Burj Dubai becomes tallest building on earth

DUBAI, July 21 (Reuters) Burj Dubai, a tower under construction in the United Arab Emirates' trade hub, became the tallest building in the world today, measuring 512.1 metres (1,680 ft), its developer said.

''Burj Dubai is now taller than Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which at 508 metres has held the tallest-building-in-the-world title since it opened in 2004,'' Emaar Properties which is developing the Dubai tower, said in a statement.

''Burj Dubai has now reached 141 storeys, more storeys than any other building in the world.'' The developer wants the tower, set to be completed next year, to be the world's tallest building according to all four criteria listed by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which measures buildings to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire or flagpole.

Emaar did not say how tall the finished building will be.

Once completed, Burj Dubai will have consumed 330,000 cubic metres of concrete, 39,000 tonnes of steel and 142,000 square metres of glass, Emaar said. It will have 56 lifts travelling at 1.75 to 10 metres per second.

The tower will be the centrepiece of a 20 billion dollar development that will include residential, commercial and retail property.

Dubai, the Gulf Arab trade and tourism hub, has embarked on a series of mega-projects in recent years, developing three palm-shaped islands off its coast and a cluster of man-made islands shaped like a map of the world.

REUTERS RN RN2039