Prime Minister of Togo, Victoire Tomegah Dogbé has kicked off the Togo side of the Togo-Benin coastal protection and replenishment project by placing the first rock for one of the new groins.
Boskalis has been awarded the contract for the protection and replenishment of more than 40 kilometers of coastline stretching from the eastern coastline of Togo to the western coastline of Benin.
This protection is urgently needed because the coastline of both West African countries shifts between one and – in some places – even ten meters every year due to significant coastal erosion.
Under the project, fifteen new groins will be constructed and six existing groins will be refurbished. A beach replenishment program will also take place using more than one million cubic meters of sand. Furthermore, on the Benin side of the border, a 6.4 million cubic meter sand engine will be constructed.
The sand engine concept was co-developed by Boskalis and has been successfully applied in the Netherlands over the past decade.
A large volume of sand will be deposited at a strategic location and, over time, the natural motion of wind, waves and currents will spread it eastwards along the coastline. This principle of building with nature will reinforce the coastline in a robust and natural way.
The coastal protection project is part of the West African Coastal Areas Management (WACA) program. The award was made by the governments of Togo and Benin with the financing made available by the World Bank.