In 2016 the French Development Agency funded a comprehensive technical study and survey of Hoi An's coastal area. Based on the study's findings, the province decided to construct a breakwater and pump sand to create a new beach.
From June 2020 to September 2024, Quang Nam Province carried out three projects at a cost of VND550 billion to complete an underground breakwater stretching over 2.3 km in length.
The breakwater is constructed 0.5 meters below the water and runs parallel to the shore at a distance of 250 meters.
It has an average height of 4.5 meters, a base width of 12 meters, and a top width of 1.5 meters. Its inner structure consists of interlocking stones weighing 700-1,200 kg each, while its outer layer is paved with massive concrete blocks weighing five tons each.
Once the breakwater was completed, more than 100,000 cubic meters of sand dredged from the Cua Dai area were poured onto the new beach.
Nguyen Ngoc Tan, deputy director of the Quang Nam Investment Construction Project Management Board, said: "With the completion of these three projects, the breakwater now blocks incoming waves and reduces their intensity. Waves that still reach the shore lose momentum upon encountering the replenished sand."
Since the projects were completed the 2.3 km section of coast has experienced almost no erosion, even during storms and floods.
Nguyen Chau, 60, a restaurant owner, says the erosion began in 2021 and 50 meters were lost by 2023, with one house being washed away.
In 2024 the work to build the underground breakwater and pump sand nearly restored the area.
"Now the breakwater stops the waves from scouring the shore and the water from washing away the sand," Chau adds.
To combat erosion and protect the remaining 5.2 km of coastline, Quang Nam Province launched another project in March.
The project, managed by the Investment Construction Project Management Board, is estimated to cost 42 million euros (US$45.68 million).
The money will include a 35-million-euro loan from the AFD, two million euros in non-reimbursable EU aid and a five-million-euro contribution by the province.
The work is scheduled for completion in 2026, and includes two main components.
The first focuses on building infrastructure, including a nearly four-kilometer-long wave-reduction dam.
The embankment will be situated 250 meters from shore, have a stepped design and have a rock foundation and precast concrete blocks on the outer layer.
A groin system, structures extending seaward from the shore, will also be built 1.7 kilometers along the coast of stone and concrete blocks.
Once the dyke and groin are completed, sand will be added to create a beach measuring some 60 meters in width.
