The 300-metre high Iconic Tower will be one of the ten tallest residential towers in the world, according to a statement by the CSCEC on Monday after holding a ceremony to launch the concrete casting.
The Downtown Towers Project comprises five residential towers that along with the Iconic Tower it will also include four 200-metre tall apartment buildings.
The concrete casting of the project’s Iconic Tower, the largest base plate in Africa so far according to the constructor, will be implemented in two stages. The first casting square is about 5,632 m³, the second casting square is about 14,051 m³, and the total concrete volume will be about 19,683 m³, according to the CSCEC.
The ceremony was attended by CSCEC Egypt’s General Manager Chang Weicai and several Egyptian and Chinese guests.
The Alamein Downtown Towers Project was signed by Egypt’s New Urban Communities Authority and CSCEC in February 2021, with a contract value of about $1.92 billion and a construction area of 1.09 million square metres, according to the CSCEC Egypt website.
In June, the Egyptian Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities Assem El-Gazzar attended the groundbreaking ceremony of initiating the New Alamein Downtown Towers Project.
The project is considered the second significant cooperation between Egypt and the Chinese company as it is currently constructing the Central Business District (CBD), which will be home to 20 towers in the New Administrative Cairo (NAC).
Among the CBD towers, there is another 385.8 metre-high Iconic Tower, whose construction started in 2018 and is now nearly finished. It is considered the tallest in Africa.
The New Alamein City is among various new fourth-generation cities being built.
The Ministry of Housing in conjunction with the New Urban Communities Authority is constructing 14 fourth-generation cities among which are the New Administrative Capital, New Alamein, New Mansoura, East Port Said, Nasser City in western Assiut, and New Ismailia.
The smart cities will be serviced electronically in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030. The cities are constructed according to sustainable development standards such as the usage of renewable and recyclable material, reducing energy consumption and waste, and protecting the environment.
“Fourth-generation cities are not a luxury. They are essential to house a growing population. We need to double Egypt’s built-up area rather than crowd even more people into existing settlements in the Nile Valley and Delta,” said Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in previous remarks.