- [Narrator] Dubai, an Emirate in the United Arab Emirates,
has transformed itself
from a small trading port into an international hub,
playing host to some of the world's most iconic structures.
The wealth generated from Dubai's rich oil resources
has allowed the country's rulers
to create a city known for being one
of the world's hottest tourist destinations,
with its impressive skyline, luxury resorts,
and endless shopping malls.
Dubai is one location
that should be on everyone's bucket list.
What put Dubai on the map?
Dubai has experienced incredible development
over the last 50 years.
The Dubai World Trade Center and Jebel Ali Port
were some early projects that set Dubai on its path.
In more recent years,
the country's leaders have demonstrated great vision
by taking on ambitious engineering feats,
the likes of which have never been seen.
Dubai is now home to the Burj Khalifa,
the world's tallest building,
and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel,
the world's only seven-star hotel.
But Dubai's most ambitious group of projects to date
has been the construction of Dubai's Palm Islands,
a group of man-made islands
that have attracted the entire world's attention.
The islands have transformed
Dubai's cream-colored coastline
into a work of art.
While the islands are famous for their beauty,
the engineering and manpower
that brought these islands into creation
is truly spectacular.
The Palm Islands are the brainchild of Dubai's leader,
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
who first envisaged the project to turn Dubai
into one of the world's leading tourist destinations
by developing a mesmerizing coastline
full of luxury real estate,
hotels, resorts, and commercial centers.
The islands were developed by Nakheel,
a government-owned real estate company.
Work began on the islands in 2001
with the construction of the most famous of the islands,
the Palm Jumeirah.
From the air,
the Palm Jumeirah resembles a palm tree inside a circle,
stretches 280 meters out to sea
and is connected to the mainland by a bridge.
The parts of the island
include the trunk, spine, fronds, and a crescent,
each of which is a stand-alone island
connected by a bridge, underground tunnel,
and a monorail used for public transportation.
Work was completed on the island in 2006,
and the island is now home to thousands of residents,
luxury resorts, and the world-famous Burj Al Arab hotel.
The other offshore islands include the Palm Deira,
Palm Jebel Ali, World Island, and Blue Waters Island.
Due to the international economy,
work halted on Palm Deira, Palm Jebel Ali, and World Island.
Blue Waters Island, however, was completed in 2018
and is home to the Ain Dubai Ferris Wheel,
which is the world's largest,
standing at 230 meters tall.
How to build an island in the sea?
The process used to build the islands
is known as land reclamation,
where sand is dredged from the seafloor
and pumped into its new location.
A build-up of sand will form, creating an island structure.
As simple as this sounds,
in reality, many engineering challenges had to be overcome
to ensure that the islands were constructed
according to the developer's plans.
Building a breakwater.
The first major issue that engineers had to address
was how to protect the islands
from beach erosion and strong currents,
which have the potential to destroy the islands.
To offer the island sufficient protection,
engineers utilize a breakwater.
A breakwater is an island
constructed to encircle the interior islands,
known as the crescent.
This protects the islands from longshore currents
reducing the risk of beach erosion
and provides a barrier between the islands
and sea currents and freak waves.
The first step of this process
is to build up the seafloor with sand.
Dredgers pick up sand from the sea bed nearby
and drop it into the location.
To keep it in place,
barge loads of rubble are dumped on the sand,
raising the breakwater from four meters below sea level
to three meters above.
The outer layer of the breakwaters
is made of large boulders,
each weighing six tonnes
and is designed with sloping layers
to minimize the force of the waves
as they hit the breakwater.
Sourcing the sand and the rocks.
The engineers' second major challenge
was where to source the sand and rock from.
You may think Dubai, located in a desert,
would have an ample supply of sand.
However, desert sand is unsuitable for sea construction
because it liquefies easily.
Engineers decided to dredge sand
from the sea bed nearby in the Persian Gulf,
which offers good compaction and strength,
both vital for the project's success.
The rock was sourced from 16 quarries across the UAE,
and when put in place,
experienced divers inspected the stability
of the rock formations beneath the water.
It took 84 million cubic meters of sand
and 7 million tonnes of rock to complete the Palm Jumeirah,
an enormous amount of raw material.
Positioning the islands.
Building a structure of this size also presents challenges
of knowing where to place the sand and rocks.
The perimeter of the islands is mainly curved.
Therefore, ensuring that the correct shape is constructed
is of paramount importance.
Engineers used advanced GPS technology
to precisely ensure that the sand and rock were positioned.
A team would walk the island's perimeter every day,
tracking the height and position of the islands,
where mobile receivers would send a signal to a satellite
and a fixed position on land.
This allowed engineers to monitor
whether they were on track or not continuously
and make adjustments as the project progressed.
The breakwater and interior islands
advanced at the same time.
Due to the breakwater encircling the interior islands,
it would not be easy to gain access to
and deliver raw materials for the interior islands
if it were completed first.
However, if the interior islands
were constructed before the breakwater,
they would not have the necessary protection
from currents and waves.
Therefore, GPS tracking played an essential role
in ensuring synchronicity
between the breakwater and island construction teams.
Ready to build on.
When the breakwater and island construction were complete,
the engineering teams turned their attention
to building the island's infrastructure and buildings.
The sand that forms the islands' base
was sprayed into place,
meaning it is loose
and does not offer a good base to build on.
Engineers also had to consider
that Dubai is located on the edge
of a major earthquake zone,
and the risk of the sand liquefying in an earthquake
is a very real danger.
To prevent liquefaction,
the sand must be compacted to 12 meters deep.
The process used to compact the sand is vitro-compaction,
where probes drill holes into the ground
across the island's surface.
High-pressure water and air
drive each probe into the ground.
The probes are then vibrated,
causing the surrounding earth to compact,
and as the land sinks,
more sand is pumped to maintain its height
until the ground is rock solid.
Building begins.
In March 2004,
two and a half years into the Palm Jumeirah project,
the engineering team was ready
to begin constructing what would become
one of the world's most iconic tourist destinations.
The infrastructure will play a vital role
in day-to-day life on the island
and includes the construction of local bridges,
drainage and sewage systems,
water supply, gas networks,
telecommunications, electrical supply,
roads, streets, and port facilities.
At the height of the construction of Palm Jumeirah,
850 buses transported 40,000 workers
on and off the island on two 12-hour shifts.
These workers would go on to construct the homes, resorts,
luxury hotels, and commercial properties
that make up the island today.
Environmental concerns.
Early in the construction of the Palm Islands,
it was determined that there was a risk of algae growth
and the water becoming stagnant
due to the interior islands
being entirely encircled by the breakwater.
The lack of fresh water
flowing into the channels around the fronds
was the source of this problem.
Engineers then decided to create
several openings in the breakwater
to allow the water to circulate more effectively
without compromising the protection
provided by the breakwater.
Building such a large structure in the middle of the sea
raised other environmental concerns.
Environmentalists stated that the island's construction
would negatively impact the area's marine environment
and risk burying oyster beds and coral reefs.
Another impact is how the altered currents
would affect the shoreline of the mainland,
and studies have shown
that tides have increased the rate of erosion.
Despite these setbacks and concerns,
the island's developer did not give up on the project
and took steps to replenish coral reefs
and work to minimize the erosion of Dubai's coastline.
Dubai's Palm Islands are engineering masterpieces
that have helped transform what was once a small town
into an international hub of luxury, travel, and business.
With more exciting projects on the horizon,
such as the world's first rotation skyscraper,
it is unlikely that Dubai will lose its position
as one of the world's tourist hotspots any time soon.
If you enjoyed this video,
make sure to watch our video on "Dubai's Top Megaprojects."
Thanks for watching.
We'll see you next time.
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