It was interesting to see the piece in Arabian Business magazine this week by Editor James Bennett, who got taken up to the top of the Burj Dubai by Emaar’s Peeaars so that his photographer could snap some neat panoramics.
James’ obvious excitement at his vertiginous treat was refreshing. You spend so much time being told that this or that project is cracking, sinking, broken, over-budget and so on that it was a pleasure to read a straightforward Boy’s Own style account of what it’s like to stand on top of one of the world’s greatest ever pieces of engineering.
We’ve had them, of course: the rumours. That the rock substrate was full of caves, that there are cracks in the base, that the water levels are all screwed up. But at the end of the day, the world’s tallest building is still piling on a floor every three days. And it is now, whatever else ye say about it, the world’s tallest building.
And it hasn’t fallen over yet, either.
But then the Burj Al Arab hasn’t sunk or rusted. And the
Much as we like to enjoy the vicarious thrill of the ‘They’ve come a cropper on this one, I can tell you…’ story, you have to admit that we haven’t actually seen many of the dire prophecies fulfilled. Or any, in fact.
Which perhaps makes one wonder why we continue to be so interested in, and ready to believe, these little tales of woe to come from Jim whose mate Phil knows a consultant on the first phase of the blablabla project and they’ve bought all the wrong sort of rawlplugs…
2 comments:
I can go back to when the Trade Centre was built - and was tilting after about two weeks and about to fall over. And to when Shindagah Tunnel was built - and was almost at once leaking and too dangerous to drive through because it was going to collapse at any moment.
Of course it was all the usual expat ridicule, everything built here is about to collapse, not like 'home' - but as the Mississippi tragedy shows us, it's often a different story back 'home'.
The thing that tickles me is that so much of it is being built by expat run construction companies under the guidance of expat consultants! >;0)
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