Palm
Islands
·
PALM ISLAND IS A ARTIFICIAL
ISLAND IN DUBAI,UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.
·
SITUATED IN PERSIAN GULF.
·
IT IS MADE OUT OF SANDS AND
ROCKS
Construction
·
The
Palm Islands are artificial islands constructed from sand dredged from the
bottom of the Persian Gulf by
the Belgian company, Jan De Nul and
the Dutch company, Van Oord.
·
The
process is known as rainbowing because
of the rainbow-like arcs produced in the air when the sand is sprayed. The
outer edge of each palm's encircling crescent is a large rock breakwater.
Palm Jumeirah
·
The
island itself is five kilometers by five kilometers. It adds 78 kilometers
to the Dubai coastline.
·
Residents
began moving into Palm Jumeirah properties at the end of 2006, five years after
land reclamation began.
·
A
Monorail opened in 2009, but is not connected to other public transport.
Palm Jebel Ali
·
The
Palm Jebel Ali began construction in October 2002 and was expected to be
completed in mid-2008.
Structural
importance
·
The
Palm Island is made out of only sand and rocks (no use of concrete was used to
build the island).
·
This
was done according to the order of the Prince of Dubai to make it very natural.
The Project idea was conceived by the Prince himself and he was the one who
came up with the design for the island.
·
The
primary objective of construction of the Palm Islands was to increase tourism
in Dubai.
·
This
importance to tourism was given as the oil reserves in the gulf were getting
depleted and hence the Prince of Dubai decided to make tourism a major revenue
source for the country.
·
The
Palm island consisted of resorts, hotels and was a major holiday destination.
Key people involved in the
construction process
·
Robert Berger (Project
manager : 2000–2004)
·
Mounir hevar (Chief of
planning
·
Scott Hutchinson
(Apartment Construction engineer from Turner Construction International).
Construction resources involved
·
5.5 million cubic
metres of rock brought from over 16 quarries in Dubai.
·
94 million cubic
metres of sand brought from deep sea beds 6 nautical miles from the coast
of Dubai.
Main constraints
·
The 9/11 event in the year
2001 resulted in fewer tourists to Dubai, thus hitting hard on their economy.
This slowed down the project by a large extent.
·
Another important
constraint was the time given for the project was too short, just about
4 years.
·
To make the construction
process on top of the island faster; 40,000 workers were hired working at 2
different shifts per day (Each shift was 12 hours).
Project risks and threats
·
waves 2 metres high
·
Storm frequency of 1 in
100 years
·
Earthquakes from 6 to 7 on
the Richter scale. (Gulf area between Dubai and Iran is prone to earthquakes.)
·
Weak soil due to constant
exposure to rising sea water.