Marina Pez Vela Breakwater, Costa Rica | 2007

Enhancing Costa Rica's Boating Experience in Quepos

Costa Rica divides two oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific, and is renowned for its rich wild life, volcanoes and undisturbed natural areas. Besides the export of coffee, tourism is one of the major economic pillars of the country. The Pacific Coast is the preferred destination for fishermen, but until recently it lacked adequate port infrastructure for private fisher boats. During the rainy season with heavy storms, no protective harbour was available along the coast. 

In 2007 a group of local investors decided to start working on a project that would benefit locals as well as tourists. Marina “Pez Vela” had been planned for years and started to become reality. The 308 slip marina will feature one of the most sophisticated breakwaters ever built for a recreational marina, providing a safe harbour and hurricane protection. The extra-wide, modern, concrete floating docks, allow safe loading of passengers and equipment, and secure moorage.

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The chosen 540m breakwater at Marina Pez Vela in Quepos, Costa Rica is a circular cell cofferdam with AS 500 straight web steel sheet piles. This choice offers several benefits, including quick installation time of 7-8 working days, auto-stability and resistance to wave loads and crane support, no need for a tie-back system due to stabilization from a temporary template and backfill, higher resistance against corrosion in the splash zone with 'mariner' steel grade according to ASTM A 690, significant development space with cell diameters of 12.2m and 18.6m, and good performance under seismic loading. 

After completion of the breakwater in November 2008, prefabricated ‘‘tetrapodes’’ will be placed on the outside of the marina. In a next stage all other shipbuilding facilities, housing and even a waste water treatment plant will be built. 

Since the design took into account seismic loads, a recent earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 did not cause any damage to the steel structure. 

In the future the marina will give shelter not only to the tourist boats, but also to the local fisherman - a dramatic improvement over the situation that existed before its construction.