Venice in Dubai

Coming up with a list of things that Dubai has not yet attempted - at least when it comes to construction - might prove quite a feat. From constructing the world's tallest building, the world's largest snowdome, an airport that could become the world's largest aviation facility, the largest man-made island and even the world's largest car park, Dubai has been there, announced that. Now there's a canal, and not just any.

Aside from the staggering US$11bn tag price on the Arabian Canal, its developers promise it will be the largest and most complex work of engineering in the Middle East since the construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt in 1859.

"The Arabian Canal will create life in the desert," says Saeed Ahmed Saeed, CEO of Limitless, the company developing the canal, adding: "It is Dubai's most ambitious mega-project to date, and is the biggest, most complicated civil engineering project ever undertaken in this region.

Development manager Ian Raine seconds Saeed's opinion, saying: "We've got lots of offshore projects with a lot of reclamations being done offshore, but this is actually the first project of its kind where we are bringing the water into the desert to create a development in the desert. That will make it unique.

Raine can say that again. The canal's significance mainly boils down to the fact that space for waterfront developments in the emirate is running out and this project holds the solution. Further man-made islands have also become a challenge as it has been proving increasingly difficult to dredge sufficient sand for their development.

The canal, which will be 150 metres wide and six metres deep, will require digging and moving more than one million cubic metres of earth, enough to fill 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day for a period of three years. Upon completion, three years from now, it will be able to accommodate vessels of up to 40 metres long. The 75km canal will flow inland from Dubai Waterfront, running past east of the new Dubai World Central International Airport prior to making a turn back towards Palm Jumeirah. Many different projects will benefit from the canal running right through.

"The canal passes through a number of different development areas - it passes through Dubai waterfront, which is a Nakheel development, through Dubai Industrial City which is a Dubai Holding development, through Jumeirah Golf Estates which is a Leisurecorp development," explains Raine.

Moreover, Limitless, a development arm of Dubai World, is splashing US$50bn on its largest mixed-use development as part of the Arabian Canal. The development will take up to 20,000 hectares and stretch 33km along the inland section of the canal. The project will include residential, commercial and business units. Raine believes it will be exceptional.

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