Dubai’s Palm Islands – the Eighth Wonder
Dubai’s Palm Islands are the world’s largest man-made island clusters. Sometimes they are also called the eight wonder of the world. These are located at three different places across Dubai’s coast, namely Jumeirah, Jebel Ali and Deira. These islands, which are also known as The Palm Dubai or Dubai Palm are layered with rocks and sand upon a ten meter deep seabed. Sand meant for laying down these sites is obtained by dredging in the nearby sea. The Belgian dredging firm Jan De Nul and its Dutch counterpart Van Oord have been supervising the whole operation. Work is in an advanced stage in Jumeirah and Jebel Ali while it has also picked up in the Deira section.
Dredging ships propel sand over an area, which is decided by the coordinates of Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS). This process is called rain-bowing; the name is indicative of the arc which is created due to the falling sand here. Each Dubai Palm has a breakwater constructed at its periphery, which provides it a separation from the murky seawaters. These breakwaters are constructed by laying down several layers of rocks over the seabed by sea vessels. These vessels are called pontoons and the split-hopper barges. The Jumeirah Palm alone required a staggering 7 million tons of rocks to construct its breakwater.
Each of these Dubai Palm Islands is designed to depict a date palm tree, with a trunk, a crown and several fronds. The crescent islands at the periphery are assigned to play the role of breakwaters. The construction of the Palm Jebel Ali was started by Jan De Nul in 2002 and completed by the year-end of 2006. It required a 4 km long peninsula to be built, surrounded by a 200m wide and a 17 km long breakwater. This asked for reclaiming roughly 135,000,000 m³ of rock, sand and limestone. About 5,000,000 m³ of rocks were needed for strengthening the slope.
Dubai Palm islands, which are bound to increase Dubai’s costal length by an additional 520 km, will host water theme parks, luxury hotels, shopping malls, freehold villas, furnished beach apartments, health spas and similar other facilities. It was always Sheikh Maktoum’s dream to see Dubai grow in free trade and tourism, and that’s how these islands were conceived. The UAE property developer, Nakheel Properties, is supervising this whole work.
The Palm Jumeirah, which is 5 kilometers by 5 kilometers in size, will have a crown with 17 fronds, and a surrounding 11 kilometer-long breakwater. It will create 4,000 new homes over the period of next 3 to 4 years and add 78 kilometers to Dubai’s shoreline. In fact, the residents began moving into their Palm Jumeirah homes by the year-end 2006, five years after the dredging in the area had begun taking place.
The Palm Jebel Ali, which is expected to be the home of 1.7 million people by the year 2020, will be completed by the year 2008. It will be much larger in size compared to the Palm Jumeirah, however, the tag of largest one will go to the Palm Deira, which is expected to be completed by the year 2015. Due to its mammoth size, the construction of Palm Deira is expected to take place in several phases. Dubai’s tourism sector will heavily rely on these Dubai Palm Islands for its revenue, once they fully got completed.
Travel experiences: Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Part 2
October 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Restaurants
The Palm Jumeirah, known as the 8th Wonder of the World is a man made island situated at a prime waterfront location in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The physical island, built in the shape of a Palm by developer Nakheel in 2003 is fully constructed and consists of luxury villas, apartments and hotels. Essentially, the Palm has a trunk (apartments), fronds (Luxury Garden and Signature Villas) and a crescent (5 star hotels).
The Palm Trunk comprises numerous “palm apartments in Dubai of high quality offering fabulous views of sea, marina and gardens on both sides of the trunk road. The main apartment blocks which are already built are the “Shoreline Apartments”. These are 16 similar apartment blocks (ten storey high), which line the Palm’s trunk road. On one side of the trunk, the apartments have direct access to shops, gymnasiums, man-made beaches, restaurants and licensed bars. On the opposite side of the Palm’s trunk the views are known as Garden Views, but are not as attractive as the Shoreline and in reality is adjacent to the new monorail.
The Palm trunk road also comprises Golden Mile apartments. These are still under construction, but substantially complete. Golden Mile will offer views of the sea, marina but has no direct access to the beach. Like The Shoreline Apartments, there are many blocks that are constructed similarly on Golden Mile, and when eventually complete will provide amenities such as leisure, retail and commercial space. The Palm Monorail is now complete, runs silently and set to be operational in April 2009. The Palm Monorail runs from the entrance of the Palm, along the trunk to the Crescent. The original plans were for there to be stations at popular stopping points, the most famous being Trump Tower Dubai, and The Atlantis Hotel Dubai.
At the tip of the trunk are the Tiara and Marina Residences, which are high quality finish apartments with marina or beach views. The Tiara and Marina residence are scheduled to be complete in 2009/10 and when finished will be offered for re-sale and lettings.
Located on the Palm Crescent is The Atlantis Hotel, which is now open. The Atlantis is a fantastic 5 star hotel offering luxury accommodation and facilities to all kinds of groups of people. The Atlantis has many attractions, but probably most famous is its outdoor water park, and inside the hotel a huge aquarium. In November 2008 the Atlantis launched a Grand opening event for the whole world to see, hosting many famous celebrities, a Kylie Minogue concert, and the world most expensive fireworks display. When the Atlantis Hotel first opened, it was very busy, congested and unorganized. Now, on a recent visit, the hotel is a lot quieter and public access around the hotel is much more restricted providing a much improved experience to the hotel residents.
On each of the Palm Fronds you will find “Palm villas in Dubai with their own private beach and pools. All Palm villas are unique and because of this wonderful location, command high premiums for sales prices and lettings. The Palm already has many luxury villas constructed and habited in, on each of the fronds. Of course, your will also find many Palm villas for rent.
Other high profile buildings planned or under construction on The Palm Jumeirah, include Kempinski Hotel and Residences, Fairmont Hotel and Residences and of course the QE2 which is set to be moored on the Palm.
For more information on The Palm Jumeirah please refer to the developer (Nakheel) website http://www.palmjumeirah.ae
The Palm Jumeirah Dubai
The physical island of Palm Jumeirah, built in the shape of a Palm by developer Nakheel in 2003 is completely constructed now and consists of luxury villas, apartments and hotels.. Essentially, the Palm has a trunk (apartments), fronds (Luxury Garden and Signature Villas) and a crescent (5 star hotels).
The Palm Trunk comprises numerous palm apartments in Dubai of high quality offering fabulous views of sea, marina and gardens on both sides of the trunk road. The main apartment blocks which are already built are the “Shoreline Apartments”. These are 16 similar apartment blocks (ten storey high), which line the Palm’s trunk road. On one side of the trunk, the apartments have direct access to shops, gymnasiums, man-made beaches, restaurants and licensed bars. On the opposite side of the Palm’s trunk the views are known as ‘Garden Views’, but are not as attractive as the Shoreline and in reality is adjacent to the new monorail.
The Palm trunk road also comprises Golden Mile apartments. These are still under construction, but substantially complete. Golden Mile will offer views of the sea, marina but has no direct access to the beach. Like The Shoreline Apartments, there are many blocks that are constructed similarly on Golden Mile, and when eventually complete will provide amenities such as leisure, retail and commercial space. The Palm Monorail is now complete, runs silently and set to be operational in April 2009. The Palm Monorail runs from the entrance of the Palm, along the trunk to the Crescent. The original plans were for there to be stations at popular stopping points, the most famous being Trump Tower Dubai, and The Atlantis Hotel Dubai.
At the tip of the trunk are the Tiara and Marina Residences, which are high quality finish apartments with marina or beach views. The Tiara and Marina residence are scheduled to be complete in 2009/10 and when finished will be offered for re-sale and lettings.
Located on the Palm Crescent is The Atlantis Hotel, which is now open. The Atlantis is a fantastic 5 star hotel offering luxury accommodation and facilities to all kinds of groups of people. The Atlantis has many attractions, but probably most famous is its outdoor water park, and inside the hotel a huge aquarium. In November 2008 the Atlantis launched a Grand opening event for the whole world to see, hosting many famous celebrities, a Kylie Minogue concert, and the world most expensive fireworks display. When the Atlantis Hotel first opened, it was very busy, congested and unorganized. Now, on a recent visit, the hotel is a lot quieter and public access around the hotel is much more restricted providing a much improved experience to the hotel residents.
On each of the Palm Fronds you will find Palm villas in Dubai with their own private beach and pools. All Palm villas are unique and because of this wonderful location, command high premiums for sales prices and lettings. The Palm already has many luxury villas constructed and habited in, on each of the fronds. Of course, your will also find many Palm villas for rent.
Other high profile buildings planned or under construction on The Palm Jumeirah, include Kempinski Hotel and Residences, Fairmont Hotel and Residences and of course the QE2 which is set to be moored on the Palm.
For more information on The Palm Jumeirah please refer to the developer (Nakheel) website http://www.palmjumeirah.ae.
