LAST December, the excavators began moving onto a plot of land opposite the Emirates golf club on the Sheikh Zayed road in Dubai. Soon, thirty two pieces of heavy equipment were at work on the start of a 3.5-kilometre- long creek that will be the centrepiece of a new satellite city, known as Westside Marina.

The brainchild of Emaar Properties, Westside Marina is being designed as a city of the future. Covering 53 million square feet, it will eventually house a community of over 100,000 residents, and a bustling commercial district. Neighbourhoods will have their own 'town centres' with parks and plazas, cafes and restaurants, hotels and shops, and a host of recreational facilities. All will be located around the meandering creek, which will be linked to the Gulf at either end and provide a safe haven for yachts and motorboats.

As a construction project, Westside Marina is a massive undertaking. To be phased over a 10-14-year period, the entire development is forecast to cost at least AED 16,000 million ($4,360 million). Of the total, an estimated AED 1,400 million will be spent on site infrastructure. This includes excavating about 6 million cubic metres of material for the channel, the construction of 10 kilometres of quay wall along the waterway, and the reclamation of over 400,000 square metres of land at the entrances to the marina, which will be protected by breakwaters.

There will be seven bridges across the creek, 14.5 kilometres of major roads and seven kilometres of minor roads. A new interchange is planned near the southern end of the creek to give access from the Sheikh Zayed road, and interchange number five will be upgraded for the northern section. Water taxis and a light rail transit are also being considered.

Emaar will install all the infrastructure and directly develop 40-60 per cent of the sub-development plots. The remainder will be sold to UAE and GCC nationals who will be bound by urban design guidelines and regulations on site usage, building height and quality when they develop the sites.

Emaar has been hard at work since the project was unveiled last August, appointing Canada's Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK), with the US' Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG), as the planning consultants to draw up the masterplan. This is 60 per cent complete and is due to be finished by September. It has looked at three core elements - services and buildings, traffic management and marine works - and will be updated throughout the life of the project.

Marine works have been given special attention. One of the first studies assessed the effect of the development on the coastal area and its findings will be included in the environmental impact assessment study. Hydraulic modelling was used to establish that tidal action would flush the creek naturally.

Only one construction contract has been let so far. The local/UK Al-Futtaim Tarmac is close to completing the excavation of the first 2 million cubic metres of material and a further 4 million cubic metres is due to be excavated by the end of the year. This is being used for site grading on the Westside Marina development and the nearby Emirates Hills golf and leisure complex, also planned by Emaar. Construction of the quay wall is due to begin in the summer and take about 18 months and the first bridge package will be let in early 2000. Emaar is aiming to have all the infrastructure and services installed in the north basin district by 2002.

Construction work will be phased, moving in a north-to-south sweep starting at the north basin adjacent to DIMC and ending just past the SAS Radisson hotel. All contracts will be bid competitively, starting with a prequalification exercise. To ensure transparency, Emaar is working with a team of outside consultants to establish standard operating procedures and strict tendering criteria. Wherever possible, the developer will use local expertise but it will also engage international experts with experience of similar-sized projects, such as the HOK/WATG team.

An added challenge for Emaar will be to minimise disruption to the six existing resort hotels on the western edge of the site during construction. The developer says that disruption will be negligible and has pledged to keep noise and dust down to a minimum.

The Westside Marina project is still at an early stage. A more exact picture of the futuristic city will only emerge once the masterplan is complete. Even then, Emaar is planning to control the direction and speed of the development to make sure that new property is delivered to meet market demand. Nevertheless, having employed the latest in sustainable design and planning concepts, as well as strict environmental standards, Emaar is confident that Westside Marina will become a world-class community and enhance Dubai's status as the recreational and commercial capital of the Gulf.