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Reddy Kancharla is a huge follower of great works of engineering. He then shares his knowledge through a series of blogs, which his readers truly enjoy. In this entry, he features Dubai’s Palm Islands, yet another brilliant feat of civil engineering.
Dubai’s Palm Islands are widely considered as an engineering marvel. Created from land reclamation, the entire body of land is man-made. Many people still cannot fathom how it is possible to create a stable platform on the sea.
The simple explanation is that sand, which is located deep down on the sea bed, is sucked up and brought upwards. This results in a mound that sits above the level of the sea, which is stable enough for structures to be supported by it.
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Technically, the method used is called dredging, a way to remove silt and other materials from a water environment. Before construction in Dubai began, dredging ships dragged large amounts of sand from the bottom of the sea to create Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, and Palm Deira. All of the sand needed for construction was taken from the bottom of the Persian Gulf.
The good news is that there are even more planned reclamations by the authorities in Dubai in the years to come, and the whole world is looking forward to seeing them.
When an area in the sea is reclaimed, this creates a very solid platform for structures to be built on. However, Dubai took this to a whole new level. Viewed from the sky, the islands take the spectacular shape of a palm tree, which is a work of art and engineering you won’t see anywhere else.
Reddy Kancharla is a civil engineer who features the greatest models of engineering in the history of man. For more interesting blogs, visit this page.