From a distance, it may seem as if some mad geyser is pounding from the ground with all its might. But the scene is not very suitable - Saudi Arabia. In addition, the case is taking place in one of the largest and most modern cities in the country. This gigantic jet of water is the work of human hands. It is hard to believe, but this fountain breaks records of many other sights of the world.
It is difficult to say why the authorities of Jeddah, a large city in Saudi Arabia, decided to make the fountain the main attraction. But, one way or another, in 1980-1983 it was erected just near some administrative palace building.
That fountain was blowing straight into the sky, but it was not something special. They say that he was very much reminiscent of the Swiss Jet d'Eau. And in general: its stream rose into the air for an unfortunate 120 meters, which somehow did not really impress the people and did not particularly correspond to the urban architecture. Therefore, the authorities decided to install a new attraction. Again, this was supposed to be a fountain. Moreover, it is very large: preferably more than any other fountains and, perhaps, even famous buildings.
The work was taken over by the Arabian company SETE Technical Services, which is engaged in the development of various engineering structures for the city, water supply, energy, environmental projects. The fountain they built really surpassed a lot. The fountain is working perfectly now. However, just a couple of years after installation, experts discovered that its steel pipes were suffering from corrosion. At the end of 1987, a decision was promptly made to install an anodic protection to prevent the destruction of the metal. Now this destructive process seems to be stopped.
SETE Technical Services quickly got to work and launched the new fountain as early as 1985. But for some reason this development did not shock the world, although the guys designed a colossus that throws water into the air to a dizzying height: 312 meters! The total mass of water that is constant "/>
There is something to compare it with! Even the Eiffel Tower recedes into the background, because its height, excluding the antenna crowning the structure, barely reaches 301 meters. However, it is useless to compare fountains with antennas. But with other fountains - it's easy.
The diameter of the pipes in the system is different. The pipes supplying water have a cross section of 80 centimeters. And where water flies into the atmosphere, their diameter is only 12.6 centimeters - this is done so that "/>
The technical part of the Fahd fountain consists of a pumping station and a power station that feeds it. At first, both of them were built on a barge 90 meters long, which was then partially flooded - simply so that this entire ugly part of the structure would not be conspicuous. It took seven thousand tons of cement to build only one pumping station with a height of a five-story building. One of the parts that the developers have been especially diligent about is the nozzles from which water gets into the air. They are designed to last for many more years.
Water is thrown to a tremendous height with the help of two powerful pumps, emitting 625 liters per second at a speed of 375 kilometers per hour. There is also a third, non-working, pump - in case one of the two suddenly breaks.
Another amazing moment: the Jeddah fountain runs continuously. It can be turned off for only two reasons. The first is a routine inspection of the equipment, which is carried out about once a year. And the second is a "contingency". If suddenly a strong wind starts blowing from the south. In this case, the water can deviate and get onto the gardens and lawns of that very large administration building. Which is very bad: because of this, all vegetation will die, because the water is salty, because it is pumped out directly from the Red Sea, on the shore of which the city is located.
The authorities are not particularly keen on various tricks such as light, laser and other complex illumination of the fountain. He already looks fantastic day and night.
Currently, the state of the fountain and all its communications are constantly monitored using modern computer technology. Perhaps thanks to this, he will someday get into the Guinness World Records. In the meantime, for some reason, the official world record is held by a similar fountain in the state of Arizona, which raises water by only 171.2 meters and operates only 15 minutes a day, Membrana reports.