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Dubai’s venerable timekeeper

It was built in 1964 as a symbol of Dubai and called after the Emirate. The roundabout in Al Rigga had the tower at its core and it was the most famous landmark in the then smaller city. The Clock Tower was the entry point to Dubai and all major highways led to it.

Later, the ribbon to Abu Dhabi would become the first major artery that did not start from there. In 1972 it had begun to show some damage to its infrastructure so it was given an architectural uplift in 1972 and rebuilt to ensure that corrosion and cracking would not occur that easily. In technical terms it is the oldest ‘monument’ in modern Dubai. By sheer usage it became known as the Deira Clock Tower.

The Clock Tower has held its own even as it was dwarfed by the construction around it. It enjoys a certain affection with the public and even as traffic swirls around it from different flyovers and turnoffs, the Tower is still referred to when you give anyone instructions. For those who wish to see this integral part of Dubai’s history just take the Red Line to Al Rigga or drive over the Al Maktoum bridge and there you are…the clocks work perfectly and the arches are impressive even 40 years later. For those with a historical interest the Tower was commissioned on the basis of a gift.

To quote Engineer Edgar Bublik who was General Manager of Overseas AST, builders of the clock, in Dubai in the 1970s. He explains the background to Dubai’s Clock Tower...

“Shaikh Ahmed of Qatar was Shaikh Rashid’s son-in-law. In the early 1960s Shaikh Ahmed gave Shaikh Rashid a clock as a gift. It was a very large clock. Shaikh Rashid did not know what to do with such a large clock! My predecessor Mr Bulard had just completed building Zabeel Palace for Shaikh Rashid so he made a sketch of his idea for a Clock Tower. Mr Bulard gave the sketch to his engineer to make the structural calculations and produce a design. The shape and design of the Clock Tower was from Mr Bulard’s own ideas and did not represent an Oil Drilling Bit or any other object.”

Today, it is still the symbol of times gone by and good times still to come.

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