Engineering marvels – Some design elements of the Burj Al Arab

When it comes to setting standards in engineering and design, one cannot help but look at the iconic structures that proudly represent their countries of origin. One such example is the Burj Al Arab, Dubai's prized hotel. In this blog post, Reddy Kancharla talks more about the world's most luxurious hotel.

The initial planning and design stages of the Burj Al Arab faced the challenge of building something simple, easily recognizable, and iconic. In the mind of architect Tom Wright, since Dubai had the elements of sun, sand, and sea, he knew that he wanted the final structure to look like a majestic sail, as though it was rising from a yacht on the ocean.

With this objective in mind, there was a huge hurdle. If this were to rise from the sea, it needed an island base to stand on, shares Reddy Kancharla. Seeing that Dubai had no islands out in the ocean, the design team decided to build an island first.

Seeing that the need was for them to establish a low rise island, the team first explored using a base of rocks. However, weather conditions in the Arabian Sea proved to be too challenging, that even rock-solid foundations like the island they had in mind could not withstand. The solution they came up with was a set of concrete hollow blocks. Instead of going against strong ocean currents, these were designed to absorb forces, which only dissipated as the water entered smoothly and out of the blocks. Reddy Kancharla notes that this technology was never used in Dubai in the past.

Soon enough, the team had a water challenge, which saw that the ocean found its way into the hotel's sand base. Their solution was to create a triangular steel wall 20 meters deep into the ground, which was strengthened with a concrete sealant, making the island protected from flooding.

These are only a few examples that prove how much of an engineering marvel the Burj Al Arab truly is, but truly, this brilliantly crafted structure has more stories to tell.

Reddy Kancharla has a master's in civil engineering with a professional career spanning 25 years in civil construction, construction QA/QC, and geotechnical consultation. He has a broad comprehension of engineering theories, principles, practical solutions to engineering problems relating to civil engineering and the construction industry, and developing and implementing quality systems per ISO standards. For more articles like this, visit this page