Saudi billionaire, Prince al-Walid bin Talal has revealed plans for the $10 billion Mile High Tower, which will be the tallest building in the world when completed.The building will be constructed in a new 'mini city' near the Red Sea port of Jeddah, which is Saudi's financial capital. The prince is a member of the Saudi royal family, and is the 11th richest man in the world , with a personal fortune estimated at about $22 billion.
The mega skyscraper will be taller than other planned skyscrapers or those already under construction. This includes the Burj Dubai, the tallest man made structure till date, scheduled for completion in 2009. It will dwarf the tallest building in the US, the proposed Freedom Tower in New York at the World Trade Center site, which will be about 2,296 feet tall.
Contracts for the 1600 meter tall tower, are expected to be awarded before July this year by Kingdom Holding, owned by Prince al-Walid. The project is believed to be realized by the UK's Hyder Consulting (developer) and Arup (engineering), withSA's Omrania as project architect and US based Bechtel as construction manager.
Construction of the building presents unique technical challenges because of its height. The tower must be capable of withstanding extreme temperatures as well as strong desert winds. The building will be fitted with a giant computer operated damper stretching down several floors to counter the sway caused by the wind. The building will also be stabilized by two mini towers built at it's base and connected to the main tower by sky-bridges.
When completed the Mile High Tower will be twice the height of the Burj Dubai and almost seven times the height of the Canary Wharf Tower in London. Visitors will be able to get a view of Africa from the top of the building. The plan gives the Middle East a clear lead over Asian countries and the US, who have competed in the past to construct the world's tallest buildings.