The World is Sinking

It was intended to sink.

That is the party line of Nakheel, developer behind Dubai’s manmade island project “The World.” The company issued the defensive statement yesterday  in response to a story in Britain’s Daily Mail claiming a satellite image showing the islands as a blobby, misshapen cluster was proof that they were sinking.

What in the world?

Nonsense, says Nakheel, who operates under the corporate motto, “Where Vision Inspires Humanity.” Calling the claim hogwash, a spokesman hastened to add that any sinkage which might have occurred was intentional:

“Speculative reports suggesting that The World islands are sinking are wholly inaccurate,” the statement said, adding that a technique called vibro-compaction was to blame for any loss of altitude.

Via The World’s not sinking – Nakheel – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com

To my knowledge, vibro-compaction is not a synonym for global warming, slang for a perfunctory construction job or a slur for the the rumormongering media. Sooo…what is it then?

“This process causes the soil to vibrate vigorously, mimimising the air gaps between the sand particles and locking the sand particles and edges together, which in turn lead to very deliberate and calculated compaction and settlement.”

The process (which is legit, by the way, I did my research) kind of sounds similar to this newfangled fat-blasting procedure I read about it in the New York Times today. Zap, jiggle, condense- all to tighter effect. An ironic comparison, seeing as the poor World’s vibro-compaction is giving her a saggier, slouchier profile (at least when viewed from space).

So, to those few remaining crazy-as-hell Dubai real estate speculators, whoever you are- fear not, The World will not be sunk by shifting sands. Only melting icebergs or the the $26 billion in debt owed by its parent company.