Photo: United Development Company

400 new hectares of man-made islands 

A large man-made island project, The Pearl - Qatar, is under construction in Doha based on detailed design prepared by COWI. It is one of several other exclusive land development projects in the region.
The new man-made island, The Pearl - Qatar, situated in the Arabian Gulf, will include luxury apartments and exclusive villas for about 30,000 inhabitants as well as hotels, tourist attractions, marinas, and access to wide open beaches.

The first phase of the project involves reclamation works for the 400 hectares new island requiring approximately 13.5 million m3 of fill and associated sea defence structures for the 40 km of new shoreline. Marinas are an important feature of Pearl Qatar, and COWI is presently designing three marinas with a total capacity of about 700 yachts. The largest luxury yachts to be accommodated in the marinas have lengths up to 60 m.

"An import aspect of this type of projects is to assess the environmental impact based on field surveys and numerical modelling of flow and wave conditions. A special point of interest is the flushing of canals and coves to ensure proper water quality," says Jørgen Juhl, Section Manager.

Multidisciplinary services

The rendered services are multidisciplinary with focus on planning and design of marine works consisting of dredging, reclamation and shore protection.

"In all projects, we cooperate closely with our clients and other stakeholders to develop master plans that compliment natural processes and meet viability requirements of projects. In-house numerical modelling of flows and waves is an integral part of our engineering services," says Jørgen Juhl.
Photo: United Development Company
Illustration of the Pearl-Qatar project.


Several other projects

Design of an even larger land development project is being undertaken in Qatar. The COWI services consist of bathymetric and topographic surveys, geotechnical site investigations, master planning, environmental impact assessment (EIA), design, and preparation of tender and contract documents.

And in Dubai, COWI is involved in the geometrical design of The World consisting of 300 islands in the shape of continents. The exclusive man-made islands are located off the coast of Dubai and will require reclamation with 300 million m3 of sand.

Assistance within marine engineering is also rendered to other real estate development projects in Dubai and covers large projects like the three Palm Islands and Dubai Waterfront.

Finally, COWI is involved in the planning and design of luxurious man-made island projects in Bahrain, Oman and Abu Dhabi.

Edited by Line Steenberg, jaje@cowi.com
Published 19.12.2005