Photos--25 March 2006

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On An Off Day

MAG Site, Friday, 17 March 2006

Friday in the UAE is a day off for most workers. With the exception of a watchman the MAG 218 site was empty when these photos were taken. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

The most noticible difference since photos were last taken on 26 February is the addition of more equipment and re-organization of the site. Site office and containers have been re-located and the build area has been demarcated.


MAG 218 site with equipment scattered around the perimeter of the build area--a corner of the build area highligted at center right.


Detail: equipment and storage.


Pumping equipment (with detail).


Site office and supply containers repositioned to front end of site.


Crane and storage silos.


Storage silos close-up.


Build area demarkated with trenches.


Trench dug in on two sides of the build area.

Q1: What exactly are the silos used for?
Q2: TEC, the company logo seen in some of the photos, is what company?
Reader comment welcome.

Go to latest MAG 218 photos. More images at MAG 218 Gallery.

Aerial Views of MAG 218 Plot

These aerial shots (late 2005) were taken from a set of photos by "Volker" found at Skyscraperscrapercity.com. More of Volker's aerial shots of Dubai Marina can be seen in the Dubai Marina Photos post Photos by Others.

The MAG 218 plot can be seen in juxtaposition to the marina canal (work yet to begin at site when photo taken). The 66-storey MAG 218 will be constructed right at the corner of Marina Ring Rd. and the smaller "D" Rd. Beside it will come the planned shopping mall and beside that the 70+ storey Marina Pinnacle tower--located at the position of the word "MAG." In the foreground (beside the Marina Pinnacle plot) is the 50+ storey Le Rêve tower.


At the corner, opposite Le Rêve, will rise the 100+ storey Princess tower. Behind the Princess tower the 80+ storey Torch tower will be built. Beyond this is an empty plot followed by the 50+ storey Marina Heights tower (near completion).

Returning to the foreground (along Al Sufouh Rd.) the 50+ storey Emirates Airlines residential tower (aka Al Marsa) stands about half-complete. To its left will be built 50+ storey Emirates Crown (jsut coming up) and to Al Marsa's immediate right an unamed 80+ storey Damac tower and beside it the 80+ storey Infinity tower. (See recent plot map for complete listing of Dubai Marina towers and plot locations.)

In the photo below the MAG 218 plot can be seen in juxtoposition to the sea. The six Dubai Marina Phase 1 towers can be seen in the foreground, to the left of the MAG 218 plot. The Marina Ring Rd. runs in front of the towers, parallel to SZR (not pictured). In the bottom right corner of the photo excavation work has been started on a massive new interchange to be built with as many as 10 flyovers. It is a relatively short distance from the MAG 218 plot to the Dubai International Marine Club (DIFC) and the beach in front of the Le Meridien Mina Al Seyahi resort (low-rise structure at middle-right).


Beach access, however, is limited to club members or paying guests. Partial views of the Jumeirah Palm island may be possible for residents on higher floors of a completed MAG 218 tower. In addition to the MAG 218, five or more residential towers (at 60-90+ floors each) and a shopping mall will be built within the MAG 218 block. Incredibly, this block will house upto 11 high-rise towers from 50-90+ floors and a shopping mall. Its nearest local competitor for the "tallest block on the planet" monicker will come from the adjacent block (at left) to have seven or more towers of 50-100+ floors.

In the photo below the MAG 218 plot can be seen between Al Sufouh Rd. at left and Sheikh Zayed Road (SZR) at right. (Shorter "D" Road lies in between.) In the middle of the picture are Dubai Media City and lake. Beyond that in the first circular section will be built a cluster of towers called Dubai Pearl. Barely visible (low-rise buildings) just beyond this point is Dubai Knowledge Village, a collection of educational institutes. Residents at higher floors of a completed MAG tower will have partially obstructed views of these sites.


Further beyond is the rest of Dubai, including the Burj Al Arab hotel (not pictured) along the coast and the Mall of the Emirates (faintly visible) along SZR. On clear days these and other Dubai city landmarks should be within view (although quite possibly blocked by other towers). To the right of Sheikh Zayed Road can be seen the Emirates Golf Club and beside it, the Greens (low-rise) residential development.

Go to latest MAG 218 photos. More images at MAG 218 Gallery.