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| Burj Al Arab back on the big screen  The engineering expertise employed by the UK's largest engineering and design consultancy Atkins during the design and construction of the seven star hotel, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, is being featured on the BBC's influential Engineering Connections programme. The show, led by Top Gear's Richard Hammond, kicks off a third series.Engineering Connections is a highly successful television series which has brought feats of world class engineering to the viewing masses. Its focus on the Burj Al Arab will include an examination of the many challenges faced by Atkins as the lead designers. They look at the construction of the manmade island the hotel sits on which helps to protect it from two metre high waves, and the challenge faced by our UK and Middle East engineers and architects in marrying together highly precise and complex components in the heat of Dubai. The show's website gives a taste of what the programme will examine: "Building in the extreme heat of the desert posed construction challenges due to the steel expansion. The 85 metre trusses forming the hotel's exoskeleton were fitted together thanks to an ingenious solution inspired by an engine cam – a rotating mechanism which presses down on valves by moving eccentrically – or off-centre. Clever rotating fixings were used, which allowed builders to move the fixing pin off-centre until the two holes married." The Burj Al Arab, which opened in 1999 was Atkins' first truly iconic project in the Middle East and established our credentials as world class engineers and designers in the region. It has become one of the world's most recognizable structures and provides a central focus to the Middle East's tourism industry. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Construction News :: home page |