Local developer Emaar Properties is expected to tender the construction contracts in October for the 928-metre-plus tall tower it plans to build at its Dubai Creek Harbour development.

The tender period will be six weeks, and an award for the fast-track project is scheduled for the end of December.

The structural work is expected to be split into two packages, with one for the concrete tower and another for the steel frame at the top of the building.

Speaking in April, Alabbar said the building will cost about $1bn to construct and will be completed in time for the 2020 Expo.

On 22 August, Emaar held a briefing with selected contractors to discuss tendering for the tower.

It is understood the firms that attended the briefing included:

• Al-Futtaim Carillion (local/UK)
• Al-Naboodah Contracting (local)
• Arabian Construction Company (ACC; Lebanon)
• Dutco Balfour Beatty (local/UK)
• Habtoor Leighton Group (local/Australia)
• Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Six Construct (Belgium)
• TAV (Turkey)
• Tishman (US)

The consultants working on the tower scheme are Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava Valls and the local office of consultancy Aurecon, which is being supported by the UK’s RMJM.

The Calatrava-designed tower is the most high-profile building scheme Dubai has launched ahead of the 2020 Expo, and could be the world’s tallest if its height exceeds the under-construction Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia.

In an interview with US news agency CNN in early June, Emaar’s chairman Mohammed Alabbar said the tower would be 100 metres taller than the world’s tallest building as of now, Burj Khalifa, which has a total height of 828 metres.