First Xblocs for Africa
Delta Marine Consultants (DMC) in the Netherlands has granted Hitech Construction Company Ltd a licence for the application of Xbloc armour units for the construction of a shore protection at Bar Beach, Lagos, Nigeria. Bar Beach will be the first application of Xbloc in Africa.
Blondecell, which completed the construction of a 23m Offshore Motor Training Vessel for the Sea Cadet Corps last year, is currently building a 21.3m scientific yacht for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and has a healthy order book for the ongoing construction of Discovery 55 yachts, Bladerunner 34 powerboats and Reid Marine Hawk 20 dayboats.
The first phase of the project consists of a shore protection scheme some 1km in length, armoured by 1.5m3 Xblocs. The project will solve a longstanding erosion problem that over the past 50 years has led to the regression of several hundreds metres of coastline. Construction started in January 2006.
Towards the end of last year, the Xbloc won the Dutch ID-NL Innovation award for the category Water and Delta Technology. Recent months have also seen Xblocs used at Port Oriel, Clogherhead, Ireland and elsewhere.
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