The New Genoa Breakwater Project
The New Genoa Breakwater is a globally speaking one-of-a-kind work, for its engineering complexity and dimensions, but also because it is built offshore, fully at sea, without the need to interrupt port activities. It will rest on the seabed at a 50-metre depth, one of the deepest worldwide for breakwaters, developing, in total, over a 6.2 km line.
The new infrastructure sets itself apart for the innovative technology used in the project and for the attention placed on sustainability, ensured by systems aimed at maximising circular economy, while also foreseeing the possibility of reusing and transforming inert materials.
PROJECT UPDATES


August 11, 2025 - Twelfth caisson of new Genoa Breakwater in place
Webuild has marked another milestone at the construction site of the New Genoa Breakwater with the positioning of the twelfth caisson on the seabed off the coast of Liguria, Italy. At the end of August, work will begin on the construction of the largest caissons, with lengths of up to 67 meters, widths of 35 meters, and heights of 33 meters. Their construction will involve the use of a Tronds Barge 33, a semi-submersible barge 110 meters long and 45 meters wide. Its ability to submerge itself by up to 20 meters below the water’s surface makes it easier to manage the placement of the caissons.
Commissioned by Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, the breakwater is being built by the PerGenova Breakwater consortium led by Webuild.


June 29,2005 - Genoa breakwater, launch of the tenth caisson
Tenth caisson sunk and first half of columns now completed, with 34,000 columns built up to a depth of 50 metres.
New Genoa Breakwater: the infrastructure that transforms the port takes new steps forward.
Work in progress for the construction of the New Breakwater, the largest intervention to strengthen Italian ports and the deepest dam in Europe, is carried out by the PerGenova Breakwater Consortium led by Webuild on behalf of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority.
The largest upgrading intervention for the Ligurian port area in the last 25 years
The new breakwater will enlarge transit and manoeuvring areas for ships inside the port, so that it can welcome a greater number of ships, becoming an infrastructure capable of allowing the Ligurian system and Italy to grow in competitiveness. This project will positively impact Genoa, its port, and the whole of Italy. It will create growth from when it is first built: in fact, 1,000 people will be newly employed for the work (directly and indirectly hired).. The work has been commissioned by the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, and belongs to the Extraordinary Programme to relaunch the Port of Genoa.
The Consortium
“Pergenova Breakwater” is the Consortium that won the project to build the New Genoa Breakwater.
The Consortium is made from:
