The dock redevelopment is one of the projects that forms part of Expo 2015's legacy to the city of Milan and the rest of Italy. The dock is the urban terminus of the Naviglio Grande, the most important and historic waterway connecting Milan to Lake Maggiore, which has undergone a series of major changes over the centuries. The recently remodelled dock dates back to 1603 and the period of Spanish rule, and its banks stand on the 16th Century walls built to defend the city against attack. The foundations of these walls emerged during the construction work, and have now been restored and made duly visible.
Inaugurated on 26 April, the "Nuova Darsena" gave the city back one of its most emblematic sites, which has played a key role in its history.
This large-scale urban restoration and redevelopment project was produced by the architects Edoardo Guazzoni, Paolo Rizzatto and Sandro Rossi in conjunction with Studio Bodin&Associés and involved the restyling of the historic port and the re-purposing of the adjacent areas. The work consisted in restoring the banks with new walkways and new berths for pleasure craft, and in re-purposing Piazza XXIV Maggio, which has been turned into an almost entirely pedestrian area with attractive landscaping.
New trees have been planted along the parallel walkways, and a garden has been created, which slopes all the way down to water-level at the western end of the canal.
The significant monumental finds, such as the 15th Century bridge, the remains of the Conca di Viarenna and the foundations of the 16th Century city walls, which came to light during the archaeological excavation and surveying work, have been preserved and turned into attractive features of the new scenery.
The remodelling and consolidation of the banks of the dock made use of Mapei's highest-performance products, starting with MAPEGROUT EASY FLOW, a single-component, thixotropic, fibre-reinforced, shrinkage-compensated, sulphate-resistant mortar for repairing concrete structures where higher ductility is required. The masonry and concrete structures were waterproofed with IDROSILEX PRONTO, an osmotic, cementitious mortar that's suitable for contact with drinking water.
MAPE-ANTIQUE LC, a salt-resistant, lime-based, hydraulic binder, and ECO-POZZOLANA, a cement-free product for mixing with aggregates of various particle sizes, were used for on-site production of the masonry mortars for the wall facings. Lastly, ANTIPLUVIOL W, a transparent, silane- and siloxane-based, water-repellent impregnator in aqueous emulsion was used for protecting the facing bricks, the natural and artificial stone and the cement-based plaster against the effects of driving rain.