Eiffage consortium wins the contract to extend the harbour basin and renovate the docks at the port of Cotonou in Benin

Consortium leader Eiffage Génie Civil Marine and its partners will carry out the following tasks on behalf of the autonomous port of Cotonou:

• renovating and deepening the existing North dock along its entire 1,391-metre length (16 metres deep with a pile/sheet piling structure);
• extending the North dock by 214 metres (16 metres deep with diaphragm walls) and constructing a roll-on roll-off (RoRo) ramp;
• extending the South dock by 154 metres (15 metres deep with diaphragm walls);
• extending the harbour basin with creation of a rubble mound breakwater at the end of the dock;
• dredging of all berths to 16 metres, plus maintenance dredging of the basin. 

The contract’s total 48-month duration includes five months of design and method studies, with construction due to begin in the first quarter of 2023. All port activities will continue throughout the works phase.

This project is part of the master plan to enlarge and enhance the port of Cotonou, to strengthen the role of Benin’s only port as a powerhouse of local economic development. From 2025, the port’s new infrastructure will enable it to accommodate Post-Panamax container ships.

This new contract consolidates the Group’s position in complex major port projects requiring leading-edge maritime civil engineering expertise, with several such projects currently under way in Africa, the Middle East and South America.