Construction company Webuild Group has provided updates on the works being carried out on the new breakwater of the Port of Genoa in Italy.

The new breakwater is set to allow the port to host the latest large container ships and will replace the existing structure and provide improved protection to the port from large waves and stormy weather turbulence.

The planned scale of the breakwater is 6,200-metre (m) long, with 4,125m to be built in phase A and 2,075m in phase B. It is being built offshore and will rest on an underwater foundation.

Since gravel was poured onto the seabed on 4 May, workers have already poured an extra 100,000 tonnes of gravel to ready the structure’s base.

Seabed stabilisation works will involve setting up 70,000 piles filled with gravel with lengths of each pile ranging between 7m and 12m.

While seabed stabilisation will begin in the next few weeks, gravel-pouring work is set to continue until September next year.

Four pontoons will be used during the piles’ installation, with completion planned to take place within 17 months.

Once the installation is complete, the foundation of approximately seven million tonnes of rock material at a depth of 50m will be placed on the seabed.

The base will support 100 reinforced concrete prefabricated caissons. Work on the caissons, each measuring 33m-tall, 67m-long and 35m-wide, will commence in September this year.

In October 2022, a Webuild-led consortium won the Genoa Breakwater Project valued at €928m. Consortium partners include Fincantieri Infrastructure Opere Marittime, Fincosit and Sidra.

The Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority has commissioned the project, which is co-financed by the government.