Great Wall Of Lagos

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 8 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 2012 the Great Wall of Lagos was already well over 3 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 calm waters 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 three 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.