Burj Khalifa – a new high for high-performance concrete

The world's tallest structure – the 828 m high Burj Khalifa building in Dubai – has set a new benchmark for engineering super-tall buildings. In particular, it significantly raised the bar for high-performance-concrete construction, with its massive reinforced-concrete core and wings extending nearly 600 m above ground level. This paper describes the how the extreme concreting challenges were overcome on the project, including successfully pumping and placing high-performance concrete to unprecedented heights as well as preventing excessive cracking and shrinkage in the hot and arid conditions. Practical advice is provided for future projects.