A new $1.5 billion Atlantis resort, rising from the Arabian Gulf, is slowly taking concrete shape on the Palm Jumeirah with almost 14 per cent of the work completed as scheduled.

A million cubic metres of imported fill will be used to raise the land to 12 ft above sea level on which will sit the Atlantis, the grand ocean-themed resort.
At least 16 tower cranes are in place at the site and the massive project’s 2,000 piles and associated foundation works have been finished.
 The Atlantis in Dubai launched by Kerzer International Limited is a 50-50 joint venture with the government-owned Istithmar and is only the second Atlantis to be built, the first being Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas.
 “Almost 14 per cent of the work on the Atlantis is now complete” said Jim Boocher, president, Kerzner’ International Develop-ment, and the man in charge of the massive construction project. “This time, next year, the water park too will have been completed,” he adds.
The crescent on which the Atlantis, The Palm, sits, is 11.5 km long with The Palm Jumeirah itself measuring 5 km in length and width. The multi-million dollar villas on the 16 fronds that make up the Palm are in various stages of completion.
 Around 3,400 workers stay and work on the Atlantis site which is now about 3 metres above sea level. “That number, says Boocher, will grow to over 6,500 as the work progresses and the Atlantis gets ready to open its doors to the world and to more than 65,000 marine creatures.
“All the steel for this project is coming from Turkey,” says Boocher who was also the key man behind the Atlantis in the Bahamas. There’s been no logistics problems whatsoever in terms of importing, and transporting the tonnes of steel, cement, sand, pipes et al at the crane-scarred site where giant Caterpillars roam and workers in hard hats are busy tightening nuts and stretching wires.
“It’s no bigger task than what I did on the Bahamas. It is the same feat of engineering taking place here and there is a same feel to it. It’s only a bigger extension of the Atlantis, Paradise Island, The Bahamas,” says Boocher.
After 18 months of design and development planning, construction of Atlantis, The Palm, began in December 2005.   Since the initial ground breaking, building progress has maintained a steady pace.
The four elevator cores for the 39-acre Royal Tower Hotel are being slipformed and are visible when approaching the site from the top of the Palm’s Trunk and currently the cores are at the eighth floor.
 Simultaneously under construction is the 42-acre Waterscape adventure park, where the foundations for the Ziggurat Temple, which incorporates all the water rides, have been completed and significant progress has been made on the utility buildings and water process systems which service the entire waterscape.
The local process engineering company, Saptech, has been awarded the task of supplying and installing the water process equipment to Atlantis, The Palm. The $30 million installation will ensure the water attractions, integral to the success of the resort’s theme park, are maintained using high quality water (see a seperate story on page 129).
 “Kerzner International has unprecedented experience when it comes to developing resorts in unique and challenging environments.  Once the planning for constructing Atlantis, The Palm was completed in December 2005 and approval had been granted for development, the team was immediately relocated onto the site to start managing the project, as we have a demanding timeline to achieve,” said Boocher.
Opening in late 2008, the resort will have some unusual and distinctive archeological marine exhibits. The design will be based on the myth of Atlantis and will maintain the iconic design elements of the Royal Towers in Atlantis, Paradise Island, incorporating traditional Arabic design themes.
 Sol Kerzner, chairman of Kerzner International, is the man behind the spectacular achievement of Atlantis, Paradise Island, the Bahamas.  Taking the legend from myth to reality and creating the perfect lost paradise, Kerzner is now working with his development team and Istithmar in a joint venture to bring Atlantis to the Crescent of The Palm Jumeirah.
The Atlantis, The Palm, will be a 1,536 room, ocean-themed destination resort located at the crescent of the man-made Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.  The development will utilise the 112.5-acre site with 42 acres of water park amusement and further marine and entertainment attractions.
The resort will offer an entertainment centre, an impressive collection of luxury boutiques and shops and extensive meeting and convention facilities. It will be home to one of the largest open-air marine habitats in the world, with some 65,000 marine animals in lagoons and displays including The Dig, a maze of underwater corridors and passageways providing a journey through ancient Atlantis.