Burj Khalifa

1.     Foundation:

The foundation of Burj Khalifa is so important because if the foundation failed to take the load the tower will sink. (Burj Khalifa - RitchieWiki. 2012). They used 12500 m² of concrete in the construction of the foundation 54000 long ton of steel rebar. The concrete used in the foundation is a high dense, low permeability concrete. Also, a cathodic protection system was used in order to minimize the effects of corrosion (Burj Khalifa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).The foundation of this tower consists of 192 bored piles (Post, R 2010). It is 1.5 m in diameter and its deep in the ground to reach 50 m deep and the borehole was filled with viscous polymer slurry (Burj Khalifa - RitchieWiki. 2012)).The raft was constructed in four separate parts. In addition, the foundation is a “Y” shape in order to increase the wind resistance of the building (Jamal, H Design, Construction & Structural Details of Burj Khalifa). The geography of the ground was mostly soil and rocks which is generally loose to medium dense sand. Many methods were used to know the geotechnical of the site such as SPT sampling, double tube rock coring and they have done approximately 33 borehole drills to complete the geotechnical investigation (Post, R. 2010). The boreholes were made in 4 stages. First stage, 23 boreholes were made with depth of 90 meter. Second stage, 3 boreholes were drilled with cross-hole geophysics. Third stage, 6 boreholes with depth of 60 meter were made. Last stage, one borehole was drilled with depth of 140 meters.

1.     Fire safety:

One of the concerns that the engineers had was building a tower that can be safe for the people in cases of fire. The design was done in order they can evacuate people fast and be safe through any fire emergency. The stairs are made of concrete “which is an inflammable material “. Also, they Burj Khalifa has a serves elevator which can hold over 5000 kgs. To make sure people are evacuated safely, pressurized and air conditioned areas were made every 25 floors (Burj Khalifa Structural Elements | Fire safety) the fire system consists of fire alarm and sprinkler systems to help with putting down the fire. Each floor have its own independent system, in case of fire they can locate the specific floor and alert the floor immediately above and below, other floors will be only alerted at early stages (Writer, S 2008) Fire safety at height). In addition, in case of emergency a special team was trained for a fast rescue in cases of fire. The team is trained very well to face fire and natural catastrophes such as earth quakes and sand storms. The team is always ready for any emergencies onsite. (Lowe, A., & Badih, S 2010)

Conclusion

In conclusion, at first we talked about the architecture of Burj Khalifa, who was in charge of designing and construction and the interior of the tower. Second, we discussed the definition of wind tunnel testing, the major benefits of these tests and the wind tunnel used in Burj Khalifa. Third, we talked about the foundation used in Burj Khalifa , the shape of the foundation and the size of the foundation needed to be used and the condition of the soil in the site of Burj Khalifa. Afterward, we talked about the structural analysis of the tower such as the shape of the building and how the shape of the building play big role in resisting wind. After that, we discussed the exterior cladding of the building and the panels of the cladding and the design of it. Last, the fire system used in the landscaper and the emergency team reaction in case of any emergency. Burj Khalifa is an amazing Engineering achievement. The design of it makes it one of the most appealing and greatest looking skyscrapers. Regardless of how skyscrapers are built, Burj Khalifa will always have its mark in history in fields of engineering and architecture.