A 1,800-square meter (19,375-square foot) net has been strung across a 30-meter (98-foot) gap to help crews working on The Gate project in Abu Dhabi. The net, which stretches between two 245-meter towers, is the largest and highest of its kind, according to the National.

The net is made of a polyester cord mesh supported by steel cables anchored to the structure of the buildings. The system is designed to be used by workers untrained in conventional rope-access techniques, the National reports. Everyone using the net must wear a harness attached to two safety ropes in the event that anything goes wrong.

Similar systems are used on oil rigs.

"The net works as a system: you load one end of it and the other end tightens up immediately, so the more people you have on it the better it works," operations manager Fred Marshall told the paper.

The rope access company Megarme installed the net-system in 20 days, spokesman Amel Vriesman said. Scaffolding would have taken eight weeks to complete.