Palm Islands


Palm Islands are three artificial islands, Palm Jumeirah, Deira Island and Palm Jebel Ali, on the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Creation of the islands started in 2001.

Palm Jumeirah

Palm Jumeirah is the site of private residences and hotels. From the air, the archipelago resembles a stylized palm tree within a circle. Palm Jumeirah was built in the early 21st century and was largely financed from Dubai's income from petroleum.

Environmental concerns

The construction of the Dubai Palm Islands has had a significant impact on the surrounding environment, resulting in changes to area wildlife, coastal erosion, alongshore sediment transport and wave patterns. Sediment stirred up by construction has suffocated and injured local marine fauna and reduced the amount of sunlight which filters down to seashore vegetation. Variations in alongshore sediment transport have resulted in changes in erosion patterns along the UAE coast, which has also been exacerbated by altered wave patterns as the waters of the Persian Gulf attempt to move around the new obstruction of the islands.
Dubai's megaprojects have become a favorite cause of environmentalists. Greenpeace has criticized the Palm Islands for lack of sustainability, and Mongabay.com, a site dedicated to rain forest conservation, has attacked Dubai's artificial islands aggressively, stating that:
Significant changes in the maritime environment are leaving a visual scar As a result of the dredging and redepositing of sand for the construction of the islands, the typically crystalline waters of the Persian Gulf at Dubai have become severely clouded with silt. Construction activity is damaging the marine habitat, burying coral reefs, oyster beds and subterranean fields of sea grass, threatening local marine species as well as other species dependent on them for food. Oyster beds have been covered in as much as two inches of sediment, while above the water, beaches are eroding with the disruption of natural currents.

Structural importance

Palm Jumeirah was built entirely from sand and rocks. This was done in accordance with the order of the Ruler of Dubai, who came up with the idea for the Palm Islands, as well as their design.

Construction resources involved

Installation of utilities and pipelines was very difficult and laborious.

Risk mitigation

To counteract with the waves and the constant motion of the sea, breakwaters were built all around the island. They were 3 meters high and 160 kilometers in total length. Expanded over a length of about 11.5 kilometers, the base of these breakwaters and the island itself were constantly monitored during construction process with the help of deep sea divers. The divers checked the alignment and placement of the rocks beneath the surface to ensure its stability. Shape of the island was monitored using the global positioning system.
The sand on top of the island was sprayed by a technique called rainbowing. Here the sand from the dredging ships was sprayed on to the land. The whole island was planned such that there was no stagnant water between the island and the breakwaters. In order to achieve this, small structural modifications were made to the breakwaters that surrounded the island, allowing the sea water to move through the breakers without causing any damage to the island.
To prevent erosion of the sand from the island, maintenance systems spray material along the coast of the island and also along the Dubai coast. Coastal ecology was recovered with the help of nature itself. These changes began attracting newer species of fishes and also reef formations. Every 6 weeks sea divers go down under water to check the marine life as part of their monitoring process. Precautions were also taken to prevent the process of liquifaction of the sand on the island. This process of liquifaction was caused by the movement of the rocks and sand and also underwater erosion before and after construction. A Vibro-compaction technique was used to prevent the process of liquifaction. This was carried out in order to hold the island's base together and also to make a strong foundation for further construction.

Construction effects and repercussions

The construction of the Palm islands along the coast of Dubai has caused several large environmental changes: a reduction in the area's aquatic life, erosion of the coastal soil, and irregular sediment transport along the shore. There is also a dramatic change in wave patterns along the coast of Dubai due to the rock walls constructed around the palm islands: instead of hitting the shores directly, the waves move in an unusual manner around the new obstruction. This has led to the weakening of the shores of Dubai.
The origin of most of the environmental damage stems from disturbed sediment from construction of the Palm islands. The sediment decreased the amount of sunlight filtering down to the sea vegetation and injured the surrounding marine fauna.
Environmental disturbances caused by changes in sediment and coastal erosion have attracted the attention of environmental groups such as Greenpeace.
The World Wildlife Fund announced in 2006, " UAE's human pressure on global ecosystems the highest in the world. The country is supposedly at present five times more unsustainable than any other country". It also mentioned that the construction from the start up to date had caused many visible ecological and environmental changes that were a threat to the future.

Remedial measure to protect the coast

To properly manage their shorelines and effects, Dubai relies on its coastal monitoring program. Established in 1997, the Dubai coastal monitoring program began studying the baseline bathymetric and topographic survey of the Jumeirah coastline.
Additional data were collected with technological improvements including remote video monitoring of Dubai beaches, sediment sampling and analysis, near shore directional wave and current recordings and intensive measurement exercises at selected locations using Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler equipment. This way they were able to do a constant monitor and check on the continuously changing environmental conditions along the coast of Dubai.

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