Webuild has installed the first of 35 “mega caissons” for the Port of Genoa’s new breakwater.
The concrete structure stands 33m tall, equivalent to an 11-storey building. It’s 67m long and 30m wide.
Built by the PerGenova Breakwater consortium led by Webuild on behalf of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, the caisson was placed 50m below sea level – a record for an offshore breakwater in Europe.
It sits on a linear foundation made up of 2.3 million tonnes of gravel and 49,000 submerged columns.
- Watch this tricky operation:
It was sunk with the help of a semi-submersible barge called Tronds Barge 33 with a pump-controlled immersion system that allows it to go under water and resurface like a whale.
The caisson was manufactured at a production hub in the Vado Ligure basin.
Genoa’s new offshore breakwater will stretch for 6.2km, becoming the new face of the port, enabling it to accommodating next-generation vessels of up to 400m in length, protected from storm surges.
Webuild said the upgraded port will strengthen Genoa’s role in the Rhine-Alpine Corridor of the Trans-European Transport Network and reshape trade routes across Europe and the Mediterranean.
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