Burj Dubai Lake Hotel and Serviced Apartments is a super tall skyscraper set to rise 306 meters alongside the Dubai Mall. The mixed used tower will contain a total of 63 floors when it is finished.
This hotel will be the second tallest hotel in the world upon completion towards the end of 2008, beaten only by the 412 meters Marina 101 Tower currently under construction; situated nearby in the 'Megablock Complex' at the Dubai Marina.

Designed by W.S. Atkins and Partners Overseas and built by one of the world's largest construction company, Emaar. Steelwork fabrication and erection be with Al Nasr Engineering, Dubai.
Techflow was selected to provide comprehensive connection design and steel detailing solution that can meet with the client requirement and schedule. There are two phases of steelwork in scope, each of is 750 Tons.

In phase 1 detailing of supporting structure for slab at 6th - 11th level. The supporting structure is of columns, beams and trusses. Trusses are about 0000 meters long and fabricated as a single assembly.

Phase 2 comprise of main entrance canopy at 6th level and roof crown starting from 170.85 meters above ground level and having a height of 104 meters. Two spires emerging from roof crown from both sides at 249 meters from ground level and with height of 57.89 meters.

Considering the complexity and height of structure from the ground level, Wind Tunnel Analysis was done based on ETABS and Robot. Considering wind forces at this height, the structural consultant braced the crown in all the three directions. The crown is also checked for fatigue. All these factors resulted in 'I' shaped bracings of carrying heavy axial load in all directions.

Resolving every force for connection designing considering erection facility as well was a big task for design department. Connections were schematically design with loads provided on drawing by the design team and sent to the fabricator for approval. Limited lifting capacity of cranes (approx 1.5 Tons) was another obstacle. To resolve this, design team breaks the structure in number of pieces. After getting approval on sketches actual connection design starts as per BS 5950. All the connections are Taylor made to suit location and orientation of members. It took a month to design all the connections.

After designing the crown connections, spire connections with crown were designed. It was a slip critical connection for which GR 8.8 bolts required as per BS 4395 part 3. But it was not available in the market. To resolve, a kickoff meeting was immediately held where all participants met face-to-face and discussed issues critical to expediting the erection.
Procedures were established to speed the flow of information between participants. One alternative was to fabricate shank out of GR 8.8 bolt or shift to A490 bolts supported by AISC standards. But entire design of structure is based on BS standards; test was conducted with both the standards and based on test results A490 bolt was selected.

DETAILING, FABRICATION AND ERECTION
With critical aesthetic features designed into the steel structure, communication and coordination were essential for successful execution of the project. Cooperation between project managers involved in detailing and fabrication allowed the team to pursue the owner's aggressive schedule.
Detailing of this structure was performed by efficient team of detailers headed by Satish and Durga. In order to efficiently and accurately produce shop drawings for the structure, Techflow utilized Tekla Structure to produce virtual three-dimensional model.
Despite the physical distance between fabricator and detailing team the use of e-mail and model's computerized graphics and renderings helped to communicate clearly.

Canopy
The structure had an entrance canopy which was a precamber canopy, with 107 meters in length and 16 meters in height. Considering the curve shape and setting out dimensions were missing in contract drawings; it was a tough task to place the members during modeling. To resolve this, contract drawings were imported in TEKLA Structures and members were placed using segments to achieve the curve shape. Built up sections were used for beams and columns.
The canopy structure was cladded with 1.5 mm thick brushed stainless steel and 4 mm thick silver color Aluminum composite cladding panels.

Crown
The unusual shape of crown is unique in itself. In a elevation it looks like a cap in shape where as in plan it looks like a ship. The structure comprises of maintenance platforms, ladders and two 58 meters high spires. Considering the complexity of the structure participants involved in this project decided to detail this crown in 3 sequences; the bottom tail part, main crown and the spires.

The bottom tail part was 68 meters in length; starting point was at 170 meters height from ground level and goes up to 238 meters. 'A' shaped large cantilever area at 3.4 meter height provided for ladders used for maintenance and light zone.
Main crown had four main floors with two maintenance platforms. These platforms connect the crown with spires. Two continuous ladders are running along with the external area of the crown. The crown is cladded with the glass and 4 mm thick white color Aluminum composite panels.

Spires
Steel plated two spires of about 58 meters in height are connected with crown. Out of 58 meters, 26 meters are supported with crown where as 32 meters is a cantilever area. Bottom diameter of the spire is 2.5 meter and top diameter is 0.6 meters. Ladders are provided to connect intermediate maintenance platforms. Due to the narrow shape of the spires, detailers had to face problem to detail out the connections.
Techflow's accuracy in detailing and Al Nasr's precision in fabrication resulted in smooth and rapid erection with minimal field modifications.