Citing concerns regarding overcrowding and rising sea levels, the Dutch Parliament recently announced it is seeking to build a tulip-shaped island in the North Sea, just off the country’s coast. (Check out Brett’s post on that subject here). Artificial islands have already been constructed in places throughout the world, with probably the most famous being the Palm Islands in Dubai. This all seems to beg the question, just how do you build an island?
Samantha Henig, Slate’s resident Explainer, has posted an informative video answering just that question. Apparently, dumping large amounts of sand and gravel into the ocean is a good place to start.
Of course, there’s always the method that Richie Sowa employed in constructing his Spiral Island off the Mexican coast– round up 250,000 plastic bottles and simply float. Come to think of it, anyone wanting to build their own island might be better sticking with the sand and gravel method– Spiral Island was destroyed by a hurricane in 2005.