EXCLUSIVE: Van Oord wraps up Palm Jumeirah maintenance work

Following the construction of Palm Jumeirah, in Dubai, UAE, that started in 2001, Van Oord has now successfully completed the first major maintenance works on the Palm’s trunk, 16 palm leaves and crescent. The beaches have been restored and shaped with quality sand.

In the past decades, erosion caused the beaches to decline.

Project developer Nakheel contracted Van Oord to raise and shape the beaches on the Palm over a length of 55 kilometres by half a metre and to create three shore protection structures, so called groynes, to reduce erosion.

Van Oord deployed trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Volvox Olympia to restore the beaches.

In total, the vessel applied approximately 1.8 million cubic metres of sand.

To get the right quality of refined sand suitable for the beaches, a special sieve was designed inhouse to enable the vessel to sift the dredged sand, said Van Oord.