The World’s Tallest Building
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, celebrated its inauguration on January fourth. The building, now the tallest in the world, stands two thousand, seven hundred and seventeen feet tall, nearly one thousand feet taller than the north tower of the World Trade Center was, and views of up to sixty miles can be seen from the top. Construction began on the building in September, 2004.
The one hundred and sixty story building also boasts some other impressive records. The building holds the world’s fastest elevator, which can reach speeds of forty miles per hour. It also has the world’s tallest observation deck, located at the one hundred and twenty fourth floor, and the world’s highest swimming pool, located on the seventy fourth floor. It is also the tallest building in the world to contain residential living space, all of which has already been spoken for.
The building is adorned with twenty six thousand, three hundred and forty eight windows which are cleaned by a staff of thirty six workers and a group of automated machines for the highest points. It will take this whole crew three to four months to clean the entire structure.
The inaugural ceremony featured fireworks emanating from the building and a fantastic water show stemming from the technologically magnificent fountain system that lies at the foot of the building.
For more information on the building, please go to its Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_dubai