The dredging company Jan De Nul wins a 200 million euro contract to complete a prestigious palm island in Dubai: “megalomaniac delusions of grandeur”

The project, Palm Jebel Ali, will be a man-made island in the shape of a palm tree. Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, already has one, but construction of a second, larger palm island was halted in 2008 due to the global financial crisis.

Now Dubai is building the thread of the project, and its structure is already visible. Over the next two years, Jan De Nul will be dredging, sandblasting and building beaches so that construction can be done on the coastal island. The first eight of the sixteen palm fronds should be ready for construction in the first quarter of 2025, the press release says.

The island will extend over 13.4 square kilometers, with a total of 91 kilometers of beach. Among other things, 80 hotels and resorts will be built on it.