burj dubai

Following on from yesterday’s KVLY Mast post, 6000 miles… got this comment from Wu Li Wong:

These Burj Tower, not so impress me. Great China plan build most biggest grandest powerful tower in world. Man who give us New South China Mall plan build the New South China Tower. These New South China Tower is 2km big and make Burj look to be small Tibetan dwarf dog.

Pride in one’s nation is all very well – especially if that country happens to be building the “most biggest grandest powerful tower in world”. But could such a tower really reduce the Burj Dubai to the proportions of a small Himalayan canine?

I googled all over the place but could find no mention of this huge 2km tower. I did find out that despite being the World’s Biggest Mall – it’s also one of the world’s emptiest:

The building includes nearly 7 million sq. ft. of space and is complete with 8,000 parking spots. It also features amusement park rides, themed outdoor areas, an indoor rain forest, and an artificial canal system.
But there is one thing missing … people.

Hmm. With 1,500 store spaces vacant and no sign of economical turnaround any time soon, Wu Li Wong’s claims that it is soon to build to the sky – in his words – not so impress me.

EDIT: Wu is back! (and still connecting via Jo’burg)…

Yesterday, the Burj Khalifa (or Burj Dubai, depending on who you’re reading) was officially opened in Dubai, breaking records all over the place. Stuff to do with elevators and concrete pumping, having lots of floors and a really high mosque.

Oh, and at 828m, it’s also the tallest man-made structure in the world, of course. 828m is a whole lot of height – the Burj would stand over 150m above the 669m Lion’s Head in Cape Town if it were built alongside it, although I’m pretty sure planning permission would be refused.

And before the Burj came along, that record belonged to the HUGE Taipei 101, the MASSIVE World Trade Center or the REALLY TALL CN Tower in Toronto. Or did it?

No.

Since the collapse of the Warsaw Radio Mast on 8 August 1991, the KVLY TV Mast in North Dakota, USA has been the tallest extant man-made structure. That was its claim to fame. That and the fact that it transmitted TV signals, but then other shorter masts do that as well.

And now that claim to fame has gone.

Still, at 628.8m high, the KVLY Mast is still tall enough to warrant lots of space filling if you decide to put a picture of it down the side of a blog post.

Lots of space filling. Loads. Big amounts.

More top class blogging tomorrow, then?

*ahem*

(…are you still here?)

Tag: burj dubai

How Great is China?

The KVLY Mast – soon to be forgotten