Friday, November 23, 2007

3 world's tallest fountains

1. King Fahd's Fountain in Jeddah, Saudi AJeddah`s Fountain is a major landmark built in the 1980s and listed in Guinness World Records as the highest in the world which can reach 312 meters (1,023.62 feet), and can be seen from very far distances. The fountain was donated to the City of Jeddah by King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz which is where the name is derived. ters (1,023.62 ft).

2. THE GATEWAY GEYSER. Soaring to nearly 630-feet, the geyser's height mirrors that of St. Louis' famed Gateway Arch, located directly across the Mississippi River. The center fountain is complemented by four auxiliary fountains, which represent the four rivers that converge in the St. Louis area.
Powered by three 800-horsepower pumps, the Geyser rockets 7,500 gallons of water per minute straight up at a rate of 250 feet per second—a speed approaching that of air travel. The four smaller fountains are powered by a 125-horsepower pump. An 8-acre, 600-foot-diameter lake containing more than one million gallons feeds the fountains. “An important feature is an automatic system that detects wind speed and lowers the height of the column as necessary to minimize water fallout,” Friedman says. The fountain is automatically shut down when wind speeds exceed 13 mph. The Geyser normally propels about 1,100 gallons of water weighing 9,200 pounds into the air. An electric beacon on the roof of the maintenance building alerts any overhead aircraft when the Geyser is about to go off. At the Geyser’s heart is a custom designed and manufactured six-foot-tall nozzle-within-a-nozzle system; the nozzles aerate the water and give it a remarkable shimmering whiteness.



3. The Port Fountain or Karachi Port Trust Fountain is located next to the northern rock of a series of islands known as the Oyster Rocks, off the Karachi Harbour. The fountain is the world's third tallest, and rises to height of 620 feet when operating at full force. Ever since its inauguration on January 15, 2006, the fountain has been attracting visitors from all over Pakistan. The fountain structure and platform of 135 sq meters (15m x 9m) is on 16 piles 18 meters deep. Two 835-horsepower turbine pumps deliver nearly 2000 liters of sea water per second at a velocity of 70 meter per second through specially designed 8 inch nozzles. The fountain was constructed at a cost of PKR 320 million (approximately $5.3 million US).

souces 1, 2, 3, 4

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