Águas de Gaia signs €75,000 contract to accelerate Pedras Amarelas works and Lavadores Beach project

Background to the Pedras Amarelas landslide

"This work has been necessary for six years. There was a landslide in the Pedras Amarelas area about six years ago. A more time-consuming intervention was planned. We found a contractor who is highly specialised in this area and who was able to offer us a much quicker and more economical solution. We expect the work to be completed in two to three weeks and at a fraction of the cost that was initially planned," Joaquim Poças Martins, a consultant for Águas de Gaia, told Lusa.

Águas de Gaia contract and revised costs

According to the same source, a €75,000 contract has been signed, bringing forward the work that had been set out with the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), which carried a budget of around €590,000, with € 502,000 funded through the EU Cohesion Fund.

Reinvesting funds: Santarém stream and Lavadores Beach

"We will channel this money into other works. Specifically, we are considering rehabilitating the Santarém stream, which is experiencing issues. It runs underground beneath Conforama and flows into Afurada. It needs urgent intervention, and in this way we can maximise the use of public money, carry out the work in a more economical way and use the funds for a more expensive project," Poças Martins added.

The work that started today will also bring forward completion of the project at Lavadores Beach by ‘months’, so that it can be ready ‘in time for the bathing season’, coordinated with the APA to use the remaining funds.