Artificial islands

Not surprisingly, costs are several times higher than conventional wells. Nevertheless, overall project economics may favour ERD over other development options. For example, BP developed the offshore part of the Wytch Farm Oilfield (which is located under Poole Harbour in Dorset, UK) from an onshore location. The wells targeted the reservoir at a vertical depth of 1,500 meters with a lateral displacement of over 8,000 meters (Fig. 3.20). The alternative was to build a drilling location on an artificial island in Poole Bay. ERD probably saved a considerable amount of money and advanced first oil by several years. 

Artificial islands could be regarded as platforms but fall somewhere between land and offshore facilities. 

Fig. 28.9. Two alternative designs for oil production platforms in ice-covered sea a monopod and an artificial island.

In an effort to solve this problem, a contractor for the city hired the 466-foot (142-meter) barge Khian Sea to transport the wastes to an artificial island in the Bahamas. It set sail for the islands on September 5, 1986. En route to his destination, the captain of the Khian Sea received word from the Bahamian government that it had not given permission to dump the wastes in its nation, and the vessel would not be allowed to dock within its waters. 

Insolation (the solar energy received by an area of 1 m2) varies with the geographic location, weather, orientation of the collectors, and with diurnal and seasonal weather variations. Solar power plants have been built on all five continents, mostly in the high-insolation areas near the equator. There are also plans to collect solar energy on artificial islands in the oceans and in other locations including space stations and solar satellites. 

A Swiss-designed artificial island is planned near the equator (Figure 1.41) in the Gulf state of Ras Al-Khaimah. A 100-m diameter prototype is under construction. It is one tenth of the size of the planned solar island. The solar concentrators will convert circulating water into steam, which will produce both electricity and H2. The electricity will be used for plant operation, and the H2 will be sold as fuel. The designers feel that the plant will be cost competitive... 

Saji envisions magships of the future as large vessels working vast expanses of ocean, or specialized vessels, like icebreakers, stationed in remote areas. Such ships would never come into a regular port but would tie up at artificial islands reached from shore by bridges and conventional ships. If a magship ever had to cross the path of other ships, some kind of special electronic signal (perhaps a SQUID detector) could alert them to its presence. 

Offshore islands offer an interesting option as sites for the fusion reactors. Where available, natural islands are potential sites. Where natural islands are not available, artificial islands could be constructed. These islands can be built with dirt and rocks dredged from the ocean bottom or built from steel, in the same manner as offshore oilrigs. Islands offer the advantage of minimizing the use of valuable seashore property and in some cases allow the use of relatively short pipelines to bring... 

IDE, A., et al.. The 3rd Report on KASIMA NAD A (Coast) Artificial Islands Study - An Energy Island Part, Report in Preparation (1998). 

Against earthquakes, typhoons, floods and others, plastics are valuable materials, both to prevent collapse and facilitate rescue. They enter into the seismic design of buildings and bridges, to strengthen the defenses with elements like kneecaps. They are in emergency facilities, tents, houseboats, artificial islands to bring the victims to... 

In the Beaufort Sea, more than 30 artificial islands have been builf for exploration purposes and hence have a relatively short life in comparison with future production platforms or the present production platforms in the North Sea. A number of these artificial island deployments in the Beaufort Sea have included extensive site investigations, analyses, and instrumentation (Shinde et al., 1986). Of these artificial islands, it is probable that about 20%-30% have experienced unpredicted geotechnical problems, although only a few case histories have been published (Clark and Jordaan, 1987). Exceptions are those of the Nerlerk berm failure in 1984 (Mitchell, 1984 Sladen et al., 1985 Been et al., 1987) Adgo Island, which was a sandbag-retained island that experienced instability (Shinde et al., 1986) Issugnak Island, where the above-water portion disappeared twice during construction (Shinde et al., 1986). 

For example. Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Occupational Safety and Health on Artificial Islands, Installations and Other Devices on the OCS, U.S. Coast Guard, Dept, of Transportation, and Occupational Safely and Health Administration (July 17,2009). 

Zheng, B.X Shu, F.F He, J. Zhangzhou Development Zone Investment Promotion Bureau of artificial island project (sea garden project) sediment test and calculation of waves. Journal of Xiamen the third Oceanography Research Institute, 2005. 

Under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, USAGE has authority for permitting the construction of any obstructions, such as artificial islands, installations, or structures, in U.S. navigable waters and on the seabed of the OCS but does not have authority for the operations of these obstructions. In addition, USAGE does not have authority over offshore wind farm worker safety. ... 

The new HMCB-concept was intended to be used mainly as a seawall for the protection of artificial islands (offshore airport) and roads with heavy traffic along the coast, but also as a breakwater [Fig. 12.14(c), 12.14(d)] in harbors. This concept has recently been implemented at MORI Port in Hokkaido, Japan.The governing characteristic of the HMCB-concept is to cause the highest waves in the spectrum to break before reaching the crest structure by means of a relatively flat slope (about 1 3). This concept has the following advantages ... 

Pearl Qatar is one of the major projects in the GCC (Fig. 47.6). The total area of this artificial island is 4 million m (43 million ft ). The total estimated cost is USD 5 billion. This development will accommodate 40, 000 residents. The project will include three 5 star luxury hotels with the total room capacity of 800, four marinas and multiple retail spaces. This development has buildings ranging from high-rise towers to 4-storey buildings villas. The project is under construction and is estimated to be completed by 2011. United Development Company (UDC), which is country s largest private sector shareholding company, is developing this project. 

Fig. 50.5 Kansai internatioal airport. The artificial island upon which Osaka s new airport was constructed is connected to the mainland by a 3.7 km bridge. Despite weak traffic growth at the airport, a second runway was built on newly reclaimed land visible to the right of the original island in this image. Photo credit Air Teamlmages...

Some contemporary projects are much more ambitious. In 1994, Kansai International Airport was the first general aviation commercial airport to be built completely on an artificial island, followed by Chubu Centrair International Airport in 2005 and the New Kitakyushu Airport and Kobe Airport in 2006. Also Dubai is home to some of the largest artificial island complexes in the world, including the three Palm Islands macroprojects. The World and the Dubai Waterfront macro-projects, the last of which will be the largest in geographical extent (Fig. 55.3). 

The Israeli government is now planning for four artificial islands to be completed in 2013, off the coasts of Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Netanya and Haifa. Each island will house some 20,000 people and offer the employment opportunity of some 10,000 jobs at least. The islands should help with overcrowding in the coastal Israeli cities and might even be employed to do the same in Gaza. A well thought out macroengineering project proposal has also been presented in The Netherlands to create artificial islands, perhaps in the shape of a tulip, in the North Sea. 

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty (UNCLOS), artificial islands have little legal recognition. Such islands are not considered harbor works (Article 11) and are under the jurisdiction of the nearest coastal state if within 200 nautical miles (370 km) (Article 56). Artificial islands are not considered islands... 

Another quest to change the natural environment is the constructions of the many artificial islands. The world is a human constructed archipelago of 300 islands outside the coast of Dubai shaped as the world. It was constructed 2003-2008, 24 h a... 

Leaving the lifestyles issues apart, we should also take a closer look at one of the mega-engineering projects the artificial islands. Ironically, the rising sea levels from climate change can affect the islands as they mn the risk of being flooded in... 

A check on the homepages of the megaprojects presented reveals that none of the projects have been cancelled, and even if this was the case, it would probably not been admitted in public yet. It is difficult to know the true status of these enterprises due to reasons of competition and prestige. The cost of construction might have been covered in advanced, but the problems regarding the success and use of these constructions will appear later on. A plausible scenario is ghostly artificial islands, skyscrapers, desert cities and business quarters empty of people. 

Butler, T. (2005). Dubai s artificial islands have high environmental cost. The price of The World Dubai s Artificial Future. Article published on mongabay.com August 23, 2005. Retrieved July 6, 2008, from http //news.mongabay.eom/2005/0823-tina butler dubai.html Dubai Properties. Retrieved September 26, 2008, from http //dubai-properties.ae/en/... 

Kansai internatioal airport. The artificial island upon which Osaka s new airport was constructed is connected to the mainland by a 3.7 km bridge. Despite weak traffic... 

Example 2 ( Saath A1 Raaz Boot Field , Abu Dhabi, sand search 2010 for the creation of artificial islands) Irregular offshore dredge areas with local sand patches, to be dredged with a trailing suction hopper dredger ... 

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