Samsung’s Pride in Burj Khalifa

Construction firm shows off its superb technologies to help build the world’s tallest structure in Dubai rising more than 800 meters

Vice President Kim Kye-ho of Samsung C&T Corp. Construction Division, said the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building rising more than 800 meters above ground, is a showcase of what Korean construction firms can do.
V.P. Kim told Korean reporters gathered in Dubai to cover the opening of the Burj Dubai that he felt enormous pride in his company’s success in building the Burj Dubai, a project bigger than any that ever existed before in the world.
Kim said the Middle East is buzzing with rumors that similar projects are being planned in other countries in the region and Samsung Construction would like to take on another challenge like the Burj Dubai to boost the reputation of the Korean construction industry by showcasing the abundant pool of construction technologies the company accumulated while completing the world’s tallest building. Burj Dubai is 160 stories and 818 meters tall. Reputable construction companies from around the world engaged in intense competition to win the project, considered a very tough challenge to human imagination at the time it was conceived. Samsung outbid rival firms from Japan, Britain and Australia, seven consortiums in all, to clinch the project late in 2004.
As the Samsung official who took charge of the construction project from start to finish, Kim said he felt a special excitement on the occasion of the official opening of the building on Jan. 4. He said he, first of all, remembered the faces of each engineer that worked during the 50C heat that swept Dubai on many days during the summer, leaving them soaked in sweat. He also said he felt tremendous achievement sweeping through his mind and, most importantly, that Samsung showed the world its construction capacity to take on such a mammoth project on its own.
He matter-of-factly admitted the initial fears for undertaking such a huge project: Some in the company said a mishap could do damage to the company’s image, along with financial losses. But the company was confident that it could do it, backed up by its pool of technologies it gained in building skyscrapers, not as tall as Burj Dubai, but made of steel and very tall. Everyone in the company agreed that they should have no fear in taking on new challenges, he said.
Kim said the most difficult problems since February 2005, when the work got underway, was installing an iron tower on top of the building, although there were a number of other tough problems such as installing window glass and the diametric monitoring of the project. It took a lot of technology to lift the 4,000-ton iron tower to the top of the building. It required three oil-pressure lifts to pick up the tower and put it on top of the building with balanced power requiring tremendous techniques.
He said the proceeds of the project amounting to $1.2 billion will be divided up among the three firms that were involved in the project. Samsung and Besix of Belgium will get 35 percent each and the rest will go to Arabtech of the UAE.
Kim said the payments were made as written in the contract, although a number of large companies in Dubai experienced a financial setback during the global financial crisis, as it was a project directly ordered by the ruler of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed.
Burj Dubai will have a hotel from the main floor up to the 39th floor, deluxe apartments will take up from the 40th to the 108th floor and offices from the 109th to the 160th floor. The 123rd and 124th floors will be for “At the Top” viewing space.
“Burj” in Arabic means tower, and so Burj Dubai means Dubai Tower to the non-Arabic speaking world. It is likely to continue to be the world’s tallest building for about 10 years as a number of Arab countries are planning to build taller buildings. Emaar Properties of Dubai, the largest real estate developer in UAE is likely to build a skyscraper. They are not yet sure how tall it would be, but sources said it will be higher than Burj Dubai.
Dubai’s Nakheel Group plans to build a slyscraper some 1,000 meters tall, but the plan is on hold as its mother company, Dubai World, has been mired in financial trauma. Saudi Arabia broke ground on a project to build Jedda Tower, a skyscraper some 1,600 meters tall, but no firm date for completion has been set. nw

A view of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building standing over 800 meters built by Samsung C&T Corp.’s Construction Division.