Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has unveiled a replica of the ‘Dubai Creek Tower’ — the icon that will frame a fascinating new skyline in the emirate.
The new centrepiece of the Grand Atrium in The Dubai Mall was revealed during a special ceremony attended by Shaikh Mohammad. The replica of the monument is a near-to-real representation of the design, architecture and illumination aspects of Dubai Creek Tower.
The replica made of aluminium and includes 3D-printed cladding elements. It weighs 3,000kg and took more than 4,000 hours to be completed.
The real Dubai Creek Tower broke ground in October 2016. It is located next to Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary and is the centrepiece of the Dubai Creek Harbour project.
The tower is expected to be taller than the Burj Khalifa, the world’s current tallest tower. The new tower takes its inspiration from the lily flower and evokes the image of a minaret. It has an elongated oval-shaped bud that will have some of the world’s highest observation decks.
Visitors will be able to learn about the Dubai Creek Tower, including the world records it is seeking to achieve. Among the impressive world-firsts, the icon will have a record breaking 110km of cables — the most used in any single structure — weighing over 18,000 tonnes. Laid end-to-end, the cables would stretch from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
The tower has already set a global record for its foundation, which was completed recently with over 145 barrette piles, at a length of more than 60 metres. End-to-end, the length of the piles is more than 9 kilometres. The pile cap features over 45,000 cubic metres of concrete.
