Residents fear a growing sinkhole on Rua de Joaquim Pinto de Lima in Santa Maria da Feira after floods as Council tenders works

Flooding earlier this year damaged the road surface and opened up a sinkhole on Rua de Joaquim Pinto de Lima, in Santa Maria da Feira, forcing the road to be closed near the bridge there. Six months on, residents say the damage is worsening and fear for safety, while the Council insists the tender for the works is already under way.

Flood damage on Rua de Joaquim Pinto de Lima, Santa Maria da Feira

The silence along that stretch of road sits uneasily with the anxiety felt by those who live nearby. Since the floods at the start of the year, traffic has been stopped because of damage to the bridge and the appearance of a sinkhole that, residents say, is still getting bigger.

Mara Silva recalls what happened during the flooding. "This was between late January and early February," she says. According to the resident, "the neighbour’s house was flooded to more than a metre high and, after that, those cracks started to appear on these side streets and on the bridge".

Worsening damage and fears for safety

Since then, she says, the deterioration has become increasingly obvious. Her husband, Eurico Neves, says the hole continues to expand. "Since April, I can tell you the hole has doubled in size," he reports, adding that "the whole surrounding surface is also already showing signs of giving way".

For residents, the worry goes far beyond the inconvenience of the closure. "Our fear is that this side wall could collapse, that hole could get bigger, and a child could walk past and fall in," he says, pointing to the retaining walls beside the watercourse.

No access to homes

Closing the road has also changed how people move around that residential area. Many drivers turn into the street without realising it is blocked and then have to reverse or turn around. "Every day vehicles come in here," Eurico Neves says, arguing that the extra traffic and constant manoeuvring are helping to speed up the breakdown of the tarmac.

Residents also complain about motorists who ignore the signage, making it harder to get through and, at times, even blocking access to homes.

Despite the contacts they say they have made with the authorities, the couple regret that a final response is still slow to arrive. Mara Silva is critical of what has been done so far. "They come, assess it, add another metre, take away a metre, put up tape - but solve the problem? No."

Another concern is the scope of the future work. Residents say they were told there has been a plan to refurbish the bridge for years, but they fear the intervention will not address everything that is wrong. As they describe it, the side walls and the stream banks show signs of weakness, and they worry their homes will remain exposed if there are new floods.

Council response on bridge replacement and stream-bank works

Asked by JN, the Santa Maria da Feira Council says it acted "as soon as defects were identified in the deck of the hydraulic crossing and in the support walls", starting the process required to replace the structure. The authority adds that the technical assessment concluded there was a need "to replace the structure and to intervene on the stream banks immediately upstream and downstream".

Reasons for the delay

The municipality says the slower timetable is due to the need to complete "various technical, environmental and administrative procedures", including securing authorisation from the Portuguese Environment Agency. Once that stage was completed, the detailed design was prepared and the public tender for the contract was launched, with a base price of 138 850 euros.

The Council adds that the work will include "replacing the current hydraulic crossing, rebuilding the road platform, which will then have two traffic lanes, a pavement on one side, and strengthening the stream banks immediately upstream and downstream of the structure".