Technical Discoveries from the Cherbourg Breakwater

The breakwater at Cherbourg, France, was constructed over nearly a century, although the conception began with the desire of Louis XIV to provide a strategic position in the English Channel for the French Navy in 1750. The original concept employed a caissontype structure filled with stone. Problems with materials, labor and finances proved this not to be constructable and the long-term solution of a rubble mound detached breakwater was developed. The structure was competed in 1850. No significant changes to the final design have been made and only limited maintenance is required.