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Palm Islands in Dubai
Introduction:
Palm islands: Palm Jumeirah and Palm Jabel Ali are two man-made islands, located five Km in the
Persian Gulf. Palm Jumeirah has been completed and visible from space like a date shaped palm. As of
2014, it is the biggest artificial island in world. According to an estimate, by 2016, there will be no more
oil in Dubai. The crown prince Sheikh Muhammad Bin Rasihd Al-Maktoum has planned to transform the
oil-dependent economy of Dubai and designed many project plans worth of billion dollars to grow tourist
industry. His vision is to make Dubai world’s top holiday resort.
Palm islands are the part of this plan in order to boost the economy. Palm Jumeirah is equipped with all
luxuries of life one can ever imagined, including entertainment centers, shopping malls, parks, luxury
hotels and many more. Initially, 94 million cubic feet of sand used for its construction. Breakwater of 5.5
million cubic feet is built to protect from sea. The diameter of island is 5.5km [1].
Figure 1. Arial view of Palm Islands Dubai
Engineering and Technical Aspects:
Number of innovative ideas and new technologies has been implemented in constructing the artificial
island. Following are the few technical aspects in this regard [2].
Rainbowing:
The sand is sprayed on the required area guided by Global positioning system. Rainbow like arcs made in
the air when sand is being sprayed on the land that is why process is called rainbowing.in order to prevent
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soil erosion, constant maintenance is carried out. Breakwater is built on the end of each crescent in order
to save from the effects of weather [3].
Construction of Wave Blockers:
For the regular motion of sea water, wave blockers, 3 m high, were planned to build all around the island.
The base of this blocker was continually monitored by deep sea divers in order to ensure their stability.
Also, currently, sea divers every 6 weeks go down and check the base of these blocks and the marine life.
Figure 2. Reclaiming land for construction of Palm Island
Breakwater Layout:
Breakwater is approximately 11 km long and will also be used as recreational areas.in order to exchange
water between two consecutive breakwaters, enough gaps are maintained. For leaving or entering palm
areas, these gaps will be used. The breakwater level is kept maintain at MSL+3.0 m.
Water level:
As a result of tides and storms, extreme water level occurs for Palm island.0.3 meters difference occurs
between two high waters because of astronomical tide values given by Admiralty tide tables can be
adopted in this regard. Similarly, Shamal, a storm occurring several times throughout the year, its surge
level is detected by WLIDelft Hydraulics.1/1000 year is the return period of Shamal [4].
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Return Period in 1
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25
100
1000
1.25
1.43
1.75
Years
Water
level
in 0.85
MSL
Table 1: Water Levels in Jebel Ali
Wave height distribution:
At deep waters, wave height is 6 m which can be decrease to 4 m because of shoaling effects. Along
breakwater when measuring wave height, foreshore depths should be considered. Wave height should be
greater than 1/20 for Shamal waves which will result into Rayleigh Distribution leveling.
Designing the wave climate:
Waves with different heights and angle of incidence collide with the crescent shape Breakwater. Thus its
climate is not same at all breakwaters. Also, the wave, depending on the degree of obliquity, lessens the
impact of armor blocks. So breakwater must be determined for each incoming wave.
Coastal Monitoring:
Dubai coastline has been changed because of artificial islands. Coastline in the south west shadow is
growing quickly because of Palm Jumeirah construction. Resultantly, northerly waves are removed and so
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the northeastward there is a buildup of coastline. Reverse has occurred on the other side of Island. Here
with the removal of northwest waves, northerly waves become stronger. Thus, the result is lot of erosion.
A coastal monitoring program is established in order to observe and control the erosion.
Earthquake sustainability:
The sand and rocks on the island is sprayed in such a way as to sustain the Richter’s scale level six
earthquake, although earth quacks are very rare on island.
Recovery of marine life:
The new island is attracting the new kind of fishes and reef formation. Also a regular check is kept on the
marine life by the sea divers.
Liquifaction:
This was caused because of underwater erosion and movement of sand. The process is being prevented
using Vibro-compaction technique. This technique was also used to keep base compact and to make it
strong for the future [5].
Palm Island Jebel Ali:
The sand used for the filling of Jebel Ali is dredged from Persian Gulf. The sand had huge amount of
calcium carbonate in it. RIC treatment was never used on this sand before.

Sand below sea level has loose forming with qc up to 2-3 Mpa and 40%density.

Sand above water has rather hard formation with qc up to 8-9 Mpa and 100%density.

Actual sea-bed depth was 5-6m.the intention is to improve the underwater sand forming to qc
5Mpa and 60% density using RIC 9000 equipment.

The trial conducted at two levels +2m CD and +3m CD. Good result obtained under depth of 6m.
Issues:

One of the major problems is erosion because of winds because it flies away the sand.

Harm to the marine life including the problems in the reproductive cycle of fishes living near
shores. According to research conducted by marine biologists, because of constant environment
changes, marine life is being affects near the shores of Dubai.

The shores are being weakened because of change in the wind pattern.

Because of change in coastal shape trade activities will be affected [6].
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Conclusion:
The project is best solution to the increasing urbanization and the overpopulation. Also, it’s the best way
to shift the burden of UAE economy from oil to tourism industry. Dubai has become a major tourist spot
in the world with 8 million tourists every year. The projects like Palm islands can play rapid boost in
tourist industry. In start, there were fewer concerns regarding the marine life in Palm Island but it turned
out, breakwater has become habitat to largest artificial reef. Palm Jumeirah has been constructed, Palm
Jabel Ali is under construction and Deira Island, third Palm Island will be constructed in future.
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References:
[1] "The Palm, Jabeel Ali," Real Estate, [Online]. Available:
http://realestate.theemiratesnetwork.com/developments/dubai/palm_jebel_ali.php.
[2] "Palms Dubai – New Engineering Wonder," [Online]. Available:
http://www.engineeringcivil.com/palms-dubai-new-engineering-wonder.html. [Accessed 16 12
2014].
[3] "Palm Island Dubai - Palm Tree Island Megastructure Construction," [Online]. Available:
http://www.aboutcivil.org/palm-island-dubai-megastructure.html. [Accessed 15 12 2014].
[4] S. Dowdey, "Why is the world's largest artificial island in the shape of a palm tree?," [Online].
Available: http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/dubai-palm1.htm. [Accessed 16 12 2014].
[5] "The Palm, UAE," [Online]. Available: http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/palmjumeirah/. [Accessed 16 12 2014].
[6] Sophie, " The Palm Islands of Dubai," [Online]. Available:
http://solversmarket.com/blogs/articles/90/the-palm-islands-of-dubai-a-techno-engineeringparadise/. [Accessed 16 12 2014].
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Questions
1. What is the biggest artificial island in world?
The Palm Islands Dubai
2. What is the diameter of the Island ?
5.5 KM
3. How many cubic feet of sand used for its construction?
94 million cubic feet
4. What is the average wave heights at the palm Islands Dubai ?
6 KM
5. What is the average tourist turnout for Dubai ?
8 Million
6. What method is used to prevent underwater erosion and movement of sand ?
Vibro-compaction technique
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