THE $1.5 billion Burj Khalifa standing 828-m tall has a 100-year design life supported by a highly durable substructure, enabling and ensuring the desired lifespan for the tower, according to United Corrosion Technologies.

A high-quality ternary blend concrete was used in the substructure of the tower, along with other durability-enhancing measures,. Among these measures was a migrating corrosion inhibitor (MCI) that was added to the concrete mix, the company says. The MCI, which was supplied by United Corrosion Technologies to the Burj Khalifa project, was developed and manufactured by the US-based Cortec Corporation. It utilises bio-based renewable resources to provide corrosion protection to steel reinforcement.
“The combination of a 100-year design-life and the aggressive conditions of Dubai’s environment were the reasons the designer had to consider the durability of the tower’s substructure,” said Dr James Aldred of GHD Consulting Engineers, the manager of the Independent Verification and Testing Agency (UVTA) for the Burj project.
“Substructures in Dubai and in the Gulf region, are exposed to a shallow water table with high levels of salinity, which threatens the embedded steel reinforcement with corrosion.”