Beirut seafront

As part of a project to redevelop Beirut city centre, Bouygues Travaux Publics and Bouygues Offshore built the seafront. The project involved creating a 60-hectare backfill area reclaimed from the sea and a prestigious 1,335-metre-long, three-level promenade breakwater.
A second 450-metre breakwater protects the marina, which can accommodate up to 400 pleasure boats.

To guarantee the safety and durability of the structures, strict design criteria were established: resistance to once-in-a-century waves of up to 18 metres (crest-to-trough height), resistance to earthquakes, and prevention of wave overtopping.

The view of the sea from the city also had to be preserved.

The seawall has several protective barriers. It is made up of 80 reinforced concrete caissons partially filled with sand, which act as “swell absorbers”.
A 100-metre-wide submarine plinth, made from sand and four to five successive layers of quarry material, itself held in place by an underwater dyke, reinforces the strength of the structure.