Proposed Foundation System for So called Mile-High Tower : Tallest Building of the World to Come

The upcoming tallest building of the world is the Kingdom Tower to be built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Initially building was planned to stand one mile (1.6 km) high and be called the Mile-High Tower. But the geotechnical investigation suggested the proposed area could not support a building of such height. So the building was scaled down to 0.62 miles (one kilometer) tall, which will still allow it to overshadow the 2,717 ft. (828 m) Burj Khalifa to claim the title of the world's tallest building.

Designs for the foundation were in place by early August and the contract for the piling with Langan International was being tendered. On 16 August 2011, Langan officially announced their involvement and that the foundation and piling had to be uniquely designed to overcome subsurface issues such as soft bedrock and porous coral rock, which normally could not support a skyscraper without settling. 

Kingdom Tower:The World Tallest Tower

The foundation will be similar to that of the Burj Khalifa, but larger. It is expected to be around 60 metres (197 ft) deep with a concrete pad of around 7,500 m2 (80,729 sq ft). The concrete will have to have low permeability to keep out corrosive salt water from the Red Sea, its depth and size is also considered to be an indicator of what the tower's final height will be.

Sky Terrace of Kingdom Tower: 30 m (98 ft) diameter outdoor balcony at 157 floor level

 The piles will be up to 200 metres (656 ft) deep and the pad over 300 feet (91 m) across, yet even still the building, which will weigh over 900,000 tons, is expected to settle. The idea is that it settles evenly enough so that the building doesn't tip or put undue stress on the superstructure. Computer modeling programs performed tests at the site to confirm that the foundation design would work.