Burj Dubai August 12th 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai August 12th 2008 photo update, 16th steel level just started today. The Burj Dubai is now 688.1 meters in height.

Detail diagram of the Burj Dubai August 11th 2008

Detail diagram of the Burj Dubai August 11th 2008, the new diagram shows the progress on level 16 of the spire and the current height of 688.1 meters.

Burj Dubai August 11th 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai August 11th 2008 photo update, the 15th steel floor is all but finished, work on the 16th steel floor should begin in the next couple days.

Burj Dubai August 10th 2008 photo update aerials

Burj Dubai August 10th 2008 photo update, here is two extreamly nice aerials of the Burj Dubai. The second photo is also a very nice view of the worlds lardest shopping mall, just to the upper left of the base.

Steel from historic East German palace used to build Burj Dubai

Dubai: Steel nowadays is a scarce commodity. This is the reason why, curiously enough, part of the iron structure of former East German leader Erich Honecker's seat of government, Palast der Republik in Berlin, has found its way to Dubai. The steel has been recycled and partly used for the construction of the world's tallest building, Burj Dubai.

Berlin's daily newspaper Der Tagesspiegel revealed that the demolition of the Palast delivered some 25,000 tonnes of used steel. The material was transported to a smelting plant south of Berlin, where the iron girders were cut and melted down into handy blocks.

The steel is not only used by German car manufacturer Volkswagen to mould engine blocks, but is also sold by steel dealers to various construction sites in the world. Dubai, of course, tops the customer list. Scrap dealer Henryk Wetzel told the newspaper that the recycled steel is picked up by a commodity broker, shipped via the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea to Istanbul and then bought by a Turkish company that manufactures steel girders for the Burj Dubai tower.

The Palast der Republik was built in 1976 and is currently being demolished. The process will be complete by the end of this year. The palace was dubbed 'Erich's lamp shop' by Berliners because of the 1,001 lamps that once hung in the main hall. Many Berliners prefer to see the building conserved as a museum.