutes.

Its construction commenced in August 2003 in a joint venture project undertaken by a local outfit that goes by the name of Alam Langkawi Sdn Bhd, Wyss Planning Consultants and an engineering design company called Hoeltschi & Schurter of Switzerland. The construction cost for the suspension bridge stood at RM2.45 million and with a total involvement of 100 personnel and the structure was completed by October 2004.



The statistics are rather staggering. The 125-metre curved pedestrian crossing stood at 687 metres above sea level and the overall steel structure is supported by a single pylon measuring at a height of 82 metres from the deep gully down below. The critical design element of this imposing bridge includes a total of eight load balancing cable that distribute the overall weight on the single pylon.

Wow..How cool is that??...definitely gonna add in my wish list...Definitely!!!




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The Largest Dam in The World - Three Gorges Dam, China

The Three Gorges Dam in China is projected to be the absolute largest in the world. Expected to hold over 39,300,000,000 in volume, the reservoir is complete but the actual dam itself will not be completed until later this year. The construction of this dam had a huge impact on life in Sandouping, resulting not only in the relocation of dozens of villages but in the scenery as well. Because of the height of the Three Gorges Dam the mountains now look a bit lower than they actually are. The dam stands 185m high and 2,309m wide making it the world's largest hydro plant in the world, well ahead of Brazil's 12,600MW Itaipu installation.


The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric river dam that spans the Yangtze River in the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, at the Hubei province, China. It is the world's largest electricity-generating plant of any kind. The dam body was completed in 2006. Except for a ship lift, all of the originally planned components of the project were completed on October 30, 2008 when the 26th generator was brought into commercial operation.

Currently, it contains 26 completed generators in the shore power plant, each with a capacity of 700 MW. Six additional generators in the underground power plant are being installed and are not expected to become fully operational until around 2011. Coupling the dam's 32 main generators with 2 smaller generators (50 MW each) to power the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the dam will eventually reach 22,500 MW.

The project produces hydroelectricity, increases the river's navigation capacity, and reduces the potential for floods downstream by providing flood storage space. From completion until September 2009 the dam has generated 348.4 TWh of electricity, covering more than one third of its project cost.

The idea of building a gigantic dam on the Yangtze River in the Three Gorges area was proposed more than 80 years ago by Sun Yat-sen. After severe flooding along the river in the 1950s, Chairman Mao Tse Tung vowed to speed up construction of a massive dam but nothing significant happened for several more decades. In 1986, the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power asked the Canadian government to finance a feasibility study to be conducted by a consortium of Canadian firms.


The consortium, known as CIPM Yangtze Joint Venture, included three private companies (Acres International, SNC, and Lavelin International), and two state-owned utilities (Hydro-Quebec International and British Columbia Hydro International). On April 3, 1992, the National People’s Congress officially approved the construction of the project. On December 14, 1994, the Chinese government formally began construction and the first electricity was produced in 2003

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