A City Rising from the Sea
The award of AED 750 million in infrastructure contracts for Palm Jebel Ali marks the real start of the “Vertical” phase. The land is reclaimed. Now, the roads, power, and water must go in.
- Scale: 13.4 square kilometers.
- Coastline: 110 kilometers (vs. 70km on Palm Jumeirah).
- Structure: 16 Fronds + The Spine.
This is not a construction site; it is an archipelago. The logistics of moving men, material, and machines to the tip of “Frond P” is equivalent to a cross-country journey in terms of time and complexity.
The Precast Strategy for Island Logistics
There is one way in, one way out. The central “Spine” of the island is the main artery. Every dump truck, concrete mixer, and flatbed must use it.
Congestion is guaranteed. If you are relying on “Just-in-Time” concrete pours for your temporary works (like barrier casting), you will fail. The mixer truck will be stuck in traffic for 2 hours, and the concrete will cure in the drum.
By shifting to precast Jersey Barriers and Hoarding Bases, you remove the dependency on perishable wet concrete. You can deliver the blocks at night, stack them, and install them the next day. You decouple your safety infrastructure from the traffic chaos.
The Salt Attack from Below
Palm Jebel Ali is built on sand dredged from the sea. It is salty. When you place a concrete block on this sand, capillary action sucks the saltwater up into the concrete.
- The Result: Sulphate attack. The concrete expands, cracks, and the steel rusts.
- The Fix: SRC (Sulphate Resisting Cement) and high-density mix designs.
We learned this lesson on Palm Jumeirah 20 years ago. We supplied the original barriers there. We know that standard terrestrial concrete doesn’t survive in a marine reclamation environment. Our mix designs for this project are specific: low water-cement ratio, high cement content, and full SRC usage.
Frond-Tip Logistics
Delivering to the tip of a frond is a specific skill. The roads are narrow (often just temporary tracks). Turning circles for 40-foot flatbeds are non-existent.
You need a supplier with a fleet of rigid trucks with mounted cranes (Hiabs). A standard flatbed needs a separate crane to unload. If the crane is late, the truck waits. Our fleet is self-sufficient. We drive to the frond tip, offload ourselves, and leave. No crane coordination required. This “self-unloading” capability is a game-changer on a site where crane availability is the #1 bottleneck.
| Logistics Challenge | Standard Supplier | Our Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic Jams | Stuck in day traffic | Night Shift Deliveries |
| Unloading | Waits for site crane | Self-Unloading Hiab Trucks |
| Salt Corrosion | Standard Mix (OPC) | Marine Mix (SRC) |
| Volume Surges | Limited Stock | Dedicated Island Stockpile |
Protecting the Shoreline
The environmental regulations on Palm Jebel Ali are strict. You cannot have construction debris washing into the sea. The perimeter hoarding along the water’s edge is the last line of defense. It must be:
- Stable: High wind loads coming off the Gulf.
- Gap-Free: Preventing plastic wrappers and foam from blowing into the water.
Our Hoarding Blocks allow for a seamless fence line that acts as a true containment bund. We protect the ocean, which protects your environmental compliance score.
A City, Not a Site
The Palm Jebel Ali is the most ambitious marine project of the decade. It will be the address for billionaires.
When the prospective buyers drive down the frond to view their plots, will they see a professional, organized site, or a rusted, crumbling mess?
