Updated: October 12, 2024

Dubai may have the world’s tallest building, the world’s largest indoor theme park, and the world’s first rotating skyscraper on the way, but the city’s man-made archipelagos, which are all in various stages of completion: Palm Jumeirah, Deira Islands, Palm Jebel Ali, The World island, and Bluewaters Island, are the very impressive. Some of the world’s largest artificial islands are being built off the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, is the brains behind these massive projects aimed at boosting tourism and expanding Dubai’s coastline.
In today’s video, we’ll talk about how Dubai’s artificial islands were constructed.

So, how did the islands come to be? The process of dredging sand from the Persian and Arabian Gulf floors is known as land reclamation. The sand was then sprayed and “vibro-compacted” into shape, using GPS technology for precision, and protected by millions of tons of rock.
The United Arab Emirates’ most populous city and emirate is Dubai. The islands were built to create more coastal real estate because the city is a popular destination for wealthy tourists. In 2001, work on the Palm Islands began. Divers surveyed the seabed, and workers used blasted mountain rock to build a crescent-shaped breakwater. At its deepest point, the Crescent of Palm Jumeirah stands a little more than 13 feet above low tide sea level and sits in 34 feet of water.

The lowest layer of the breakwater is sand, which is covered by an erosion-resistant, water-permeable geo-textile. The sand is covered by one-ton rocks, and the structure is capped by two layers of large rocks weighing up to six tons each. A floating crane has placed a “toe” inside the Crescent. The breakwater also has two 328-foot openings on each side to keep the 16 narrow, deep channels from becoming stagnant. Every 13 days, these gaps allow water to circulate completely.

The Palm Islands are made of sand that has been dredged from the seabed and transported from the Persian Gulf. The Palm Jumeirah is made up of 3.2 billion cubic feet of ocean sand that has been vibro-compressed into place. Vibro-compaction involves saturating loose sand with water jets and vibrating it with probes to increase its density. When water is added to desert sand, it tends to liquefy, so it couldn’t be used for this project. Designers and contractors used Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS) to plot the palms and ensure the sand placement was within 0.39 of an inch to get the complex shape just right.

During the construction of the island, workers lived on the “fronds” and in anchored cruise ships. According to some sources, the islands are sinking into the sea, but Nakheel denies this. Environmentalists have also claimed that the islands’ construction has harmed the marine environment in the area. They objected to the project, claiming that rocks and sand buried oyster beds and coral reefs, and that changing currents eroded the mainland shore.

The Palm Jumeirah is currently crammed with villas, hotels, and attractions. According to BusinessInsider, hotels are built on the palm’s “trunk,” while homes are built on the “fronds.” Long-term residents, vacationers, and real estate speculators make up the majority of buyers. Palm Jumeirah is home to around 80,000 people, with a capacity of 120,000, and is a popular tourist destination.

A six-lane sub-sea tunnel connects Palm Jumeirah to the mainland to facilitate tourism and make life easier for residents. Before rereleasing the water, workers used a dam to drain the area and excavate the seabed. The only public transportation option on the island is a monorail that runs the length of the palm. It opened in 2009.

On the Palm Jumeirah, new resorts are still opening, and developers are financing and building luxury apartments. In 2021, an observation deck on the 52nd floor of The Palm Tower opened, giving visitors a bird’s-eye view of the entire island. And sprawling villas fetch astronomically high prices [source: Hosseini]. Despite the failures of other islands off the coast of Dubai, Palm Jumeirah has become a popular destination for those seeking luxury and leisure.

Let’s take a closer look at the Palm Jumeirah and Palm Jebel Ali islands.

Palm Jumeirah is the most well-known of the bunch, with a trunk and 17 fronds shaped like a palm tree and surrounded by an almost 7-mile-long crescent-shaped island that is home to Atlantis, The Palm (just one of many luxury hotels and resorts that dot the archipelago). Nakheel Properties initiated the project in 2001, and it resulted in the addition of 40 miles of much-needed beaches.