Albufeira City Council will invest "12 to 15 million euros" in a drainage plan for the Albufeira river basin, in order to avoid a repetition of the floods that, on 1 November, caused around 25 million euros of damage. .
Carlos Silva e Sousa, president of the autarchy, revealed that the coordinator of this plan will be José Saldanha Matos, full professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, with extensive experience in the field, having worked on similar plans made for Barcelona, Paris or, more recently, Lisbon.
«I have already made a first approximation with the person who will be the coordinator of this plan, who is Professor Saldanha Matos. His credentials are simple: he is a university professor, he has experience abroad, in Barcelona, Paris, he recently made the Lisbon Plan which was unanimously approved by the Municipal Assembly».
Saldanha Matos, coordinator of the Hidra/Engidro consortium of companies, author of the Lisbon General Drainage Plan 2016-2030, with whom the Algarve mayor has already met, «has a very reasonable diagnosis of the situation in Albufeira, wants to involve the National Civil Engineering Laboratory». «There are already ideas», guaranteed Carlos Silva e Sousa.
The mayor has no doubts that this will be “the structuring work of the century”.
Carlos Silva e Sousa has no doubts that this will be «the structuring work of the century»
The mayor of Albufeira, who was speaking during the usual ceremony of the New Year message, which took place yesterday evening in Paços do Concelho, in the presence of technicians and municipal leaders, councilors, parish mayors, businessmen, officials by Private Institutions of Social Solidarity, representatives of the Fire Department and authorities, he recalled the rain of last Monday night, which brought back the specter of floods in the city's downtown.
Raising a laugh from the dozens of people present, Carlos Silva e Sousa commented: «I'm almost like Cascão, that character in the comic book, who didn't take a shower because he was afraid of the water. He saw a cloud and ran home to hide. I'm almost the same…even though I'm still taking a shower. But the rain takes my sleep!»
The mayor assured that the “financial effort” made by the Chamber to recover the city's downtown in time for this Christmas and New Year season “did not cause any impact to the finances of the Municipality. We were left with less money available for other things, but the Municipality was able to respond to the emergency situation.
“I have to thank everyone for their effort, and in particular the construction workers, an effort that made our city, on the eve of Christmas, fully recovered”.
However, he warned, "this is a serious problem, we cannot look to the side and wait for it to be resolved, we have to face it!"
"One of the two: either we take this seriously and make a plan, with studies, with people capable of doing it, or we hope that this will only happen again in 100 years, which is a possibility, but it can also happen Tomorrow or the day after".
The Municipality's decision, he stressed, was to proceed with a study and a plan for the entire Albufeira river basin, and thus «find the solutions».
"This will imply a very serious financial effort by the Municipality and we are going to stop doing some things to fulfill this plan", he admitted, immediately launching the challenge to Albufeires so that they have "a say in this matter. The City Council and the Municipal Assembly have decision-making capacity, but the population also has to speak out».
As for the drainage plan for the Albufeira river basin, the solution will involve several interventions, namely with the construction or reinforcement of water retention dams, upstream of the more urbanized area, but also by the construction of a new tunnel, with larger capacity and flowing into a different location, at a higher height, so as not to be affected either by tidal parts or by the predictable rise in sea level.
In the case of retention basins, Carlos Silva and Sousa admitted that, contrary to what happened until last November in the existing structures, those that will now be created or reinforced will have to have «permanent technicians on site», «to open or close, to open more or less».
As for the 'new tunnel', it should be built 'under the river, with the advantage of not having any involvement in surface life, and will come out in the Rossio and Porto de Abrigo area, at a higher height, already thinking about the tides. and in the future rise in sea level», clarified the mayor.
There is even the "possibility" of building a "tunnel with a capacity greater than necessary", a solution that, paradoxical as it may seem, will end up saving Albufeira money.
Carlos Silva e Sousa: the floods in Albufeira are «an issue that concerns us all and we have to make serious efforts so that they don't happen again»
Why? «Because there is the possibility that Albufeira will establish a cooperation with Lisbon, so that, whether for one city or another, the work can be cheaper».
Like? Using the same machine to open the tunnel in Albufeira that will be built to open the two tunnels planned for Lisbon. For, explained the mayor, "just making a machine with the appropriate measures to build such a tunnel costs 15 million euros." Therefore, if the works in both cities use the same machine, the costs will be shared.
After talks with Professor Saldanha Matos, the mayor of Albufeira says that the «second approach to the subject will now be in January», in a meeting he will have with the Mayor of Lisbon, in order to «establish a connection between the two municipalities on this issue'.
The floods in Albufeira are «an issue that concerns us all, and we have to make serious efforts so that it doesn't happen again», concluded the mayor.
Click here to see all photos the ceremony for the Presentation of Greetings and New Year's Message from the Mayor of Albufeira.
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