File under science fictional employment opportunities: the Burj Dubai (that ludicrously huge tower in Dubai which we’ve mentioned here before) is finally open for business (if there’s any business left, natch), which means they need to keep the thing clean for tourists and visiting dignitaries – quite a challenge when you’re talking about a building that clocks in at over 800m in height. [image courtesy Wikipedia]
There are 23,000 glass panels on that thing, most of which will be cleaned by BMUs (robot Building Maintenance Units), but some of the uppermost sections just can’t be reached without using old-fashioned meatworkers with ropes and harnesses… and to protect them from the harsh sun up there, the workers wear a get-up much like a spacesuit, complete with a backpack full of electrolytic “sports beverage” to keep them hydrated.
Certainly not a job for anyone with phobias of heights. Or claustrophobia, for that matter… [via @Ballardian]
Interesting. I don’t think the altitude itself poses a specific sunlight issue in this case. After all, many people live on mountain sides and in communities at *much* higher altitudes above sea level than the top of that tower. Wind and reflections from that very-shiny building may be the real reasons for needing those suits? Question: Why do you call it “ludicrously huge”? Does the size, all by itself, bother you? Do you believe the building exhibits unattractive architecture? Something else? Just curious. Best regards.
“Ludicrously” because it just seems a bit crazy, y’know; it doesn’t offend me or scare me (at least as long as I’m looking up at it rather than down from it!), and I don’t find it any more unattractive than most buildings of its type. But given all the stories about how it’s likely to sit half empty for the majority of its usable lifetime, I think of it as the world’s biggest folly – rich men showing off, in other words, which is often ludicrous to those of us who aren’t rich. 😉
Rich and deluded. You can’t just build a New York or London because you want to. Their has to be other reasons that grow it organically.