The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) has awarded the construction contract for the sand transfer project at Rinconcillo Beach in its sixth phase, for an amount of 93,612 euros (VAT excluded) and a construction period of eight weeks. With this action, the port authority continues to fulfill the commitments made more than six years ago with the Algeciras City Council for the maintenance of the sandy area.
The project planned for this year contemplates the movement of 20,000 cubic meters of sand along the Algeciras coastline, with a total investment of 147,839 euros funded by the Port Authority's own resources. As in previous relocations, the work will be carried out using long-arm excavators for material loading, dumper trucks for transportation, and heavy machinery, such as a loader or bulldozer, for subsequent spreading on the beach.
This sixth transfer is being carried out while progress is made on processing the definitive solution to the problem of undermining that the sandy area suffers. The Port Authority is awaiting the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge to publish the project that will allow a structural approach to beach regeneration. Once the environmental process is cleared, the works for this intervention aimed at providing a permanent solution to the loss of sand affecting the northern area of Rinconcillo for years will be put out to tender.
In July 2024, the Coastal Demarcation of Atlantic Andalusia publicly presented the selected alternative for definitive regeneration. The project involves the construction of an L-shaped rubble dyke, approximately 150 by 50 meters in size, as well as a subsequent contribution of 160,000 cubic meters of sand. The action would allow for gaining about 27,000 square meters of surface on the beach. The estimated cost amounts to 2.8 million euros for the dyke and nearly 7 million for the sand contribution, an investment that will be co-financed by the APBA and the General Directorate of Coasts and the Sea.
The origin of the problem dates back to several factors identified by the Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the University of Cantabria in a study commissioned by the APBA in 2020 and presented in February 2021. The report pointed out three main causes of the deterioration of the sandy area, to which is added the impact of climate change on the coastline. Among the identified factors are the effects of port infrastructures, especially the extension of the North Dyke carried out at the end of the 1990s, which has caused the beach to tilt southward. The construction of the Charco Redondo dam is also noted, which limits the natural supply of sediments from the Palmones River to its delta and, therefore, to the beach. Additionally, the urbanization of part of the old dune system reduces the contribution of sand during natural movements of the beach profile in the winter months. The study proposed several alternative actions, all based on the construction of a support groin and the contribution of a significant volume of sand.