Design and Construction Planning of the Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE Ahmad Abdelrazaq, SE 1 1 EVP, Samsung C&T Corp, Seoul, Korea, Ahmad.abdelrazaq1@samsung.com ABSTRACT The Burj Khalifa Project is the tallest structure ever built by man; the tower is 828 meters tall and compromise of 162 floors above grade and 3 basement levels. Early integration of aerodynamic shaping and wind engineering played a major role in the architectural massing and design of this multi-use tower, where mitigating and taming the dynamic wind effects was one of the most important design criteria set forth at the onset of the project design. This paper provides brief description of the tower structural systems, focuses on the key issues considered in construction planning of the key structural components, and briefly outlines the execution of one of the most comprehensive structural health monitoring program in tall buildings. INTRODUCTION The Burj Khalifa project is a multi-use development tower with a total floor area of 460,000 square meters that includes residential, hotel, commercial, office, entertainment, shopping, leisure, and parking facilities. The Burj Khalifa is designed to be the centerpiece of the large scale Burj Khalifa Development that rises 828 meters into the and consists of more than 160 floors. The Client of Burj Khalifa Tower, Emaar Properties, is a major developer of lifestyle real estate in the Middle East. Turner International has been designated by the owner as the Construction Manager, and Samsung Joint Venture (consisting of Samsung, Korea base contractor; Besix, Belgium base contractor; and Arabtec, Dubai base contractor) as the General Contractor. The design of Burj Khalifa is derived from geometries of the desert flower, which is indigenous to the region, and the patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture. The tower massing is organized around a central core with three wings. Each wing consists of four bays. At every seventh floor, one outer bay peels away as the structure spirals into the sky. Unlike many super-highrise buildings with deep floor plates, the Y-shape floor plans of Burj Khalifa maximize views and provide tenants with plenty of natural light. The modular Y-shaped building, with a setback at every seventh floor, was part of the original design concept that allowed Skidmore, Owings and Merrill to win the invited design competition. The tower superstructure of Burj Khalifa is designed as an all reinforced concrete building with high performance concrete from the foundation level to level 156, and is topped with a structural steel braced frame from level 156 to the highest point of the tower. The tower massing is also driven by wind engineering requirements to reduce dynamic wind excitation. As the tower spirals into the sky, the building’s width and shape diminish, thus reducing wind dynamic effects, movement, and acceleration. Integrating wind engineering principals and requirements into the architectural design of the tower results in a stable dynamic response, taming the powerful wind forces. 2993 2010 Structures Congress © 2010 ASCE Downloaded 29 Aug 2011 to 128.210.126.199. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright. Visit http://www.ascelibrary.org