RECLAIMING SIX HECTARES OF THE SEA TO BOOST ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Photo: SAM Anse du Portier – Valode & Pistres Architects – Renzo Piano Building Workshop – Michel Desvignes Paysagiste

Geographically, Monaco is the world's second-smallest country, but it also happens to be the most densely populated in the world. Because available real estate is so sparse, land reclamation is necessary to meet growth demands and boost economic development.

The new Portier Cove eco-neighbourhood is an ambitious six-hectare offshore extension project that will include 60,000 m² of housing, public facilities, an extension to the Congress Center, a public car park, a marina with pedestrian wharves, a landscaped park, a seafront promenade and a shaded, planted walkway running the length of the Japanese Garden.

COWI and SOCOTEC teamed in a joint venture to play the role of independent checker for the design and construction proposed by the private project company SAM Anse du Portier and Bouygues Travaux Publics to the Client. The scope of the work mainly focuses on caissons, reclamation and dredging, concrete durability, shore protection and outfalls, marina structures and hydrodynamics, and marine environment.