How were the Palm Islands in Dubai reclaimed?

The back bone of the islands is formed from huge amounts of rocks which were brought by ocean and road from Ras Al Khaima (Road) and Iran (Ocean). In general the rocks were huge, each the size of an average dump-truck, these were placed on the sea floor using GPS navigation and positioning.

On top of this vast amounts of sand were suctioned from the ocean floor a bit away from the island and transported to the site on huge barges. Some of the sand came from a old project (the Jebel Ali Deep water port), where sand was excavated inland to create the harbour; this sand was then dumped at sea.

Sand was then mixed with water to form a sand slurry, this was pumped on top of the rock back bone by huge pump boats. Again, GPS was utilised to ensure the outline of the island. This process took almost 5 years to complete. Palm Jumeira measures nearly 5 km long, by 5 km wide and is formed in the shape of a symbolic palm tree, this is surrounded by an outer circle known as the crescent; the crescent has a rock break water which streches from the sea floor to the top of the crescent in order to prevent tidal erosion

During construction the soil is compacted to ensure stability, in fact the island is for all intense and purpose solid with a compaction rate of 99.8%

The integrity of the islands structure is strictly regulated and owner/ residents are not permitted to make any alterations to their property (without prior permission from the civil engineers) that may impact on, damage or impare the structural integrity of the island - this includes regulating what plants can be planted in the garden, the irrigation systems and disposal of irrigation water.