Posted on July 30, 2015
Faro council announced at the start of this week that dredging is to start on the canal between that city and Olhão. Work is due to start this month after a deal was signed between the POLIS programme and contractor Rohde Nielsen Portugal.
A statement from the council elaborated that hydrographical mapping for the project is already underway.
“This intervention, which will cover the entire area between the commercial docks and Olhão strait, satisfies some of the demands that the population and authorities have been making, to improve the navigability of the Ria Formosa and the condition of its bed, which are fundamental not only for the affirmation of the Ria as a natural area of excellence but, essentially, to improve the working conditions of families who make their living from it.”
Faro council said that the use of sand extracted for strengthening the dunes will also have “very positive effects both for minimising the level of risk to people and goods”, as well as for the “replacement and maintenance of the ecosystem’s balance in a particularly sensitive area of our territory.”
Finally, the council said, one of the most positive effects of the “hydrodynamic recovery operation”, which has an estimated budget of €1.5million, is the “restitution of better seaworthiness of the lagoon system, an objective considered essential for the affirmation of our county as a territory of riverside excellence.”
Faro city council said it is happy that work is now moving forward and hopes that the dredging of the Ramalhete and Ancão straits as well as access to Faro beach may “become a reality by the end of this year, to delight the population who enjoy and work on the Ria as well as those who visit us.”
