In one of the most astonishing civil engineering works, Dubai has again started an attempt to re define the civil engineering wonders.The three artificial islands that make up the Palm (comprising the Palm Jumeirah, the Palm Jebel Ali, and the Palm Deira) are the world’s biggest man-made islands.More than 1 billion cubic meters of dredged sand and stones are used to built each of these.The reclamation project of the Palm Jebel Ali includes the creation of a 4 km long peninsula, protected by a 200 m wide and 17 km long breakwater built around the island. 135,000,000 m³ of rock, sand and limestone were reclaimed (partly originating from the Jebel Ali Entrance Channel dredging works). There are approximately 5,000,000 m³ of rocks in the slope protection works.

Some Images of the Man Made Island :-

The Burj Al Arab is one of the world’s most luxurious hotels and is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Burj Al Arab is managed by the Jumeirah Group and built by Said Khalil. Burj Al Arab’s stands at a height of 333m. The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 metres (919 ft) out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge.

The construction of Burj Al Arab began in 1994. It was built to resemble the sail of a dhow, a type of Arabian vessel. Two “wings” spread in a V to form a vast “mast”, while the space between them is enclosed in a massive atrium. Architect Tom Wright said “The client wanted a building that would become an iconic or symbolic statement for Dubai; this is very similar to Sydney with its Opera House, or Paris with the Eiffel Tower. It needed to be a building that would become synonymous with the name of the country.” The architect and engineering consultant for the project was Atkins, the UK’s largest multidisciplinary consultancy. The hotel was built by South African construction contractor Murray & Roberts. The hotel cost $650 million to build.

The foundation used in this hotel is Pile Foundation and a total of 230 – 40 meter long concrete piles were drived into the sand. The foundation is held in place not by bedrock, but by the friction of the sand and silt along the length of the piles. Engineers created a surface layer of large rocks, which is circled with a concrete honey-comb pattern, which serves to protect the foundation from erosion. It took three years to reclaim the land from the sea, but less than three years to construct the building itself. The building contains over 70,000 cubic meters of concrete and 9,000 tons of steel.

The tennis court at the top of the hotel

Skywalk commonly known as The Glass Bridge is one of the aspiring civil engineering project which shows the unmatched thinking of civil engineers.The construction of this glass bridge started in March 2004 .Glass Bridge will be suspended 4,000 feet above the Colorado River on the very edge of the Grand Canyon. In 2005, it was tested for its structural ability and the results were really very good. It passed all its engineering requirements by 400 percent and therefore the total load which this glass bridge is able to withstand is equal to the weight of 71 fully loaded Boeing 747 airplanes which is more that 71 million pounds. The bridge will be able to sustain winds in excess of 100 miles per hour from 8 different directions, as well as an 8.0 magnitude earthquake within 50 miles. It is said that more than one million pounds of steel was used in the construction of the Grand Canyon sky walk.

Following are the images of this marvelous project -

The other view of this glass bridge is

Also check this video for a real feel of the bridge

With the ambitions of civil engineers flying high and high, Korean Heerim Architects has tried to reinvent the skyscraper with their two projects in central Asian republic of Azerbaijan. They have proposed a skyscraper to be built in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan with a view on the Caspian sea. The name of one of the building is proposed as Full Moon Bay and the other is Crescent and Caspian Plus.

Here are few pictures of what could possibly be a real challenge for civil engineers to built

This Looks Likes A Dream

A Complete View Of The Proposed Moon Shaped Skyscraper

The Sky Is The Limit For Civil Engineers

It’s one mile long and 670 feel tall.

- It will have 12 lanes for traffic.

- It will cost $817 million dollars.

- The design has been approved by Sheik Mohammed.

- The bridge will carry more than 2,000 vehicles per hour in each direction.

- A metro line will run across the middle.

Construction is slated to being in March, and will hopefully be completed in 2012.All images and facts provided by Fxfowle, the New York based architectural firm behind the project.