Keynote 3: Land reclamation and beach nourishment - The Dubai experience
Type:
Presented during:
CEDA Dredging Days 2007 - The Day After we Stop Dredging, Rotterdam
Authors:
Gary Patrick Mocke, Dubai Municipality, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Abstract: The coastline of Dubai has undergone rapid transformation over the last 20 years due to significant infrastructural development along its shores. The scale and nature of such developments has increased markedly in the last 5 years, with the reclamation of a number of massive offshore island projects. Such mega reclamation developments (MRD's) have responded to a major thrust of the Dubai strategic development plan whereby the Emirate seeks to diversify away from oil based revenues to become the business, financial and tourism hub of the middle east. With a total reclaimed land area exceeding 15,000 Ha and the creation of some 1400km of water frontage, much of it sandy beaches, the mega developments will add massively to the natural Dubai coastline of around 72km in length. Given the unprecedented massive total reclamation volumes of some 2.1 billion m3 and tight time lines for project completion it has been demonstrated that a marine based dredging and reclamation operation was the only feasible means of achieving required sand fill placement rates. The alternative of land sourced and transported reclamation fill has been demonstrated to be wholly impractical, both in terms of operational delivery rates and consideration of traffic congestion and safety issues. These massive and rapid reclamation works, however, do not come without their challenges and associated impacts. In some areas the progressive wave shadow zone cast by the development footprints has resulted in beach erosion and re-orientation and loss of environmental and amenity value. There has also been a disturbance and loss of natural marine habitat due to the sand sourcing and reclamation fill operations. At the same time previously exposed areas of the coast have benefited from the wave shelter provided against storm Shamal events and such structures have been found to offer increased areas of new marine habitats.
Keywords: Dubai, mega reclamations, Palm islands, beach management, impacts