Elevator installation begins at Saudi Arabia’s 1km tower
Lifts at Jeddah’s Kingdom Tower, being installed by KONE, will be able to reach top of world’s tallest building in 52 seconds
Finland’s KONE Corporation has begun installing the elevators at Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Tower, which is expected to be the world’s tallest building after completion in 2018.
Owned and operated by the Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), the Kingdom Tower is expected to reach a height of over a kilometre.
KONE Areeco, the company’s joint venture in Saudi Arabia, has been involved in the planning and design of the lifts over the past two years. It will provide a total of 57 elevators and eight escalators for the project.
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The project team is currently working on pre-installation activities concerning the fitting of the elevator system’s guiderails, which is expected to begin by the end of 2015. Installation of the elevator cars will then progress as the structure rises over the next few years.
“I am delighted we are now at the stage of taking the next leap with KONE in the construction of the Kingdom Tower,” said Mounib Hammoud, chief executive of JEC.
“KONE is the only vertical transportation service provider in the world capable of delivering what we need at the Kingdom Tower – specifically the capability of travelling at a speed of over 10 meters per second with DoubleDeck elevators to reach the highest liveable floor in the world in 52 seconds.”
“In addition, the high-speed elevators will rise 660 meters to the observation deck, making it the world’s highest elevator rise,” he added.
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The use of the DoubleDeck elevators as well as KONE’s UltraRope technology, which weighs one-third of the traditional steel ropes used in elevators, will enhance the sustainability of the megaproject, Hammoud said.
The upcoming Kingdom Tower and surrounding Kingdom City will have a direct impact on the quality of life in Jeddah, enhancing job creation and the city’s tourism offering, Hammoud told MEConstructionNews.com.
“We expect 50,000 jobs on offer as we open shop for phase one of the project,” he said, adding that the project will be able to accommodate 200,000 residents once the first two phases are complete.
Although Jeddah is already a tourist hotspot in the Kingdom, the new project will usher in more visitors to the city, he said.
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