Palm Jumeirah is one of the largest man-made islands of the world and one of the major attractions in the UAE. Hailed by many as the eighth wonder of the world, the palm-shaped Island is famous for its unique architecture and brilliant feats of advanced engineering .
This ambitious project stretches five and a half kilometres into the Arabic Gulf. It is an archipelago of Islands that are home to numerous luxury apartments, hotels, resorts, spas, water parks and attractions. Let’s go through some more interesting Palm Jumeirah facts in detail.
Historical Facts about Palm Jumeirah
Hundreds of feasibility studies were carried out by experts, architects and qualified engineers before initiating the Palm Jumeirah project.
Finally, Nakheel – a local real estate company, started-off with the development of Palm Jumeirah in 2001. Following are some more historical Palm Jumeirah facts:
Infrastructure Facts about Palm Jumeirah
The basic infrastructure of the island was developed by 2004, and it was open for construction by 2006.
Fast forward a year, in 2007, the artificial coastal island met its first occupants. By this time, almost 75% of the properties pinned on Palm Jumeirah were handed over to the owners.
Andrew Dukes was the first resident in one of the 100 luxurious mansions that were handed over in the year 2007.
By the end of the year, 500 families were residing in Palm Jumeirah. Later on, in 2009, a total of 28 hotels opened on the Crescent, making this spot ideal for tourists. More than 12,000 trees were grown in a nursery to plant in Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah.
Construction Facts about Palm Jumeirah
Palm Jumeirah is built through land reclamation. It is made only with rocks and sand. No steel or concrete was used during the development of this island.
Other than the usual construction machinery, Nakheel brought in 15 dumpers, 4 dredgers, 9 barges, 10 cranes and 30 heavy land base machines for Palm Jumeirah’s construction. The unique structure of this island is made up of a massive 120 million cubic metres of sand, brought from the seabed into construction. The base of the island was created with 7 million tons of rocks obtained from the Hajar Mountains.
Palm Jumeirah’s construction started by dredging up around 9.4 million cubic metres of sand. This added about 50 miles to the coastline, dredged from the Persian Gulf.
Safety Facts about Palm Jumeirah
What protects the island from storms and tides is the 11.5 km crescent-shaped breakwater. This is about seven miles long, with 5.5 million cubic metres of rock, each weighing about 6 tons.
Moreover, to allow easy circulation of water and protect water stagnation a 100-metre wide opening was added to both the sides of the crescent. The crescent now hosts many lavish Palm Jumeirah hotels including Atlantis The Palm and Waldorf Astoria.
Architecture Facts about Palm Jumeirah
Architects planned breakwaters in a manner to shield the island. A mixture of Geotextile fibre and sand with small and medium sized rocks were used to make the breakwater.
The sand was anti-erosion treated and laid along the foundation of rock. This base or shield protects the island from high tides and minimises water degradation. The Global Positioning System (GPS) was used for the precise planting of the 16-frond palm tree structure. This satellite technology helped locate exact points in the sea where the sand was to be sprayed.
A number of underwater divers were sent to examine the stability of the rock foundation.
An underground 6-lane bridge, referred to as Palm Jumeirah tunnel connects the crescent and trunk of The Palm. The Palm Jumeirah tunnel was constructed using 200,00 cubic metres of reinforced concrete, 110,00 tons of rocks and 30,000 tons of reinforcing steel. The 6-lane bridge connects the trunk to the crescent, 25-metre below sea level.
Naturally, islands are not connected to the coastline, but Palm Jumeirah is connected to mainland Dubai via a 1.4 km bridge.
Cost of building Palm Jumeirah
The total cost to build this iconic island was $ 12 billion. This cost does not include resorts and dwellings.
Public Transportations Facts about Palm Jumeirah
Usually people who don’t have personal vehicles or tourists rely on public transportation. Keeping this in mind several modes of public transport are available to reach and get around Palm Jumeirah. These include the Monorail, Dubai Metro, trams and buses.
To keep a check on the several modes available we advise to install and use the RTA application.
Palm Jumeirah Monorail
Opened in 2009, The Palm Jumeirah Monorail was the Middle East’s first monorail that connected Palm Jumeirah to Dubai. The monorail is driverless and connects the Atlantis hotel, Palm Jumeirah to the Gateway station pinned at Palm’s entrance. It takes around 10 minutes to travel from Atlantis to the Gateway. As for emergencies on the monorail, the train has attendants for catering any kind of on-the-spot emergencies.
From a unique vantage paint, the Palm monorail offers people a chance to view the picturesque man-made island.
Palm Monorail Timings: The train commutes 7 days a week, every 15 mins, the first train leaves at 09:00 am and the last train leaves at 09:45 pm from the Palm Gateway Station while the last train leaves at 10:00 pm from The Atlantis Station.
Ticket Price: Kids and individuals under 110 cm can travel without a ticket. Please note that a Nol card cannot be used to make payment for the monorail. A one-way ticket from Palm Gateway to Al Ittihad Park costs AED 10 and a round trip costs AED 15.
Then, the price for a single trip ticket to Nakheel Mall is AED 10 and a round trip costs AED 12. Moreover, a one-way Palm monorail ticket from Palm Gateway to Atlantis Aquaventure is for AED 20 while the price for a two-way or round trip is AED 30.
Palm Monorail Stations: At present, three operational stations include Al Ittihad Park Station, the Atlantis Aquaventure Station, The Nakheel Mall Station and the Palm Gateway Station. he Pointe Station is scheduled to open soon.
Palm Jumeirah Metro
At present, there is no Metro Station in Palm Jumeirah. That said, the Dubai Internet City and Nakheel metro stations are near Palm Jumeirah. You can reach these stations and then take a taxi to get to Palm Jumeirah. For more details on public transport in and near the island, go through our comprehensive guide about public transport in Palm Jumeirah.
Other Interesting Palm Jumeirah Facts
Did you know that Palm Jumeirah is the only man-made island that is visible from space? Here are few more interesting Palm Jumeirah facts:
- Palm Jumeirah Island is a part of a three-island project including two more islands: Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira. That said, the work for both these islands stopped due to financial constraints. Prime Jebel Ali was supposed to be bigger than Palm Jumeirah.
- The island is an archipelago of islands connected by tunnels and bridges
- Palm Jumeirah actually covers a massive area of 5.72 sq. km. – this is equal to 600 football pitches.
- Technically, Palm Jumeirah cannot be termed as an island. Case in point: an island is a land surrounded by water, detached from land, but Palm Jumeirah is connected to Dubai by a 1.4 km bridge.
- Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan owns a mansion in Palm Jumeirah
- Famous football player David Beckham also owns a mansion in Palm Jumeirah
- Palm Jumeirah is home to the Pointe – this is among the biggest water fountains in Dubai
- Palm Jumeirah is also home to shopping malls including The Atlantis Mall, Nakheel Mall and Golden Mile Galleria shopping mall
Those were some interesting Palm Jumeirah facts.
If you wish to live on rent in the properties on this island, you are in luck because there are apartments for rent in Palm Jumeirah. Moreover, if you wish to own a luxurious property in the flagship project, browse through these apartments for sale in Palm Jumeirah.
If you liked what you read, stay tuned for more.
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