Burj Dubai, called Burj Khalifa since its opening, is the tallest building in the world by a large margin. Concrete admixtures from BASF have made a substantial contribution to its construction.
The world’s tallest construction, reaching up 828 meters into the Dubai sky with the number of floors reported at 189, was opened on 4 January, 2010. Both, the second
‑largest construction, the 610-meter Canton TV Tower in Guanzhou, China, and the second
‑largest “house”, the 509-meter Taipei Financial Center in Taiwan, pale in comparison with these figures. Concrete admixtures from BASF’s GLENIUM
® product line brand have made a substantial contribution to this new world height record.
Construction went on for five years in extreme climatic conditions. Burj Khalifa put great demands not only on the about 2,400 construction workers deployed around the clock. The staggering heights, a demanding architectural design, and the climate required exceptional performance from concrete admixtures as well: The hyperplasticizer of the GLENIUM brand enabled the concrete to be pumped up to a height of 600 meters without interruption. In all, about 180,000 cubic meters of concrete with GLENIUM plasticizer were used for the structure’s foundation plate as well as for above
‑ground construction.
“The construction of Burj Khalifa is an exceptional engineering accomplishment. We are proud to have contributed to it with our products”, says Tilman Krauch, Head of BASF’s Construction Chemicals division. The concrete admixtures based on polycarboxylate ether polymers provide for high flowability and prevent the concrete from segregating despite the high pressure during pumping. At the same time, GLENIUM plasticizers increase the early strength of the concrete. The concrete of a newly‑cast story quickly reaches sufficient strength for construction to continue on top. GLENIUM thus ensured construction work to progress quickly.
The climatic conditions posed a further challenge during the construction of the world’s tallest building: Temperatures in Dubai not only fluctuate between 10 °C in winter and 50 °C in summer, but there are also temperature differences between day and night of up to 20 °C. GLENIUM and the BASF team’s expertise counteracted these conditions, however, and thus ensured a consistently high concrete quality. In addition, the staggering height of the Burj Khalifa and the resulting weight of the construction cause enormous pressure within the concrete structure. Through the use of GLENIUM, the concrete acquires a compressive strength of up to 80MPa – which is roughly equal to the pressure the total weight of a small car would exert on a big toe. The high strength also provides the concrete structure with a long service life and ensures the sustainable usage of the building.
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