At a depth of 20 metres, the second caisson of the Port of Genoa's new breakwater has been successfully positioned.
The facility, a sophisticated feat of engineering, begins to unfurl off the coast of the Sampierdarena basin, and construction works are underway on many fronts, with the deployment of cutting-edge techniques and equipment in terms of innovation and sustainability.
The caisson will form part of the initial 4 km of the large-scale maritime infrastructure facility which, upon overall completion, will stretch along a 6 km coastline. The monumental concrete cellular caisson was built in the floating construction site installed at the Port of Vado Ligure and, at 10,000 tons, measures 21.7 metres in height, 40 metres in length and 25 metres in width, and was subsequently towed and positioned on the gravel base deposited on the bedrock opposite the Lighthouse.
Other major works are running concurrently on schedule: to date, Consorzio PerGenova has laid over 1.5 million tons of gravel, often through adverse weather conditions, and built approximately 5,000 giant underwater columns. To boost production, the pontoon deployed at Vado has been flanked by a large barge which is set to create a threefold increase in the construction of the columns. In addition, the search for unexploded ordnances along the seabed continues and is to be completed by this summer. Furthermore, as works proceed underwater, measures continue to be taken to safeguard in full the marine ecosystem.
