Kuwait Towers

The Kuwait Towers are three towers of reinforced concrete in Kuwait City. The main tower is 187 metres high and serves as a restaurant and water tower. It also has a Viewing Sphere which rises to 123 meters above sea level and completes a full turn every 30 minutes. The second tower is 145.8 metres high and serves as a water tower. The third tower houses equipment to control the flow of electricity and illuminates the two larger towers. The towers hold 4,500 cubic meters of water. The towers were designed by Sune Lindström and Malene Björn and were built by Energoprojekt, a company from Belgrade, Yugoslavia. They opened to the public in March of 1979. The towers were heavily damaged by the Iraqis during their occupation of Kuwait from 1990 to 1991. In 1992, after the liberation of Kuwait City during the First Gulf War, Vic Clarke of Nottingham UK abseiled the Kuwait Water Towers during structural surveys. Mr. Clarke was introduced into Kuwait by Mr. Michael Stewart, of the Stewart Group International, also from Nottingham UK. There was substantial shell and bullet damage to the towers' exteriors. The interior damage was mainly to electrical gear, mostly lift equipment. Some of the large triangular glazed panels shown in the photograph were also damaged by shell fire.