Tallest Buildings in the World

Now that Conco is doing the concrete work for the new Wilshire Grand Center that will reshape the Los Angeles skyline as the tallest building west of the Mississippi, we got curious about other “tall building.”  Throughout the world, proposed or newly constructed projects are pushing the envelope as skyscrapers get taller and taller.  We will do a series of ten blog posts describing some of that construction. 

The Burj Khalifa, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, shatters several records for not only the tallest building (by a significant amount), but also the tallest man-made structure and free-standing structure.  Previously the KVLY-TV mast in Blanchard, North Dakota had been the tallest structure, and the CN Tower in Toronto, the tallest free-standing structure. 

According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which ranks the tallest buildings in the world, measurements are “from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building. This includes spires, but does not include antennae, signage, flagpoles or other functional-technical equipment.”  The Burj Khalifa stands at 2,716.5 ft. tall with a record 160 stories and the highest outdoor observation deck in the world.  It also wins in the category of highest continuously occupied floor and an elevator with the longest travel distance in the world. 

Construction began on the Burj Khalifa in September, 2004 and the building was formally opened in January, 2010.  The architecture and engineer for the project was Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago.  Adrian Smith was the chief architect.  The chief structural engineer was Bill Baker and the primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea.

Conco is a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States and is once again involved in doing concrete work for a major landmark project. The new Wilshire Grand Center will reshape the Los Angeles skyline as the tallest building west of the Mississippi.  As a part of the project, Conco successfully poured the largest continuous mat foundation ever done in the U.S. on February 15, 2014.