Ports of the Canary Islands has sent several old photographs of the port of La Tiñosa, to remember the reasons why the much-questioned concrete wall was placed on the dock. In this way, it has responded to the request of the Tías government group, which this Wednesday requested in a meeting the removal of the wall and the installation of "another type of protection" to recover the views of the sea.
The managing director of Ports Canarios, Juan José Martínez, also attended this meeting, who justified the construction of this concrete reinforcement to protect the shelter area of the port of La Tiñosa. Martínez explained that the dikes have the function of maintaining the safety and operation of the port and that "is a priority over any other consideration, although alternatives are sought to reduce the visual impact, without dispensing with the necessary safety".
In his meeting with the Fishermen's Association of La Tiñosa and representatives of the Tías City Council, Martínez referred to the walls built as reinforcement of the dikes, and projected as a result of the storms that hit the area in the 90s. He insisted that these storms "could be repeated". However, he was willing to study alternatives that "would allow the concrete blocks to be better integrated into the environment".
The director of Ports Canarios assured that he is in favor of achieving "the greatest visual integration of all the infrastructures of the islands, but without forgetting that, in this case, the absence of these defenses would leave the port unprotected". Thus, he warned that if the wall were removed, the use of the port would be impossible "with the presence of storms of certain characteristics and orientation, rendering the slipway, port facilities and the fishing sector, as well as boats in the interior pontoons, unusable".
Improvements in the port
During the meeting, Martínez also announced the actions that Ports Canarios will undertake "immediately" in Puerto del Carmen. Thus, he assured that 30 additional fingers will be installed, which will allow the expansion of up to 40 berths in the port. The installation of a fuel supply station in the port will also be put out to tender, to serve sports boats, the fishing fleet and vehicles.
Martínez indicated that a document will be drawn up to limit port spaces of Puerto del Carmen, which will allow the relocation of the fishing fleet to the outer pontoon and that of commercial vessels to the interior, thus responding to the requests of the two sectors. In addition, Martínez requested the "maximum involvement of all agents operating in the port for the maintenance and cleaning of the same, as well as for the safety of the facilities".
Works undertaken
The director of Ports Canarios explained that the works carried out on the La Tiñosa dock are included in the action "Expansion of the Port of Puerto del Carmen" and were awarded in September 2007 to the Temporary Union of Companies formed by Dragados-Horinsa-Drace, for an amount of 11,500,500 euros.
The works have basically consisted of the reinforcement and expansion of the current dike by means of two alignments of boxes with a total length of 210 meters, the construction of an interior promenade on said dike and another on the edge of the bank. The execution of these works has allowed the expansion of the amount of interior water of the dock and the use of previously unused areas for access to pontoons, as highlighted by the director of Ports.
It has also been achieved the expansion of the sheltered water and land area to cover the growing demand for moorings in the area and improve "the agitation conditions of the dock due to waves and delimit the areas of rocky shallows in the mouth".
In addition, "the edge of the bank has been integrated into the port environment and the urban center, keeping its environmental values intact and promoting the necessary actions for the environmental management of the port".
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