The structure was officially verified by Guinness World Records on 23 September at Manar Al Omran’s premises in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
At 67.40m, the tower beats the previous 58.50m record set in the UK in 1999.
Manar Al Omran, known as MAO, said the structure was completely free-standing, with no ties, anchors or supporting structure. It was built using the company’s own Ringlock scaffold system and designed specifically to exceed the previous world record.
67m tower built in six days
The scale of the structure is considerable. Its base measures 43.47m by 43.47m, while the completed tower weighs 332.87 tonnes and contains 35,172 individual scaffold components.
MAO said the structure was erected in just six days.
An average of 80 workers were involved each day, working across two shifts, with the build accounting for around 4,800 man-hours. The company said the scaffold was engineered to deal with dead, live and wind loads, with checks carried out to confirm load-bearing capacity and stability throughout the structure.
MAO also said the entire installation was completed with zero lost-time incidents.
‘A proud moment for MAO’
Maher Al-Harbi, Chairman of MAO Group, said: “This record was built by our people. Every meter of this tower stood on the engineering, the material and the discipline of the meters below it, and our engineers, supervisors and workers delivered it safely in six days.
“It is a proud moment for MAO and for Saudi industry, and a clear demonstration of the manufacturing and engineering capability being built in the Kingdom under Vision 2030.”
Video released following the attempt shows the completed scaffold, the Guinness World Records adjudication and the certificate presentation.
The new record raises the previous height by 8.90m.
MAO said the final Guinness World Records reference number and online record page are still to be issued alongside the final certificate.
