On June 30, the Minister for the Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, was in Figueira da Foz to sign the contract for artificial beach nourishment on the stretch of coastline south of Figueira da Foz (Cova Gala - Costa de Lavos), worth 21 million euros.
“The average annual retreat of the sand, according to studies carried out by the Portuguese Environment Agency, has reached 5.5 meters in recent years, and 52% of the area to be intervened is already in a process of extreme erosion,” the government official said at the time.
The work will be carried out between spurs 3 and 5, in stretches, and will not affect the next bathing season. It will allow the transfer of 3.3 million cubic meters (m3) of sand to combat coastal erosion over 120 days.
The intervention involves dredging sediment in an area to the north of the Figueira da Foz port´s north breakwater and depositing it on the beaches to the south, which are seriously affected by erosion phenomena.
Stressing that this is an emblematic project due to its large scale, the Minister for the Environment and Energy considered that the work to be carried out is one of the most significant planned on the national coastline.
“It´s the largest artificial beach nourishment project ever carried out in Portugal,” said Maria da Graça Carvalho, stressing that the project is extremely complex and involves an area of beach and dunes that had been suffering from severe erosion, and that it will be the first to be carried out in the country.
Restoring the coastline to its 2010 position
The president of the Portuguese Environment Agency, during the session that took place at the Town Hall, said that the intervention aims to restore the coastline to its 2010 position and will last between five and seven years, depending on the harshness of the winters.
According to Pimenta Machado, the contract will lead to a retreat of Praia da Claridade, “which is very wide”, without affecting the bathing season, the only period when this type of work can be carried out.
Despite his satisfaction at the signing of the contract, the mayor of Figueira da Foz, Pedro Santana Lopes, also warned the APA at the time of the need to intervene at Leirosa beach, also on the south coast of the municipality.
“It´s a very important day for Figueira da Foz,” said the mayor, who regretted, however, the time it took for these processes to be implemented.
This process has been delayed for years, having been publicly announced for the first time in 2019 by the then government, but the timetable stipulated until today had never been implemented.
The project has funding of 18 million euros from the Thematic Program for Climate Action and Sustainability 2030, plus 2.5 million euros from the APA and a small contribution from the Port of Figueira da Foz and the City Council.
Work on the so-called “big shot” - under the technical responsibility of the APA - has already begun, as Pedro Santana Lopes mentioned on social media.
Fonte: https://www.figueiranahora.com
Fonte da foto: CMFF