Canal to set new benchmark

Dubai: Limitless, the global development arm of Dubai World, has described its Arabian Canal project as the Middle East's biggest civil engineering project and Dubai's most ambitious mega-project.

Work on the 75 kilometre man-made canal will involve digging and moving more than a million cubic metres of earth - enough to fill 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day.

The $11 billion project - on show at Cityscape Dubai next week - 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 three years to complete, with work due to start in December this year.

"The project will create life in the desert," said Saeed Ahmad Saeed, chief executive officer of Limitless, which will manage the design and construction of the Arabian Canal.

Limitless will also master-plan its biggest mixed-use development yet as part of the Arabian Canal project.

The $50 billion waterfront development will span 20,000 hectares and stretch 33 kilometres along the inland section of the waterway, east of the new international airport.

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.

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

Work on the development is expected to start towards the end of 2008, and will be completed over a 15-year period.

The company did not reveal how it will finance the project.

Ian Raine, development manager of Arabian Canal, told Gulf News the project aims to extend the boundaries of Dubai city, turning arid terrain into a thriving community.

It's just amazing how people with vision can transform a desert into the most valuable piece of land. Bravo.
Name withheld
Toronto,Canada
Posted: October 10, 2007, 10:03

Give a break to Dubai. This is too much now. Why can't they wait until other projects are finished. I think Dubai is good to be known as "Construction City"
Hassan
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: October 10, 2007, 09:48