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Where's my crane? - ShadowHM - 06-21-2007

I just had to share this:

The Infinity Tower, under construction in Dubai is intended to be the world's tallest twisted tower, when finished.

My son (the apprentice tower crane operator) sent me this today. The best laid plans and all that.... :rolleyes: Or maybe it is the price of hubris? :unsure:

Anyway, remarkable pix. Enjoy. :)


Where's my crane? - Munkay - 06-22-2007

Quote:The best laid plans and all that.... :rolleyes: Or maybe it is the price of hubris? :unsure:

Thanks for sharing the pictures Shadow. Dubai is an incredibly interesting locale these days. There's virtually no urban planning to speak of, and everyone is in a huge rush to get the buildings complete. I don't remember the exact statistic, but about a year ago I saw a documentary on Dubai on the history channel and they mentioned the % of construction equipment in the world located there - it made my jaw drop.

Cheers,

Munk


Where's my crane? - Mithrandir - 06-22-2007

I have a buddy whose family owns a construction company that works in Qatar/UAE and a large percentage of their projects are in Dubai. Needless to say, they are "kinda" rich.


Where's my crane? - Occhidiangela - 07-02-2007

Quote:Thanks for sharing the pictures Shadow. Dubai is an incredibly interesting locale these days. There's virtually no urban planning to speak of, and everyone is in a huge rush to get the buildings complete. I don't remember the exact statistic, but about a year ago I saw a documentary on Dubai on the history channel and they mentioned the % of construction equipment in the world located there - it made my jaw drop.

Cheers,

Munk
Nat Geo had a recent article on Dubai, and UAE, wherein they pointed out the "palm frond" communities in the Persian Gulf, and the rather nasty conditions all of the <strike>wetbacks</strike> guest workers from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and eslewhere were living and working under. Second class citizens, indentured servants, whose passports get confiscated by employers as a way to control them. "Doing work Arabs won't do."

Disgusting.

The wealthy West blithely turns a blind eye to this crap, while Bankers and Industrialists buy up those properties for winter vacation or expat business sites.

On a human level, it makes me sick. I saw similar practices in Qatar, in terms of some of the labor hired by the Qatar government to build structures on the joint use Air Base I worked at.

Occhi


Where's my crane? - Kevin - 07-02-2007

Quote:I just had to share this:

The Infinity Tower, under construction in Dubai is intended to be the world's tallest twisted tower, when finished.

My son (the apprentice tower crane operator) sent me this today. The best laid plans and all that.... :rolleyes: Or maybe it is the price of hubris? :unsure:

Anyway, remarkable pix. Enjoy. :)

This made me think of this Powerpoint Presentation that my dad sent me. Yes it took me a couple weeks to find it and get it uploaded so I could link it again.


Where's my crane? - Munkay - 07-03-2007

Quote:Nat Geo had a recent article on Dubai, and UAE, wherein they pointed out the "palm frond" communities in the Persian Gulf, and the rather nasty conditions all of the <strike>wetbacks</strike> guest workers from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and eslewhere were living and working under. Second class citizens, indentured servants, whose passports get confiscated by employers as a way to control them. "Doing work Arabs won't do."

Disgusting.

The wealthy West blithely turns a blind eye to this crap, while Bankers and Industrialists buy up those properties for winter vacation or expat business sites.

On a human level, it makes me sick. I saw similar practices in Qatar, in terms of some of the labor hired by the Qatar government to build structures on the joint use Air Base I worked at.

Occhi

I wanted to respond for two reasons, the first of which is that I agree with your sentiment. It sickens me too.

But it should also be said that the driving force behind the development explosion isn't squarely on the shoulders of westerners. There's still a large contingency of people native to the Arabian Pennisula who have their hands deep in the cookie jar as well.

Regardless, the display of humanity so fixated on material hedonistic pleasure (especially at the cost of exploitation of so many others) is absolutely sickening.

Cheers,

Munk