What do the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, aeroplane wings, and certain lorry trailers all have in common? They are all constructed with the use of double-sided sticky tape.

Sticky tape has come a long way since the original "Scotch Tape" was thus pejoratively christened when to cut costs, 3M applied the adhesive only to the edges of the tape. A remark was made by a US automobile detailer that the stingy Scotch bosses needed to put more adhesive on it.

Today, engineers in the construction, aviation and automotive industry are all discovering that high-strength 3M VHB (very high bond) tapes can be used to replace screws, rivets, welding, liquid adhesives and other permanent assembly methods. With the right construction, these tapes are virtually invisible when applied to join mated parts, leaving surfaces smooth and clean. "Look, no more rivets".

Specifically designed for bonding application surfaces such as plastics, metals and glass, VHB tapes reduce holes to drill, screws to tighten and reduce the need to refinish surfaces and time-consuming clean up.

Amazingly, the external glazing of the stunning Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai is all held in place with 60,000 metres of VHB tape. Blue Peter would be proud.