Burj Khalifa readies for record-breaking launch

Excavation work for the world's tallest tower, which measures over 800m and totals 160 storeys, began in January 2004. By July 2007, with the building of the 141st storey, the Burj Khalifa became the tallest building in the world, overtaking Taipei 101.

By September of the same year (150th storey reached) it was named as the world's tallest free-standing structure, overtaking Totronto's CN Tower, and by April 2008 (160 storeys) it was named as the world's tallest man-made building. The building topped out in January 2009 with the completion of the spire.

The Burj Khalifa is set to break a number of records when it opens. Over 110,000 tonnes of concrete were used to construct the foundations, while 330,000m3 of concrete and 39,000 tonnes of steel rebar were used for the tower, according to developer Emaar. The total weight of the aluminium used on the Burj is equivalent to five A380 airplanes. At the peak of construction over 12,000 workers and contractors were onsite every day.

The final design of the tower, undertaken by Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, differs greatly from the initial images sent out by Emaar following the announcement of the project.

The Burj Khalifa is made up of the Armani Residences and the Armani Hotel, corporate suites, residences, with residents set to arrive from February 2010, five restaurants and the observation deck on level 124, which will be accessible to the general public. Emaar is celebrating the Burj Khalifa as a 'vertical city' boasting that residents will not want for any business, leisure or retail amenities.

The tower will have 57 elevators and eight escalators allowing access to different levels of the building via a series of 'sky lobbies'. These intermediate floors are where users will change from an express elevator to a local elevator, which stops at every floor within a certain portion of the tower.

According to reports, the main service elevator in the central core of the tower, has the world's highest elevator rise at 504m (more than the height of Taipei 101 in Taiwan (448m) and almost one-and-a-half times as high as Empire State Building in New York (381m)). It travels at nine metres per second, and has the world's longest elevator travelling distance. Another service lift in the spire has the world's highest landing at 636.9 metres.

See AMEinfo's full coverage of the Burj Dubai opening, its construction and the development of Downtown Burj Dubai