Dubai Has Built The World's Longest Cantilever

[Music] dubai is home to some of the world's most incredible feats of construction [Music] from the world's tallest building to staggering land reclamations the city is known for constantly breaking new ground with its mega projects arguably more so than anywhere else on earth now on its latest landmark build dubai has quite literally raised the bar of what's possible this time horizontally and the results are once again amazing hoisting a 100 meter high sky bridge between two skyscrapers over a live roadway and all with the help of cutting-edge technology this is how dubai pulled off the world's longest cantilevered building [Music] as well as having numerous wonders of construction to its name with the burj khalifa as the centerpiece dubai also has a reputation for never standing still when it comes to big projects forming a dramatic new entrance to the city centre one zarbeel is about to join dubai's growing list of standout structures the mixed-use scheme consists of two towers built either side of a six-lane highway with an enormous bridge called the link joining the two together it's an incredible feat of engineering and looks set to officially gain the title of world's longest cantilevered building once it becomes occupied designed to offer high-end business residential retail and entertainment space all within the same development and close to the financial district and world trade center the project symbolizes a new gateway to the heart of dubai spreading out over more than half a million square meters this marvel of construction is being delivered by a real estate developer it through dubai main contractor alec engineering is overseeing construction work on the ground with mace international handling project management nikken sakai in child of design and wsp middle east as architect of the record due to top out at 300 metres tower a will offer 67 floors of luxury including a hotel apartments retail and offices while the 235 meter tower b will be mostly premium residential both have seven basement and three podium levels while sustainability features include state-of-the-art led lighting heat pumps and smart technologies for optimizing utility systems unusually large volumes of concrete masonry facades and formwork have been needed on the project along with the use of specialized high-strength steel imported from europe this is largely due to the complex challenges presented by the link the highlight of the project as well as connecting the two towers the bridge will house bars and restaurants an infinity pool a banquet hall and a rooftop terrace offering 360 degree views of the city although sky bridges and cantilevers are nothing new the link's 226 meter length 9500 ton weight and 105 meter height above ground makes it the most demanding one ever attempted it would be just about the same height as tower b if placed vertically and once it connects with tower a it overhangs for an impossible seeming distance without any additional support while lithur dubai is keeping the official length of the cantilevered section under wraps until opening it looks set to be a record-breaking figure all of this presented the wider team with an extreme challenge one requiring a combination of expert engineering and state-of-the-art technology because of its immense size the bridge had to be divided up into eight sections and assembled piece by piece at podium level it was then gradually slid into place before lifting began requiring several traffic closures on the highway below once fully across the bridge was lifted in two stages using heavy duty strand jacks the first saw the main portion of the structure hoisted just 10 centimeters off the ground this allowed engineers to assess how the bridge was responding to the huge forces before it was raised to its final height over the next 72 hours a special monitoring system was also installed which took data from 200 devices to track factors such as bridge movement tower displacement and the impact of weather conditions during lift 2 the final 900 ton piece was brought up which was then welded to the larger section while load transfer got underway a process that took six weeks and completed in october 2020 overall 20 tons of welding material was needed to fix the bridge in place between towers a and b at 72 different points as well as bulking up on materials to ensure the towers could take the weight of the link the two skyscrapers were built pre-cambered with a slight lean prior to the bridge installation with the cantilever in place the buildings were then able to deflect to their final fully upright positions before work continued on the remaining floors above the bridge working on such a large busy site with unprecedented challenges going on around them the team had to find the best possible way of capturing tracking and managing their progress requiring a solution for taking visual snapshots quickly easily and in large quantities technology from holobuilder proved to be the answer the company's software allows users to create 360 degree photos of a build over time allowing stakeholders to gain remote access to a site throughout its various stages initially used by just the planning department holler builder is now assisting the entire alec engineering team and through dubai with several tasks these range from verifying progress and virtual site walks to enhancing reports and team meetings all crucial when much of the work is being done remotely due to the pandemic requiring just a standard 360 degree camera and the company's job walk app to get started alex reliance on the technology is growing having gone from 500 images a month in the beginning to over 8 000 at present it's now in operation across the whole development and has become a key part of the process as the team continues on the second half of the project both towers are due to top out in april of 2021 with cladding due to be installed by november attention will then turn to the internal fit out before the project begins completing in several stages one's appeal is yet another example of dubai's ability to push the boundaries of construction now holding several records that other cities would do well to match the question is when and not if it decides to try something else extraordinary and what form it will take if it's anything like this project it certainly won't be dull this video was made possible by hollybuilder learn more at the link below and as always if you enjoyed this video and would like to get more from the definitive video channel for construction subscribe to the b1m you

Channel: The B1M

Views: 890,735

Rating: 4.8819804 out of 5

Keywords: B1M, TheB1M, Construction, architecture, engineering, The B1M, Fred Mills, building, dubai, uae, united arab emirates, one za'abeel, ithra dubai, alec engineering and contracting, holobuilder, burj khalifa, land reclamations, skyscrapers, skybridges, world trade centre, cantilevers, cantilevered buildings, world records, guinness world records, 360 photos, 360 cameras, technology, abu dhabi

Id: Wq286Lzfsp8

Length: 7min 46sec (466 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 10 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/ev3rm0r3]

The cantilever on this thing weighs more then most of the total construction done in my small city.

[u/ItsReallyJustAHorse]

I feel bad for the engineers but man I love middle eastern architecture, both internal and external

[u/Num_Pwam_Kitchen]

Dubai is the home of "lets try it out." Its an architects wet dream of possibilities, and an engineers proving ground. Some gorgeous stuff though, truly opulent and unique.