Joana Marie D.

Calumba 8-Pasteur

“From sea, rock and sand to luxury”

The Palm Jumeirah is an artificial archipelago in United Arab Emirates, created

using land reclamation by Nakheel, a company owned by the Dubai government, and designed
and developed by Helman Hurley Charvat Peacock/Architects, Inc. It is one of three planned
islands called the Palm Islands (Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira) which would
have extended into the Persian Gulf, increasing Dubai's shoreline by a total of 520 kilometres
(320 mi). The Palm Jumeirah is the smallest and the original of three Palm Islands originally
under development by Nakheel. It is located on the Jumeirah coastal area of the emirate of
Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Artificial islands, although amazing engineering projects, are not new. The Netherlands,
Hong Kong, and many other nations have all undertaken land reclamation projects. However,
none are quite as impressive as the Palm Islands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Palm
Island Dubai is a series of three artificial islands that are often referred to as the Eighth Wonder
of the World. They were created to increase tourism to the United Arab Emirates by providing a
one-of-a-kind destination for visitors.

 AMAZING FACTS:
1. What make Dubai’s Palm Island an iconic attraction of the UAE is its unique design that
takes after a date palm with crescent on its top. A specialty of crescent that bounds the
island is that it serves as a breakwater and is made using a blend of sand, rocks and geo
textile fiber. With more than 300 opening on its each side, the breakwater has the
capability to resist harsh weather conditions, especially high waves in the event of storm
or typhoon.
2. This world-renowned attraction is one of the few attractions that can be seen from the
space. Thanks to its impeccable geometry that lend unique shape and massive scale to the
project.
3. It is estimated that about 100 million cubic meters of sand, in addition to seven million
tons of rocks per island, has been used for the construction of this archipelago. Beside a
monorail, a sub-sea tunnel is built to help people to move to and fro the mainland. In
order to ensure that the sand will firmly hold its position after having dropped, a process,
“Rain bowing”, which employs dredger ships to spray the sand to proper place, was used.
4. Stretching about seven kilometers into the Arabian Gulf, the Palm’s construction has led
to the adding of about 180 kilometers of Dubai shoreline, thereby increasing it by
incredible 166%.
5. Despite its resemblance to palm trees, these islands do not have any real palm trees.
Hence, more than 12,000 palm trees are expected to be grown on the island’s nursery.
 6. Speaking of the islands, the Palm Deira is the largest of all three islands. Slated to be
developed as the commercial and residential capital of the archipelago – it will feature a
variety of residential town houses, in addition to marinas, sport facilities and shopping
malls. The smallest of the three islands, the Jumeirah is considered a haven for unlimited
leisure and recreation. About 50% bigger than the Jumeirah is the Palm Jebel Ali that will
be an entertainment spot for both adults and children.

7. Often referred to as the world’s eight wonder, the Palm Jumeirah boasts of UAE’s some
of the best attractions, such as Atlantis Hotel that literally grace the Palm Jumeirah’s
crescent, Trump International – a luxurious 300-room hotel at the trunk of the island,
Oceana – a beachfront residential and resort development, Kingdom of Sheba – a unique
project managed by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, and Exotica Resort & Spa.
8. With its waters filled with exuberant marine life on the Arabian Gulf, the Palm provides
excellent facilities to enable tourists and visitors to indulge in such activities as scuba
diving and snorkeling.
9. The islands are comprised of rocks quarried in UAE and sand dredged from the bottom of
the Persian Gulf. The rock is used in the encircling crescents or breakwaters. The
breakwaters are meant to protect the islands from the gulf weather. Each rock of the
breakwaters was placed individually by a crane in the appropriate location. The crescent
of Palm Jumeirah, for example, contains over 7 tons of rocks. The crescent’s surface is
over 13 feet above low tide sea level and at its deepest point is anchored in 34 feet of
water. One interesting feature of Palm Jumeirah is that the breakwater has two openings
to allow water to completely circulate within the island complex every 13 days.
10. The construction of the Palm Islands had a significant impact on the surrounding
environment, resulting in changes to area wildlife, coastal erosion, alongshore sediment
transport and wave patterns. Sediment stirred up by construction has suffocated and
injured local marine fauna and reduced the amount of sunlight which filters down to
seashore vegetation. Variations in alongshore sediment transport have resulted in changes
in erosion patterns along the UAE coast, which has also been exacerbated by altered
wave patterns as the waters of the Persian Gulf attempt to move around the new
obstruction of the islands.

 ENGINEERS/PEOPLE INVOLVED:

Robert Berger (Project manager 2000–2004)

Samuel O'Carroll (Civil engineer 2000-2004)

Mounir Hevar (Chief of planning)

Scott Hutchinson (Apartment Construction engineer from Turner Construction International)

 Scott E. Hutchinson is a Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate

representing the 21st district. He also served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives for the 64th District from 1992 to 2013.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem

 Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem was the chairman of Dubai World until December 12, 2010.
Bin Sulayem is currently involved in Seven Tides International, a diversified Real Estate
Investment and Development Company in Dubai UAE.

CHALLENGES/DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED:

1. March 2002 storm hits and a section of break water is in the sea. For 3 weeks work
had to be stopped. But the break water stands firm. Crown prince wanted the island
and city on it to be build by2006. Only way to meet the deadline is to build break
water and island at same time. But this is not an ideal situation. The island will have
bad effects of sea waves without complete break water. But the deadline had to be
met.

2. The island construction team had to find 94 million cubic meters of sand to build the
palm tree island. Dubai has more sand, but desert sand is not the suitable for
constructing island. Its particles are too fine and won’t stick together firmly. It means
it will be easily washed away. The best sand was found 6 nautical miles (11km) out
of sea. This was the best suitable sand. It packs densely and more resistant to waves.

3. October 2002, 2/3 of break water and 9 palm fronds rise above the sea level. But then
engineers discovered a problem that could put the whole project in danger. The water
inside the sea wall (break water) was not circulating resulting in dirty water being
stored inside.

4. There was another problem, beach erosion. Normally sea current pushes the beach
sand evenly. By building massive structure on shore line current will change its shape
resulting in at some place shore will extend and other place it will erode. Naturally
problem will be solved but it will take time. Mean time developers used dredgers to
suck up sand where it has deposited and pour into place where it had erode.

5. First step of building break water was to construct sea floor. 3 massive dredgers dump
the sand up to 7.4m thick. To keep it in place floor of rocks were dropped on it up to
 3m above sea level, total thickness of 7m. 5.5 million Cubic meter of rock was
required by the 11.5m long break water which is enough to build two Egyptian
pyramids. The heavy land base machines put 14000 cubic meters of rock in place per
day. These rocks must interlock with each other to bear with sea waves. The constant
check to ensure the break water is in place and standing firm was done by sending
divers.

6. Making the islands strong and stable was one challenge whereas uniformly shaping
them as a palm was the other.

7. Erosion (caused by winds and water currents) is one of the biggest problems present,
as it strips away the sand which forms the majority of the island.

8. Damage to the marine ecology (e.g. the loss of reefs and fish), including disturbances
in the reproductive cycles of the species of fish that were close to the shores of Dubai.
Research conducted by marine biologists on this phenomenon showed that the newly-
born fish were not able to survive in conditions along the shores of Dubai due to
constant construction and environmental alterations (e.g. shifting of sand, moving
boulders and the effects of the vibrations).
9. Due to the shape of the island right outside the coast of Dubai, there is loss of coastal
shape along the seashore of Dubai

 Why was this built? Under whose regime?

This was done in accordance with the order of the Prince of Dubai, who came up with the idea
for the Palm Islands, as well as their design. The primary objective for the construction of the
Palm Islands was to create a major tourist destination in Dubai in to compensate for a decrease in
revenue from oil as oil reserves in the Persian Gulf depleted.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Crown Prince)

He ordered his kingdom to transform itself into the world’s number one luxury tourist
destination. He planned to build a massive island and he wants it to be done by 2006.
The crown price wanted the island in the shape of palm tree and to be built by only sand and
rocks. The construction started in August 2001.

 Environmental Effects
The construction of the Palm islands along the coast of Dubai has caused several large
environmental changes: a reduction in the area's aquatic life, erosion of the coastal soil, and
irregular sediment transport along the shore. There is also a dramatic change in wave patterns
along the coast of Dubai due to the rock walls constructed around the palm islands: instead of
hitting the shores directly, the waves move in an unusual manner around the new obstruction.
This has led to the weakening of the shores of Dubai.
Most of the environmental damage was caused by the sediments stirred up by the
construction; it suffocated and injured the surrounding marine fauna and decreased the amount of
sunlight filtering down to the sea vegetation.[18] Such environmental disturbances have turned the
heads of many environmental activists. Greenpeace and Mongabay.com (Rain forest
conservation organization) have expressed very strong opinions against the building of the Dubai
Palm islands.

 Breakwaters and seawalls

To protect the island, break water around the palm tree shaped island must be built. The
team does the final calculation to build break water 3m above sea level and 11.5 km long.
9 barges, 15 tank boats, 4 dredgers, 30 heavy land base machines and 10 floating cranes
were needed to construct the massive island.
 Resources involved

a. 5.5 million Cubic meters of rock brought from over 16 quarries in Dubai.
b. 94 million cubic meters of sand brought from deep sea beds 6 nautical miles from
the coast of Dubai.
c. 210 million cubic meters of rock, sand and limestone

 Risks and threats

1. Waves 2 meters high.

2. Storm frequency of 1 in 1 year.
3. Weak soil due to constant exposure to rising sea water.[10]
4. Water pollution.