World's tallest building still struggles to get started  

消防设计不过关？远大第一高楼工地种西瓜

去年7月，远大集团在长沙高调宣布，将建设一座208层、838米高的天空城市，建成后将超越迪拜塔，成为世界第一高楼。如今，鲜闻“世界第一高楼”的进展消息。6月25日，《每日经济新闻》记者来到天空城市现场，发现奠基石旁已长满杂草，空旷的工地上种满西瓜，完全没有动工迹象。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Construction on the world's highest building in central China hasn't started, a year behind schedule, while its construction site has been used to grow crops, the National Business Daily said.

A guard at the construction site of Sky City, a projected 838-meter building in the capital city of Hunan, said work had been halted since last June, days after a ground-breaking ceremony.

Most of the land has been used to grow crops such as watermelon and corn by local farmers. A man said no one had prevented him.

The Changsha-based construction company Broad Group had expected to finish the project in April 2014, with a building time of just 10 months. But it turns out that they were too optimistic.

She Haoyu, head of the local management committee, said the mega building needs special approval from the country's ultra-high building committee, which the group has received. The company is now designing firefighting facilities to pass safety inspections, he said.

Construction cannot begin without all the necessary permits, She said, adding that the construction of lower backing buildings can start, as long as they get permits from local governments.

Wei Chunyu, head of the Architecture School at Hunan University, said he considers the firefighting facilities a big issue and "it is quite difficult to design," he said.

The Broad Group responded that a firefighting research institute in Tianjin under the Ministry of Public Security has shouldered the task. It also revealed that the steel they used can resist fire for three hours.

Experts believe that the long delay shows the group failed safety inspections before.

The group has added 5 billion yuan ($805 million) to the project, for a total of 9 billion yuan ($1.45 billion), while the group's revenue in 2012 was around 6 billion ($967 million) yuan.

A spokeswoman for Sky City declined to comment and said the company will release some information in October.

The 208-story tower is expected to be 10 meters taller than the current record holder, Burj Khalifa in Dubai.