An independent engineering study cancels any possibility of intervention on the old structure, which was heavily damaged between the DANA of December 2019 and the Gloria storm of January 2020.
The PAV will provide 5 million euros to build a new pier.
The project will be developed in collaboration with Sagunto City Council.
The port of Sagunto will have a new pontoon. The Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) will undertake the construction of a new pier in the port of Sagunto given the impossibility of developing any kind of restoration of the previous one, a structure that has been in operation for 43 years (of which it was only operational for the first 13), always exposed to the harshest weather conditions and which has not been able to withstand the last DANA (December 2019) or the virulence of the Gloria storm (January 2020).
In fact, the PAV’s decision to build a new structure was taken after trying to undertake a restoration project that was made impossible in December 2019, when a DANA hit the Valencian coast with virulence and caused the first section of the pontoon to collapse. A month later, in January 2020, the Gloria storm – with waves of more than 7 metres off the coast of Sagunto – aggravated the situation and led to the destruction of spans 19 and 20 of the already battered structure.
After the DANA and Gloria:
– 82% of the openings showed an increase in damage,
– 29% of the openings were newly damaged after the December AAD
– In 27% of the openings there was new damage after the Gloria storm.
In addition, there was “the exhaustion of metal piles” in 12% of the foundations, displacements in the deck and 59% of the elements (deck and piles) showed increases in visible reinforcement, as indicated in the study “Analysis of the evolution of the deterioration and structural viability of the Sierra Menera pier (Sagunto) reservoir after the DANA of December 2019 and the Gloria Flood of January 2020” prepared for the PAV by “FHECOR Ingenieros Consultores”.
After an exhaustive analysis of each of the parts and constructive elements of the structure, it was determined in the aforementioned study that “the Gloria storm could have compromised the structural integrity of the pier due to the extraordinary magnitude of the atmospheric phenomenon that acted on the pontoon and produced irreversible damage to the structure”.
The engineering work adds that between the two storms the evolution of the damage has not been that which could be expected from “a process of progressive deterioration such as that observed in previous inspections”. In its conclusions it indicates that “due to the importance and extent of the damage identified in section 1 of the pier, which arose after the Gloria storm, and based on the evidence presented in this analysis, it is concluded that the structural viability of the pontoon cannot be guaranteed”.
“For all these reasons, the classification of the structural viability of the pontoon must be modified, as after the DANA and the Gloria storm, the damage to the deck and the foundations cannot be considered compatible with structural safety, and consequently its safety cannot be guaranteed, nor can any intervention be considered that can guarantee it with the required reliability”.
Commitment to Sagunto
As Aurelio Martínez explained after the press conference of the PAV’s Board of Directors held today in Valencia, “the pier was designed for waves of up to 5.5 metres high, and it is clear that the last storms that climate change is bringing have exceeded 7 metres, causing irreparable damage, so there is no choice but to demolish it and build a new one that will be taller and more resistant, thinking of the storms that will be increasingly aggressive”.
“We are going to fulfil the investment commitments related to the pier that we signed almost two years ago with the Sagunto Town Council, with the previous Mayor and, more recently, with the current one. Because what is signed is signed, and it must be fulfilled. Restoring the pontoon to its current height would have little future. A new one must be built. We are very respectful of Sagunto and its town council”, added the President of the PAV.
The demolition and cleaning of the waters that will be required to remove the old pier is budgeted at 8 million euros, which will be paid for by the PAV. For the new pier in the port of Sagunto, the Port Authority of Valencia also has a budget of 5 million euros (those provided for in the agreement). The project will be developed in collaboration with Sagunto Town Council and will combine social, tourist and cultural use, within a framework of maximum security for citizens.