The world's tallest building, still under construction in the booming Gulf emirate of Dubai, has become the world's tallest free-standing structure, its developers said on Thursday.
Burj Dubai, Arabic for Dubai tower, is a tower that is now 555 meters (1,831.5 feet) tall and has surpassed the 553-meter- (1,824.9-feet) CN Tower in Toronto, Canada, which held the record for the world's tallest free-standing structure since 1976, developers Emaar Properties said in a statement.
The skyscraper, being built by South Korea's Samsung and set for completion at the end of next year, is one of several mega projects taking shape in Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates.
In July Emaar announced that Burj Dubai exceeded Taiwan's Taipei 101 which is 508 meters (1,676.4 feet) tall, to become the tallest building in the world.
The Dubai Tower's final height is a closely guarded secret, but completion of the structure is expected by the end of 2008.
Developers expect that by 2008 the tower will fulfill all four criteria for the tallest building including the height of the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof, and the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, and mast or flag pole.
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