$11bn Arabian Canal underway

by Jeni Bone on 17 Dec 2008 The Arabian Canal, a US$11 billion project, is underway in Dubai, managed and designed by Limitless. When completed, it will be the largest, most complex civil engineering project ever undertaken in the Middle East.

The project involves creating a 75km man-made waterway which will flow inland from Dubai Waterfront, passing to the east of the new Dubai World Central International Airport before turning back towards Palm Jumeirah.

Up to 150 metres wide and six metres deep, it will be able to accommodate boats up to 40 metres long. The project will take around five years to complete.

Australian consultant, Joe Goddard, who operates his company, GoMarine in the Gulf, has been retained by Limitless to conduct feasibility studies for five marina facilities along the canal. He has already submitted plans for two and on his most recent visit to the region last month, he began analysis on the subsequent three, designed to accommodate approximately 1000 boats.

According to Goddard, the Arabian Canal and other waterfront developments are the start of infrastructure that will mean the Middle East will rival and eventually surpass international marine hubs, including Australia.

'It’s no longer an ‘emerging market’,' he reports. 'The Middle East has the potential to eventually eclipse traditional boating centres. The professionals there are learning so fast and are dedicated to learning how to operate successfully. They are determined to grow this segment.

'There is an appetite for a better standard across the board, which is why they are outsourcing experts from around the globe. The only thing holding them back is the local market’s comparatively slow take up of boating. As yet, the local people don’t have the boating culture or knowledge, but they are picking it up with enthusiasm.'

Pilot excavation work on the US$11 billion project has left a giant hole which, at 700 metres long, 200 metres wide and up to 45 metres deep, is big enough to hold nearly 20 A380 Airbuses or eight of the world’s largest cruise ships.
Excavated earth – amounting to one billion cubic metres – will be used to form new landscapes along the canal, including mountains up to 200 metres high, providing views of the waterway and creating new land on which to build hillside villages.

Saeed Ahmed Saeed, Chief Executive Officer of Limitless, said: 'Arabian Canal, Dubai’s most ambitious mega-project yet, draws on our key strengths of innovative engineering and master planning distinctive developments. It will involve digging and moving more than a million cubic metres of earth – enough to fill 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools – every day. Arabian Canal will, without question, be one of the wonders of the engineering world.

'The project will create life in the desert. It will be a globally-recognised landmark destination for UAE residents and visitors, with public spaces for leisure and community events as well as a number of mixed-use developments, in addition to the waterway itself,' he added.

Limitless will also master plan its biggest mixed-use development yet as part of the Arabian Canal project. The US$50 billion waterfront development will span 12,500 along the inland section of the waterway, east of the new international airport. The 12,500 hectare waterfront city for 2.5 million people, will be built along the 30 kilometre inland stretch of the canal.

The project is designed to be a focal point for Dubai’s cultural attractions and community events. It will include marinas, residential communities and business centres serving over a million people.

Saeed Ahmed Saeed said: 'The master plan for our canalside development bears all the hallmarks of a classic Limitless project. Balanced, sustainable and planned around people, it includes green, open spaces and distinctive residential, commercial, retail and recreational components.'

The development will be constructed in phases over a 15 year period.

More at www.limitless.ae