The World Islands Dubai
- ICM Projects
- Dec 1, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 24
International Coastal Management (ICM) led a value-coastal engineering design for key marine works on one of The World Islands Dubai, optimising breakwaters, a VIP groyne, shoreline walls, and marina berths to balance protection, amenity, and constructibility. The preferred scheme reduced lifecycle cost and footprint while meeting performance targets for safe waters, durable edges, and efficient barge-served construction.
Project Details
Client: Confidential
Date: 2009
Location: The World Islands, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
About this Project
The Challenge
The development required stable shorelines and predictable water conditions for swimming and berthing, high-amenity waterfront edges (including access to a helipad), and solutions compatible with shallow reclamation geotechnics and barge-only logistics. Existing concepts needed refinement to lower whole-of-life cost, minimise visual and environmental impact, and provide clear alternatives for tender and contractor optimisation.
The Solution
ICM undertook targeted value coastal engineering to set marina performance criteria and stress-test alternatives. The team compared rock breakwater typologies (including hearting-core sections and geosynthetic-core options), reconfigured a VIP groyne to compartmentalise the beach while maintaining flushing, and selected low-maintenance edge treatments (precast vertical panel walls and composite sheet-pile solutions) to maximise land take and durability. For berthing, heavy-duty concrete pontoons - including floating breakwater modules where required - were adopted to meet the defined wave climate with reduced maintenance. The approach emphasised prefabrication, barge-friendly construction, and visual sensitivity, and packaged schematic designs, alternates, and staging guidance to move efficiently into detailed design and procurement.
“Our focus was performance per dollar: keep people safe and comfortable, protect the shore, and make it buildable with marine logistics - without over-engineering.” - Aaron Salyer, Director, International Coastal Management
Services Provided: The World Islands Dubai
Value engineering review of coastal and marina works
Numerical performance setting and option stress-testing
Concept refinement and schematic design packages
Constructability and logistics planning for barge-served delivery
Lifecycle (CAPEX/OPEX) considerations and materials selection
Stakeholder coordination and pathway to detailed design
