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The
Great Wall of Lagos is formidable in its design and
already does a magnificent job of protecting the
coastline, even though it's not yet finished.
Over the last 100 years, pounding waves from the
Atlantic Ocean have eroded the land off Lagos, bringing
the sea closer to the financial centre of Victoria
Island. The threat of serious flooding was a major
concern. Before the Great Wall, tidal surges used to
regularly cause water and debris to spill over onto the
main coastal highway – Ahmadu Bello Way.
Today the highway is clear from flooding, already
protected, thanks to the development of Eko Atlantic.
Testing the Great Wall
Before the first of the giant concrete armoured blocks
for the Great Wall of Lagos was lowered into position,
its ability to withstand the worst of the Atlantic tidal
surges was put to the test. Urban engineers at DHI, the
world-renowned Danish hydraulic research centre, carried
out extensive scale model trials. Data analysis by
computer models showed that the Great Wall would keep
Lagos safe from the worst tidal surges that can be
expected.
Facts and Figures on the Great Wall of Lagos
When it's complete, the Great Wall of Lagos will be over
7 kilometres long. It is made from tens of thousands of
concrete blocks (accropodes) weighing 5 tons each which
interlock loosely to form an effective barrier that
dispels the force of the waves and provides the primary
armoured sea defence. Beneath the accropodes are various
layers of rock that function as the secondary armour and
core.
In the first quarter of 2011 the Great Wall of Lagos was
already well over 2 kilometres long and is growing at
the rate of about 6 metres a day. In its completed form it will protect
not only Eko Atlantic, but the whole of the Atlantic
coastline off Victoria Island and Lagos.
Creating the Foundations of Eko Atlantic
The Great Wall of Lagos is already so substantial that
it has created a calm lagoon between it and the
coastline off Bar Beach. The beach is getting bigger
with each passing week as sand is dredged from the ocean
floor beyond the wall and is pumped in to raise the land
level. An area of more than two million square metres of land has already been reclaimed.
The Belgian company, Dredging International, a leader in
this field of engineering, is fast-tracking the
sand-filling work. Dredging is operational around the
clock. This massive operation is being done with great
care and efficiency to reclaim land that our
grandparents walked on as children.
By the time the work is completed, they will have moved
140 million tons of sand – that's 95 million cubic
metres. This massive foundation will form the solid
platform on which Eko Atlantic city will stand. |
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