Magazine Title: Civil Engineering, the Magazine of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

Title of article: “Engineering an idea – The realization of Burj Khalifa”

Issue: March 2010

Author: William F. Baker, P.E., S.E., F.ASCE

It may soon happen that the height of skyscrapers will be measured in ‘kilometers’ rather that ‘meters’ and ‘feet’ and when that will happen, people will look back at “Burj Khalifa” where the journey had began. Burj Khalifa, at 828 meters (0.828 Kms) is the tallest free standing structure in the world and is certainly a modern marvel which has taken the limits of engineering and construction to a next level. However, how so ever big a project is, it begins as an “Idea”. Mr. William Baker, the structural engineer behind the tower design, talks about turning this idea into a reality in his article “Engineering an idea – The realization of Burj Khalifa”.

 

Author starts the article with his brief biographical sketch, which would certainly be an inspiration for any young structural engineer. He recalls his earlier days after graduation, when he left a good job and went back to university for higher studies where he sharpened his theoretical knowledge. “Theory is practical” he says. He further recalls how he joined Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) and had a chance to work with the stalwarts in the industry, where he learned an important lesson - ‘to have at least one viable solution to every problem and not to draw any structure without having at least one idea of how it could be feasible built!’ These ideas that he gained in his early days were of immense help to him in realizing the Burj Khalifa.

 

Mr. Baker then emphasizes on the importance of ‘a collaborative practice’ particularly on a project of such a scale. “We develop architecture and engineering that go hand in hand” he says. He further adds that “Like a Swiss watch, the components of a super tall building must accurately and efficiently fit and must be arranged so as to maximize the usefulness of interior space as well as the efficacy of structural and building services systems and every component must be placed with meticulous care of a watchmaker”. After collaboration, he talks about simplicity and clarity of thoughts; he compares a complex structure like Burj Khalifa with a giant beam cantilevering out of the ground! “This beam however had to satisfy many elements and needed to be extremely efficient and economically viable” he adds. Further emphasizing on importance of hand calculations in this modern world of software, he says “When I am working on a tall building I insist that the team performs preliminary designs using conjugate beam theory, essentially doing hand calculations, because if the idea is so clear and simple that you can calculate it by hand, you have enough clarity of vision to produce a structure that is efficient and easy to built.”

 

As one would expect, a structure of this size and complexity cannot be without its share of challenges and author talks about it saying “People often ask me to cite my greatest challenges in engineering the world’s tallest building. They were without question, understanding, taming and working with the forces of nature”. By forces of nature he means mainly ‘wind’ and ‘gravity’. He narrates his experiences of dealing with the wind forces. The earlier results in the wind tunnels were not very good and so he and his colleagues modified the geometry in order to ‘confuse’ the wind! “We then used the forces of gravity on the building to help stabilize the structure” he adds. He also briefly mentioned problems in pumping the concrete at those towering heights.

 

Towards the end Mr. Baker, with a child-like enthusiasm says that “people often ask me ‘do you think someone will go taller’ and my response is always, ‘I hope so’.” The article is an amazing inspiration for all who dream to design not just taller but better structures, so if you are among them go to your nearest library, pick this issue and get ready for some adrenaline!