Ocean's twelve

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(ITP/Dmitry Dolzhanskiy).

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The giant gantry crane took two months to assemble. (ITP/Dmitry Dolzhanskiy)

Palm Jebel Ali's reclamation work is almost complete – a true feat considering the project has doubled in size since its conception. Features editor Shikha Mishra and photographer Dmitry Dolzhanskiy take a look.

Thanks to Palm Jebel Ali, its project director Ali Mansour "lost his hair and didn't get married." That statement might have been made by Mansour in jest, but he has been living and breathing the island project to the exclusion of everything else for the past six years.

And his efforts have paid off - as the island nears completion, it is now double the size of Palm Jumeirah, with more to offer in terms of development and facilities.

Concerns have been raised about the fact that the design for Palm Jebel Ali has been revised numerous times, which might push back its completion date.

But this is Dubai we are talking about and altering the usually set-in-stone master plan is de rigueur for many projects. The Palm Jebel Ali is no exception.

Holding the current master plan in hand, Mansour says that he is uncertain about the number of modifications to come.

But one thing is guaranteed - as the size of the project has doubled - the Palm Jebel Ali on completion will deliver 12 million km² of development land compared to the six million km² that was originally planned when work on the project began in 2002.

Most of the extension work is concentrated around the fronds and the crown area.

"The distance between the frond tips and the crown was very wide at 1500m compared to the Palm Jumeirah where the same distance is 500m, so it was decided after doing a feasibility study to extend the fronds," says Mansour.

Changes to the project's specifications and land use were also made because of competition faced by forthcoming developments in neighbouring Abu Dhabi. The Dubai Waterfront project was also announced three years after work began on Palm Jebel Ali.

Palm Jebel Ali will be connected to the mainland by three bridges, M1, M2 and M3. The M1 bridge will be 1,200m long, with four lanes on both sides. Piling work for the bridge has been completed.

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