Dubai Creek: It Just Got Longer

Dubai Properties is putting the final touches on the concrete banks of its 10km man-made Creek extension before water will be allowed in to the upper reaches of the waterway.

Close-up pictures snapped by satellite – provided by Dubai Properties – shows that the channel now ends just south of the Metropolitan Hotel on Shaikh Zayed Road.

Lama Kabbani, Dubai Properties spokesperson, said digging the colossal new tributary through the desert was costly.

"The full Creek cost is Dh484 million," she said, or roughly Dh50 million per kilometre of construction.

The additional 10 kilometres of new artificial Creek is connected to the 14-km natural Creek which ends at Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary.

The new Creek extension is 100 metres in width on average but spans 500 metres at its widest point. The Creek will be roughly six metres deep to safely host large private yachts of up to 60 metres in length.

As much as 11 million cubic metres of sand and dirt was excavated.

Work to date has essentially completed the first four phases of the project, with a fifth and final phase set to start construction in December. The Creek should be completed in its entirety by November 2010.

In the last stage, the final 2.2-kilometre stretch of the Creek extension will cross Shaikh Zayed Road in a northerly route and will reportedly wend its way through Safa Park and then through Jumeirah 2. The channel is expected to continue on through Jumeirah Beach Park where it will reach the shores of the Gulf.

The fifth leg of the project will not be overseen by Dubai Properties, rather by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

Kabbani confirmed, however, that "DP is involved in the design with RTA in all phases".

The new Creek will serve as a backdrop for the proposed Dh110-billion Business Bay project, which is predicted to be home to 200,000 residents when all the 240 residential skyscrapers are constructed.

According to Dubai Properties, the Creek is the touchstone for its signature 64-million square-metre Business Bay property, a project the firm said is "part of the vision" of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

"The first phase of Dubai’s transformation into a regional hub was begun with the dredging of the Creek in the 1970s. It is expected that the new extension of the Creek will mark its entry into the global business cities’ league," stated the firm.

The Creek should alleviate Dubai’s growing vehicle traffic problems by giving commuters the option of taking water transport up the natural stretch of the Creek and then onward toward Business Bay via the new Creek extension.

Water Marvel

• 10 kilometres of the man-made Creek have been completed at a cost of Dh484 million
• The construction of the final 2.2-km stretch of the Creek extension will begin in December
• The Creek should be completed by November 2010
• The new channel is 100 metres wide on average and 500 metres at its widest point
• The Creek will be able to host yachts up to 60 metres in length