Work is underway on one of the most ambitious construction projects in human history—the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, which promises to be the tallest building in the world.
New satellite imagery provided to Newsweek shows the state of the tower, one of several large construction projects taking place in Saudi Arabia, along the coast of the Red Sea.
Images provided by Maxar Technologies show parts of the tower being assembled at the construction site, including the tripod-style base, centered about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the Jeddah city port.
Once completed, the tower is expected to be about 3,300 feet high. That would make it the tallest building in the world, beating out the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands at 2,722 feet.
At the top, the tower would boast the highest observation deck in the world, reached by a system of 59 elevators. The design is so tall that no elevator is able to run from the highest occupied floor to the bottom, because the cables would be too heavy and potentially unsafe.
The building was designed by architect Adrian Smith, who also designed the current tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, as well as the Trump Tower in Chicago. Construction on the Jeddah Tower began in 2009, before it was paused in 2018 due to the purges in Saudi Arabia, which impacted contractors working on the site.
However, work resumed in 2023, though a finishing date hasn't been confirmed yet. It has been estimated that roughly one-third of the tower has been completed.
The building work is currently being overseen by the Jeddah Economic Company, which describes the tower as "the leading beacon of business, leisure, opening the door to a futuristic metropolis."
Newsweek contacted the Jeddah Economic Company for comment on the status of the construction project.
The tower is one of several large projects designed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to expand on Saudi Arabia's tourism industry, in an attempt to diversify the nation's economy away from oil exports.
Another project, The Line, is also under construction on the same coastline. With an ambitious end date of 2030, The Line is a horizontal skyscraper, supported by a linear high-speed rail system, that claims to be able to home more people than New York City.
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About the writer
Theo Burman is a Newsweek Live News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is on U.S. politics and international ... Read more