Port-La Nouvelle, in the Aude departement, possesses France's third-largest Mediterranean port. The Occitania Region has embarked on a project to expand this as part of its Plan Littoral 21 port development strategy. The idea is to develop marine traffic and accommodate new industrial projects, particularly in connection with marine renewable energies.

The work carried out by Bouygues Travaux Publics includes the construction of a new harbour basin formed by two rubble-mound breakwaters 600 and 2,430 metres long, and the construction of site quays and a 4.5-hectare northern platform within the basin. Built from riprap, the breakwaters are reinforced with a shell made of accropodesTM prefabricated on site. These extremely strong concrete blocks are designed and sized to resist wave action on the breakwaters and dissipate the energy of the swell. The new harbour basin will accommodate the new-generation of 225-metre-long and 36-metre-wide ships.