References

This tower in Dubai developed by EMAAR is aimed to be the highest structure in the world, hence its name “The Tower”. It was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, backed by the Australian engineering design company AURECON. This new monument located in the Dubai Creek Harbour area should be taller than the Burj Khalifa tower.

The tower, in the shape of a “Fleur-de-Lys” and resembling a minaret, will host an observation area and will be inaugurated for the international exhibition in 2020. The design of the structure, which takes its inspiration from guyed masts, is a world first: the vertical structure of the tower, which has a constant diameter, is held at a height of 700 m by pre-stressed cables. The other end of these cables are anchored in foundation blocks.

In the framework of this project, TERRASOL has provided support for SETEC TPI, who participated in the Peer Review for the foundations and the superstructure on behalf of BUREAU VERITAS, who was appointed as Third party Reviewer for the project. Our assignment was to validate the overall behaviour of the foundations by checking the detailed design documents produced by SOLETANCHE BACHY, the contractor in charge of the geotechnical works.

In particular, we examined the site investigation report produced by FUGRO, the O-Cell method loading tests, and the studies of the tower foundation barrettes and of the foundations for the cable anchor structures.

TERRASOL was also involved in determining the geotechnical parameters in relation to the selected behaviour laws, as well as in designing the foundations using soil-structure interaction concepts (numerical models and analytical calculations). To check the tower foundation barrettes loaded beyond 100 MN, a 3D finite element model had to be created, which was used in particular to obtain the foundation stiffness matrices required for the structural calculation review model.

Terrasol’s achievements: