Saudi Prince Plans Mile-High Tower In The Desert

Plans for a mile-high tower in the desert, which would be twice the height of the world's tallest building, have been unveiled by the multi-billionaire owner of the Savoy hotel in London.

The building, masterminded by British-based engineers, will be constructed in a "mini-city" near the Red Sea port of Jeddah. The project, almost seven times the height of the Canary Wharf tower, will overtake skyscrapers planned or under construction in Dubai and Kuwait. It means the Middle East has opened a strong gap over east Asia in the race for the world's tallest building.

The Mile High Tower is the brainchild of Prince al-Walid bin Talal, 51, a member of the Saudi royal family, who has a fortune estimated at £11 billion and is the world's 19th richest person, according to Forbes magazine. Al-Walid's Kingdom Holdings has appointed a joint venture set up by Hyder Consulting and Arup, the London enginerring firms, to build the £5 billion tower..

The building will be fitted with a giant computer-operated damper stretching down several floors - to counter the nausea-inducing sway caused by the wind. The building will also be stabilised by two mini-towers, flanking the building's base and attached to the main structure by arched sky-bridges.

Keep reading The Times' report

The Telegraph reports visitors will be able to see Africa from the top.

Some diagrams from the Daily Mail:

Here is the prince, far right, with President Bush:

Comments

[broken12]

Allah be praised. When are those poor disenchanted terrorists going to hit these guys? I always wonder Then i scrolled down and saw why, in a golf cart.

[Samnite]

And just this morning I was thinking how the ostentatious period of Saudi behavior in LA had passed.

[dgscol]

A good lookout tower to see Iranians coming. This will help Arabs with economic development.

[pepenero]

Oh hell, let them build a mile high building, even though it would make more sense. green wise, to build a mile deep one. Also a more hidden target. It's a big mistake to anger the enemy by giving them the finger in the shape of a building. The are sure to re-act eventually.

[semorg]

since 40% of our crude oil comes from in house in US and almost 100% of it is refined here, I wonder what these giant oil companies are going to do with billions of dollars they have made. Put it back in US economy and build giant buildings or dams or keep it all to themselves.

[jwielhouwer]

must have dickey problem

[majormoderate]

thats a disaster waiting to happen.

i wouldn't stand near that building let alone in it!

[WIpatriot]

At least not within a mile...lol­.

[kozmik]

lol, exactly.

btw, skyscrapers suck to actually be inside. The vast majority of the interior space is windowless and may as well be a basement. Only with nauseating sway.

The nice spots in skyscrapers are the windows and penthouse. But the problem remains that the other 90% of people in the skyscraper inhabit a high elevation basement, by design, and since the building is dedicated to that ethic, which tends to represent the corporate culture that builds them, the people in windowed offices also tend to be assholes.

All the cool innovation companies, like Google, Apple, and so on, where employees are actually valued members, they would never build sky scrapers. That all build campuses modeled on universities i.e. fairly low to the ground so they have light, landscaping, easy access to park spaces, etc.

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

America use to think big like this...

[mommadona]

Yeah...an' look at that 'bottom line' now...

"Got Economic Viagra?"

nope.

It's an empty shell.

[BigSid]

Until the residents of Saudi Arabia stopped us from thinking big like that.

[mommadona]

Gee. Can't wait for the earthquake that turns that sand into Jello.....

"Wiggle, wiggle"...

A mile-high phallus - who woulda thunk.

[ruscle]

Thanks for the great story on Bush's retirement condo. He'll have a great view from up there.

[ricchase]

The American public is about to get a taste of the kinds of gluttony that has made us (America) the pigs of the planet for so long. Our wealth has been divvied up and we are now in debt til doomsday and beyond. Congratulations, republicans!

[JohnCochtosten]

What are they going to call it? The Tower of Babel? How original..­.

[dag73]

I wonder how God will change the way man communicates with each other after this tower is built?...L­ook out, here come the Cyborgs speaking in nothing but text LOL!!!

[jfor]

Ahhhhhh the problems of having too much money.

[mcostello]

How long does it take to get to the top by elevator?

[TheNewHampshireLiberal]

More importantly, how long to get to the ground in case of fire or attack.

If I remember my first year physics:

p= 8t^2 + vt + initial position

assuming someone at the top floor is 5280 feet up, you get to the ground in approx 25 seconds, not counting wind resistance.

[MajorKong]

If I recall from skydiving, you hit terminal velocity after about 200 feet.

[melboogie]

ah, no wonder Cheney was there, he's trying to secure the no-bid contract!