How Burj Khalifa is built to cope with lightning strikes


Neil Halligan
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Several residents in Dubai posted videos of Burj Khalifa being struck by lightning on Thursday – a common phenomenon during stormy weather in the emirate.

While the world's tallest building is typically known for its visual shows, it's also a lightning rod for the city during thunderstorms.

Thunder and lightning in Dubai over the past 24 hours meant residents and visitors were treated to a different sort of light display on Thursday evening.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, posted a video on Instagram showing lightning striking the skyscraper, as seen in the wing mirror of a car.

A social media user also captured the lightning strike, with the sound of thunder following seconds later.

At 828 metres tall, the structure is susceptible to lightning strikes during stormy weather.

Its official website describes the building as "one of the most conspicuous lightning conductors in the world".

Enough to charge the tower

So how does the building cope with strikes? Situated at the top of the tower is a lightning arrester that contains a system capable of detecting nearby electrical storms.

The arrester detects the polarity of the lightning and gives itself the opposite charge.

The tower's steel exoskeleton acts as a giant Faraday cage that discharges the electricity around the outside.

The rod at the top of the arrester can measure the intensity of the lightning strikes, while the arrester is powered by a tiny battery to isolate it from the central mains and possible surges.

Three years ago, former Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond climbed to the top of the tower with Bashar Kassab, senior director of facilities management at Burj Khalifa at the time, for his TV show Big on the Discovery Channel.

"It takes roughly 50 milliseconds for it to hit and bounce back and if we could capture it, it would be enough to power up this building for one year," Mr Kassab said, while the pair were at the top of the building to replace the arrester's battery.

Suvin Mathew, lightning protection system product specialist with JSM Energy Middle East in Dubai and Fujairah, explained that there are typically two types of systems for lightning protection – the conventional type and the advanced active ESE (early streamer emission) type.

"When lightning strikes, in a conventional system – which is British standard – there’s a mesh system on the roof using copper conductors," he told The National.

"The conventional system has copper conductors that are run on the roof and the peripherals and are placed on the side of the building. These down conductors are run vertically to the ground and connected to the earth pits."

Suvin Mathew said ESE Air Terminals are designed to ensure that your building is covered within its arrester’s protective radius. Photo supplied
Suvin Mathew said ESE Air Terminals are designed to ensure that your building is covered within its arrester’s protective radius. Photo supplied

The lightning rods are designed in such a way that charge flows down these conductors and then into the ground safely as the lightning strikes.

The advanced active type involves an air terminal or an early streamer emission system.

"ESE Air Terminals are designed to ensure that your building is covered within its arrester’s protective radius," Mr Mathew said.

"An ESE arrester is widely used in all commercial, residential, industrial sites, administrative or public buildings, monuments, and open-air sites, such as sports grounds and stadiums."

He said this type of lightning protection system is much more cost-effective, with a simple design and easy to maintain.

Global stature

Burj Khalifa is the centrepiece of New Year's Eve celebrations in Downtown Dubai. Thousands of people gather every year to see the fireworks and laser shows.

The facade of the tower acts as one of the world's largest billboards, displaying images and tributes, as well as the countdown to the new year.

Inaugurated on January 4, 2010 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the building is well established as a global landmark, attracting millions of visitors keen to ascend to the observation deck or gather at Burj Park and the Dubai Fountain.

In its 13-year history, the tower has also featured in some cinematic and viral moments.

It featured in the 2011 blockbuster Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, with Tom Cruise climbing its exterior.

Two years ago, Emirates airline caused a stir when it posted a video on social media with skydiver and stuntwoman Nicole Smith-Ludvik dressed as cabin crew and standing on top of the building.

Dubai photographer captures Burj Khalifa like you’ve never seen it - in pictures

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

The alternatives

• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.

• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.

• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.

2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.

• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases -  but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.

The bio

Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
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Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home

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Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

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Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm

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On sale: now

Business Insights
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  • Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
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Director: Jon M Chu

Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater

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Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Laundry

Employees: 170

Funding: about $8m

Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures

Schedule for Asia Cup

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Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai) 

Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)

Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)

Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 28: Final (Dubai)

88 Video's most popular rentals

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2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:03

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4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ

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6 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates  0:01:56

General Classification after Stage 3:

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2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07

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5  Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe

6 Wilco Kelderman (NED) Team Sunweb)  0:02:06

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The biog

From: Upper Egypt

Age: 78

Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila

Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace

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4/5

KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
Updated: February 05, 2025, 6:19 AM