How Dubai Built the $1B Impossible Burj Al Arab on Open Water

Comments · 466

• JO

  @johnmathew384 · 2 months ago

  I am very proud to say that I worked on this site for 2yrs as a supervisor until 1999.

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• DE

  @DebbieMulder-s9y · 2 weeks ago

  I cellebrate my 50th birthday in that place it was amazing and not to forget!!!!

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• EN

  @EngineeringRevealed · 2 months ago

  Before watching this documentary, I always admired the Burj Al Arab for its iconic design. Now I realize the real masterpiece lies beneath the surface. Building an artificial island strong enough to support such a unique structure in open water is an incredible engineering achievement.

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• ME

  @MegaEngineering79 · 1 month ago

  Two corrections: the cost is almost always cited as $650M, not $1B. And the concrete figure flips between "70,000 tons" and "70,000 cubic metres" in the same segment — those differ by a factor of ~2.4. Also, the island sits in about 7.5 m of water 280 m offshore, so "built on open water" is doing a lot of lifting. The real feat is that test bores went 180 m without hitting rock, so the entire building rides on skin friction in sand. That deserved more than one line.

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• SH

  @shajandaniel3692 · 2 months ago

  While this video shows many of the foundation parts, they do not show the actual building interior or the 24-tonne precast floors being placed by tandem lifting cranes. It shows the external tower cranes and "Liebherr" name on them.  For everyone's information, there were no external floor-standing tower cranes used to build this tower. The cranes used in the building were specially built luffing jib diesel-powered tower cranes from Favelle Favco cranes, Australian-made. There were three 64-tonne luffing jib, self-climbing hydraulic cranes, M760D (Cranes climbed themselves each floor up on their feet on hydraulics operated by the Favelle Favco technicians). The Boom length of each crane was 70 mtr. Two cranes were used in tandem to lift the precast floors and the main structural steel elements, and these white-colour painted cranes with a kangaroo logo on top being situated in three lift shafts where the highlight for several years in Dubai Skyline when the Burj Al Arab was being constructed. As construction progressed and the load test was all done, a smaller 120RX crane of 18 tonnes was erected on top, adjacent to the helipad, and this 18-tonner helped dismantle all the larger cranes. later a small 6 tonner small crane was erected to dismantle the 120 RX crane. I was the General Manager and the construction liaison co-ordinator at the time. The burj AL Arab was a joint venture JV with the following companies Al Habtoor (UAE), Murray & Roberts (South Africa), Nasa Multiplex (Australia), and Fletcher Pacific (New Zealand).  I am very proud to be associated and have very vivid memories of this project from start to finish.

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• PB

  @PBazBarrett · 2 months ago

  What a fantastic achievement.  Every stage done properly from the bed rock up.

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• ZG

  @ZGenMegaWorks · 1 month ago

  Building the island first is already crazy, but that 9,000-tonne steel exoskeleton makes the whole project even more impressive.

• VA

  @VagariousTravel-868 · 2 months ago

  This is exactly why I love Arcana Travel — finding the impossible projects that define an era.

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• TH

  @ThatSeemsWrong · 4 days ago

  It's amazing how something can look so simple until you start asking how it actually works. Great video!

• BU

  @Builtbeyond-v2l · 2 weeks ago

  This project serves as a significant case study in overcoming severe environmental and logistical challenges to achieve architectural innovation.excellent video

• NE

  @NextGenMegastructures · 2 months ago

  Phenomenal production, brother! The breakdown of the 40m friction piles due to the deep 180m bedrock and the use of cooling pipes to keep the massive raft pour under 70°C was absolute engineering gold. Watching the crew torque the exoskeleton bolts 300 meters above open water gave intense megalophobia vibes. NextGen Manufacturing keeps setting the gold standard for heavy industrial documentaries. Huge respect!

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• SE

  @SeraEngineeredLLC · 2 months ago

  Excellent breakdown of the construction sequence. One thing worth emphasizing is that the Burj Al Arab isn't remarkable because it's offshore—it's remarkable because the design team understood the geotechnical conditions and engineered around them. The friction piles, ground improvement, and wave protection systems are what made the project possible.– Dr. Sera, P.E., PhD

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