Fantasy Island
In a place like Dubai, the land of sand , who would have thought there would be such a demand for a litle bit more ?
The Palm Jumeirah, billed as the ‘eighth wonder of the world’ and looking like a fantasy from a sci-fi movie, is real. What’s more, its big brothers, The Palm Jabel Ali and The Palm Deira, are being built, too.
It was the brainchild of the Dubai Prime Minister, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The intention: to increase the beachfront accommodation to meet demand of the country’s blossoming tourist trade.
The Palm, as its name suggests, is a man-made island shaped like a palm tree with 17 fronds projecting into the sea protected by an eleven-kilometer crescent island breakwater.
The Palm is just five kilometers diameter but has added 78 kilometers to the Dubai coastline and provided space for 4000 luxury beach-front residences. The project started in 2001 and people began moving into their ‘eighthwonder’ homes at the end of last year.
The Crescent
The project is an engineering triumph. The first task was to build the rock breakwater to protect the sand fronds from the ravages of the sea. The breakwater is built in water up to eleven meters deep and projects from the Arabian Gulf to a height four meters above the water level at low tide. This level is sufficient to protect The Palm against the highest predicted seas, the violent storms caused by the Shamal winds howling in from the northwest, and the possible effects of global warming.
The building of the fronds themselves began with a foundation of rock followed by the precise placing of over 92 million cubic meters of sand. The sand was positioned with the aid of DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) which gave engineers the ability to place every grain within one centimeter of its target to achieve the perfect palm shape.
But the building of the fronds and the protecting breakwater was only part of the engineering problem. The Palm is not an ornament, it’s a real, living island with homes, shops, restaurants and, of course, people. The engineers realized, well into the building project, that left alone, encased in its protective breakwater, the salinity of the stagnant water around the fronds would soon increase to unacceptable levels. To solve the problem, the engineers redesigned The Crescent to include two 100-meter openings on either side, to allow the water to flow naturally around the island. Tidal flow now ensures that the entire volume of water inside The Crescent is refreshed every 13 days.
Innovative solutions “Made by GEA”
Flushing the fronds was not, however, the complete answer to the pollution problem. People create waste and pumping large quantities of untreated sewage into the sea, even beyond The Crescent, was environmentally unacceptable. The solution: the installation of a waste water treatment plant, underground so that it could not be seen by the residents. At the heart of the plant is a CDForce decanter centrifuge (affectionately called a ‘crocodile’ because it looks a bit like one) from Westfalia Separator. The Westfalia Separator ‘croc’ has the ability to dewater sludge creating a liquid stream of ‘clean’ water that can be safely discharged from the treatment plant to the sea and a dry ‘cake’ of solid matter for easy disposal by incineration.
It would have been easier to build The Palm out of steel and concrete but the builders decided to use only natural materials, sand and rock, which are more seismically stable and environmentally friendly. A technique known as vibro-compaction was used to settle the sand artificially; the builders expect further natural settlement to be less than 2.5cm during the next 50 years.
Protection of ecological balance
Planners were keen to protect the area’s natural marine life and delicate ecological balance. Almost 2000 fish and other marine creatures were moved from the sea around the construction site to open waters nearby. Buildings on the island will incorporate the latest technology to limit waste generation, conserve water and reduce energy consumption. Doubleglazing is used extensively to minimize energy loss, while solar panels provide emission-free power for applications such as water heating and lighting.
There is little doubt that Palm Jumeirah will provide another boost to Dubai’s already flourishing tourist industry, with all year round sunshine and impressive luxury. For those fortunate enough to visit this seaside desert paradise, it will indeed feel like visiting the ‘eighth wonder of the world’.
