Project record

Genoa New Breakwater

Aerial view of the Genoa New Breakwater caisson line and marine construction vessels working offshore in June 2026

Webuild

The Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority is moving Genoa's main breakwater seaward through a deep-water caisson system founded as far as 50 metres below sea level. Webuild reported the 24th caisson installed on 14 June 2026, five days after the works passed the first kilometre. Those are material production milestones, but the usable port-access outcome still depends on foundation completion, caisson and superstructure continuity, dredging, interfaces with the existing breakwater, and accepted navigation geometry.

Project signal

Construction in Italy

Current status 24 caissons installed and the first kilometre passed; seabed foundation, superstructure, dredging, and navigation-opening gates remain active Source confidence Confirmed

Location

Italy / Europe

Segment

Ports and coastal protection

Status

24 caissons installed and the first kilometre passed; seabed foundation, superstructure, dredging, and navigation-opening gates remain active / Confirmed

Last checked

15 July 2026

Coverage

Related sectors

Ports and coastal protection is the primary work classification. Related sectors connect this record to adjacent marine delivery and market coverage.

Subject index

Related subjects

These subject pages bring together related projects, technical articles, reports, and evidence methods.

Project anatomy

Contract scope and delivery roles

Client / authority
Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority
Delivery parties
Webuild, Fincantieri Infrastructure Opere Marittime, Fincosit, Sidra
Contract route
The works were awarded in October 2022 to the PerGenova Breakwater consortium led by Webuild. The award record identifies a EUR 928 million value in the client's budget and consortium shares of Webuild 40%, Fincantieri Infrastructure Opere Marittime 25%, Fincosit 25%, and Sidra 10%. That award value is kept separate from an earlier EUR 1.19 billion historic works estimate used in a verification-procurement document.
Execution window
Construction was formally launched in May 2023. The current Webuild project page sets a 2027 Phase 1 objective for an eastern entrance more than 300 metres wide and a 2030 Phase 2 objective to widen the Sampierdarena Channel to 500 metres. Earlier launch material carried a November 2026 first-phase target; The current project-page dates control until the client publishes a newer programme.
Works package
The current project frame is approximately 6 kilometres of new open-sea breakwater. Its initial 4.8-kilometre phase uses more than 70 reinforced-concrete caissons, rock embankment, armour and superstructure works, about 9 million tonnes of rock material, and roughly 70,000 gravel columns or piles, generally 7 to 12 metres long, to consolidate seabed foundations at water depths reaching 50 metres. Caissons can exceed 67 metres in length, 30 metres in width, and 33 metres in height. Dredging, removal or reuse interfaces with the existing breakwater, and navigation-channel formation remain part of the wider marine system.
Marine interfaces
Delivery combines offshore ground improvement, rock placement, caisson construction, tow-out and controlled sinking, filling, armour and crown works, dredging, survey and monitoring, and live-port traffic. Work proceeds in exposed open sea with a large vessel fleet while maintaining access to container, ferry, cruise, shipyard, and industrial berths. Foundation behaviour, metocean windows, tow and immersion controls, the Genoa Aquarium seawater-pipe interface, sediment handling, and the transition from the old to the new entrance are independent risk fronts.
Commercial evidence boundary
The 24th caisson and first kilometre demonstrate repeatable marine production, not a closed contract or an open navigation system. Linear progress is not proportional to total completion because seabed treatment, rock foundation, caisson placement, filling, armour, superstructure, dredging, removal, survey, and operational acceptance carry different quantities and sequencing. The EUR 928 million client-budget award should not be combined with historic estimates or treated as evidence of final cost.

Project timeline

Material developments

Dated events that changed scope, counterparties, delivery, commissioning or operating status.

Open this project in the Change Log

Twenty-fourth caisson installed in open sea

The record advances the repeatable tow-out and controlled-sinking work front to 24 installed units, while foundation completion, caisson-line continuity, filling, armour, superstructure, dredging, and navigation acceptance remain separate gates.

Source

Breakwater passed one kilometre with the twenty-third caisson

The caisson alignment exceeded one kilometre while seabed consolidation continued. The milestone does not show proportional overall completion, an accepted entrance or an operational navigation route.

Source

Fifteenth caisson and 50,000 gravel-column threshold reached

The update records 15 installed caissons, more than 50,000 gravel columns, reported 79 percent foundation-column progress and 87 percent seabed gravel placement at that date. Foundation monitoring and downstream structural and navigation gates remained open.

Source

First caisson positioned at 25 metres depth

The owner record moves the project from caisson fabrication into offshore placement and documents the first completed tow, sinking, and positioning cycle, without proving repeat production, connected superstructure, or usable port access.

Source

First stone marked the formal start of works

The Port Authority and consortium launch record marks the transition from award and executive design into construction. Its original scope and schedule statements remain dated baseline context rather than current completion evidence.

Source

Evidence gap

What remains unverified

Outstanding evidence

  • Remaining gravel-column and rock-foundation completion and instrumentation evidence
  • Caisson construction, tow-out, sinking, filling, and line continuity
  • Armour-block and superstructure completion
  • Dredging quantities, sediment route, and accepted channel geometry
  • Removal or reuse interfaces with the existing breakwater
  • Hydrographic acceptance and formal opening of the eastern entrance
  • Phase 2 Sampierdarena Channel widening and final vessel-access acceptance

Related records 2

Reporting status

Construction, confirmed confidence

Last checked 15 July 2026 across 10 cited sources. The dated timeline above carries the project events.

Last checked 15 July 2026 Cited sources 10

Sources and related records

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Source collections

Project sources 10