Even though just 14 per cent of construction on the Palm-shaped Islands has been completed, the outline is startling to glisten in the Arabian Gulf.
“What is really coming to light now is that the structure is taking shape and visibly rising,” Jim Boocher, president of project developer Kerzner Development, told the Gulf News.
“When we open, visitors will be awed by what they see.”
To illustrate the scale of the operation, Bahamas-based Kerzner has put together a project which would dwarf the building of the Pyramides.
Around 16 tower cranes are in place, Phase I of the resort’s 2,000 piles and associated foundation works have been completed and the concrete superstructure of the main Royal Tower Hotel and Entert-ainment Village is rising from the sand.
The massive concrete structure for the Ambassador Tank lagoon has also been finished.
In the building frenzy, nearly 6,500 labourers will be at work on the site during peak hours, Gulf News revealed.
The Dubai development is the second Atlantis project launched by Kerzner ﾖ the Paradise Island complex was the first ﾖ and is a 50-50 joint venture with Istithmar PJSC, a subsidiary of Dubai Gover-nment’s Port, Customs and Free Zone Corporation.
When the Phase I is finished in 2008, it will house 65,000 marine animals and 1,539 hotel guests, according to the Gulf News report.
It will also feature an underwater maze, 42 acres of water parks and a series of shops and convention facilities.
Kerzner will then decide the shape and theme of a planned Phase II and Phase III of the project. Early indications suggest condominiums and apartments will be added along with increased hotel space and an expanded water-park.
One of the biggest chall-enges for Kerzner has been the sheer size of the logistical problems.
Project Developer, President Boocher, told the Gulf News that the company is using a million cubic metres of imported fill to build up the land to a maximum of 12 metres above sea level on the Palm-shaped islands.
The Nassau Guardian
