Protection and repair work on the Bajamar dam, on the lagoon coast, is progressing at a good pace. In fact, to date 240 of the 510 concrete blocks planned to protect the dam have already been placed, and the estimate is that all of them will be in place by October 15, according to data from the Technical Service of Tourism of the Council of Tenerife.
In this regard, the president of the Cabildo, Pedro Martín, highlighted the efficiency with which the transfer of the cubes is being carried out. “This will allow the access road cuts produced by said transport to disappear, and the effect on traffic and the daily life of the population of the area will be much less during the work of the next phase,” he valued.
Pedro Martín pointed out that the action, “which was highly anticipated by the population, and which was awarded by the Cabildo, by emergency means, for an amount of 2,013,798 euros, will meet the needs of Bajamar, which will become a much more attractive location for the population and visitors ”.
The first block of this long-awaited work was placed in the middle of last August, although in previous days preparatory work had already been carried out on the environment.
It should be remembered that, consequently, the beach has been closed to the bathroom since the beginning of last August and will continue to be so while the works are carried out, although the pools remain open.
Manufactured the cubes
Today, the 510 concrete blocks that were being manufactured in an esplanade near the general access road to Bajamar, at a rate of 10 per day, have already been created and that have been stored at that point for later transfer to the dike. “One of the things that is costing us the most is the little space we have in the area to make the blocks, but that has also made us go faster in their placement,” according to the Council of Tenerife.
In fact, 240 of these protection blocks have already been placed, “which allows us to go on working on repairing the concrete dam, which is broken, has cracks and parts have come off,” they explained.
“The protection of the blocks allows us to put in the machines to re-concrete and build that dam, covering cracks and rebuilding it. That started in August and continues now in September, which is when we have the best sea ”, they added.
In addition, currently they are also working on the placement of the stone breakwater. “In the nose of the dike it has a rounded area and is protected with natural breakwater, that is, with very large stones, and that is now being worked on,” they indicated.
Next week, it is planned to place another 100 more blocks, between the 27th and 29th specifically, to increase “the protection on the dike and to be able to make its repair more safely”.
The works will continue with the placement of the last batch of blocks, between October 13 and 15. “And once all the blocks are placed, on October 15, the repair of the concrete dam will continue, already completely protected and safe from the sea, which is quite complex because very large sections have to be concreted and that takes a lot weather. The stairway from the dike to the beach will also be rebuilt and the breakwater placed on the hill will continue ”, pointed out from the Cabildo’s Technical Tourism Service.
With these works, it will be until approximately November 15, when it is estimated that the new dike is “already completely finished” and then the complementary works will begin, such as, for example, the replacement of walls, railings, the broken pavement. , the arrangement of the paths or the solarium, among others. With the aim of, “at the beginning of next year deliver the completely finished work, between January and February.” In this sense, from the Cabildo de Tenerife they valued that the works are going “very well and on time” and that, until now, they have not encountered any major problem or the sea in very bad condition, so, if everything remains the same, the deadlines initially set will be met.
Dispel the energy of the wave
The Bajamar dike has suffered continuous damage every time there has been a storm. The damage that it currently has derive, for the most part, from one December 2012 and another in 2013.
The works that are being carried out now will make it possible to improve the functioning of the dike, with the placement of a defense as a breakwater.
“The dam that was there was incomplete, it was a vertical wall that could not withstand the onslaught of a wave directly, that made even half Bajamar rumble,” they indicated from the Cabildo’s Technical Tourism Service.
“What the new breakwater does, with almost 7 rows of blocks that have up to three heights, is that the energy that a wave brings is dissipated, so that when it reaches the vertical wall of the dike it no longer has strength”, they explained.
For this reason, “now it will hold infinitely more, which does not mean that when a very big storm comes, it could be the case that the height of the waves exceeds the dike… but that will be very rarely. To avoid that, a five-storey dam would have to be made, but there would be an inordinate thing left, obscuring the entire view of the sea. It would be an exaggerated investment for a protection that is not needed ”, they pointed out in this regard.
