The CN Tower is seen from the financial district in Toronto. (CP / Kevin Frayer)
Dubai building surpasses CN Tower in height
Updated Thu. Sep. 13 2007 2:38 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
The CN Tower has fallen in stature a little bit. It's no longer the world's tallest free-standing structure. The Burj Dubai, a US$4.1-billion hotel, business, and residential complex under construction in the United Arab Emirates has surpassed the Toronto landmark in height.
On Wednesday, the Burj Dubai soared slightly above the CN Tower's 553 metres -- and it's expected to reach even higher heights as construction continues. When it's finally complete, the ritzy new building will be 800-metres tall.
Workers have already completed 145 floors, and they're putting up a new floor about every three days. When they're finished, the hotel complex is expected to have 165 floors. The Burj Dubai became the world's tallest high-rise building in July after it surpassed Taiwan's Taipei 101, which stands at 508 metres tall.
Jack Robinson, CN Tower's Chief Operating Officer, said in a statement Thursday that once construction of the new hotel complex is complete "we will congratulate the Burj Dubai project on their unique achievement. For now, we remain proud of the 30-year-plus record Canada's National Tower has held as world's tallest."
Initial reports indicate that Burj Dubai's observation deck will be located on its 124th floor, which is 442 metres high. That could still leave the CN Tower in the record books for the world's highest "publicly" accessible observation deck, which is a full five metres above the Burj Dubai deck.
The CN Tower has claimed the title of the world's tallest free-standing structure for the past 31 years. It cost C$63 million to build and construction took 40 months. It was completed in February 1974, and an antenna was put up the following year.
The tower functions primarily as a broadcast transmission facility, but also has a revolving restaurant. It's one of Toronto's main tourist attractions, drawing nearly 2 million visitors each year.
The CN Tower is recognized as one of the modern wonders of the world by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
More about the Burj Dubai:
- It will be situated on a man-made lake designed to wrap around the tower
- The building will be the first structure with the "world's tallest" designation to include residential space
- The Burj Dubai is part of a new district in Dubai, which will cost US$22.7 billion
- The district will house 30,000 apartments and the world's largest shopping mall
Some interesting facts about the CN Tower:
- More than 1,500 workers laboured five days a week, 24 hours a day to build it
- The structure was built to withstand an earthquake of 8.5 on the Richter scale
- It can withstand winds of up to 416 km/h
- Lightning strikes the tower about 75 times each year
- Its glass-cased elevators travel 22 km/h to reach the observation deck in 58 seconds
- On a clear day, visitors on the observation deck can see more than 160 kilometres (past Niagara Falls and across Lake Ontario to New York State)
- The tower's glass floor section 113 stories above the ground can withstand the weight of 14 adult hippos
- The 360 Restaurant makes a full rotation every 72 minutes
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Add Comments(20) dwayne-ottawa
It was only a matter of time until some country out built us. We as Canadians should be proud that it took 31 years for someone to break the record, however the CN Tower is still a marvel of engineering, just think about the height to base circumference, we did not need as much acerage as everyone else. CANADA ROCKS !!!
Bryn Hendricks
Can't we keep raising the height of the CN Tower? This was one of Canada's great claims to fame. No more Eatons and no more CN Tower record. *sigh*
Lorne Jordan
We built the CN tower for 63 million $ over 30 years ago, and the new record holder had to spend over 4 billion to beat us.
I doubt they hold the record for as long as we did. The CN tower may be beaten, but it is a fascinating architectural achievement that we should all be enormously proud of. We have one of the most distinctive skylines in the world. Way to go Canada!
Mike
It looks like an upside down icecycle. Why is it that a pole on the top of a building counts for the height of the building. I mean, if we just put a bigger pole on the top of the CN tower would we then have the tallest building again? Maybe I'll climb up there and hold a broomstick in the air to add to the height.
Alex
I think the Burj Dubai looks a lot better than the CN Tower. Congratulations United Arab Emirates. Good for them!
Edward King
The CN tower is more properly called a free-standing structure. The Burj Dubai is a building and is vastly more impressive than the tower. You can't even compare the two.
Orville Merck
$63 million CDN to erect a pile of dried up cement is pretty neat for 31 years ago.
But hats off to the folks in Dubai for spending their petro dollars on something lasting. $4.1 billion is a lot in comparison, but the structures are so vastly different. The Burj can do all the same things as CN tower, tourist trap, radio transmission base, landmark, plus it's also a hotel, housing, office space, restaurants.
Mark O
Well it might be cheaper to stay at this hotel as opposed to getting to the observation deck of the CN tower.
Andre
Ironically it is an American company building it, undoubtedly employing Canadians. (Similiar to NASA during the Apollo missions after hiring up our Avro Arrow staff) It's not an accomplishment if only money is what built it. Congrats to the Yanks and Beavers WE BUILD THE BIGGEST AND BEST.
W. Akawaka
I think you'll need a very long broom stick to beat the new record. From what I read, the Burj Dubai will be 247 metres taller than the CN Tower.
Al
You're right Mike it does look like an icicle, Superman's fortress of solitude:)
Alex, it's beautiful, but it doesn't look better, it looks different. The CN tower is still an amazing structure and the 2nd tallest in the whole world!!
Robert
It's beautiful. So we had our fame for 3 decades lets not be jealous. It cost more because after 30 years didn't construction prices go up !!?? And it also includes the world's biggest shopping mall, so its like they added our West Edmonton mall and then some into the structure! As for the comment on the stick to make it higher, did you not see the CN Tower's antenna ???
James
This marvel (as ugly looking as it is) in Dubai will no doubt be eclipsed in size soon enough...records are meant to be broken after all...The CN Tower is still the coolest looking tower though, and nobody can take that from Canada!
Thomas Chan
CN Tower is still THE BEST AND BEAUTIFUL ICON for Toronto, Canada. When you picture both towers in postcard, you will see the difference and will undoubtedly choose the better looking CN Tower!
Sah
That's ok in a few years we'll build a bigger tower in Calgary with our oil money :)
ll
The tower doesn't look so pretty!! It is brown in colour and has patch work all over it...maybe they should think about repainting it !!
BA from Ottawa
Gorgeous. Add one heck of a big target for anyone with a grudge against Dubai, like...say...the hundreds of thousands of slave labourers who live on the outskirts of the city.
Robert Brennan
It's being built by Samsung, a Korean company. And its in construction, not painted yet. Its plans call for it to be silverish blue I think.
jar
Toronto is a nice city that has a tower that used to be the tallest in the world. Not a nice city because it has that tower. Toronto is fun, vibrant, diverse. But some Torontonians seem to think that the city exists only through numbers and presence in the record book. Toronto will graduate from nice city to great city the day it realizes that it is not the records that make a great city, but its people. Loosing the dubious title of "city having the tallest free standing structure" is thus a move in the good direction.
Lincoln
The Burj Al Arab being built in Dubai as well, is likely to beat the height of Burj Dubai. At least we have the tallest in North America. It only really matters if we beat the most powerful and richest country in the world.
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