Ferrovial has completed the upgrade and optimization works at Ciutadella Outer Port in Menorca after six months. The 3.14-million-euro project sought to extend the eastern and western berths to accommodate vessels of up to 190 meters in length optimally and safely.
It consisted of installing two dolphins — isolated structures that provide support and serve as mooring points for ships. Connecting walkways were also installed, and the facilities were equipped with moorings and fenders for greater safety and operational effectiveness.
Ferrovial had to adopt exceptional measures to minimize the impact on the area’s marine ecosystem during the project. A series of preventive, corrective and mitigating actions were implemented before and during project execution, in accordance with the Environmental Oversight Plan established by Ports de Illes Balears, the Balearic Islands ports authority, in order to reduce the impact on the environment as much as possible.
Measures to protect the marine biosphere
Ferrovial followed all the protocols established by the Environmental Oversight Plan to minimize the impact on the environment. One of the factors that had to be taken into account during the work was the presence of protected species, such as posidonia seagrass and some native corals and mollusks. The area was monitored to ensure that there were no specimens in the environs, and the plant species present were protected with turbidity curtains. The project also included a commitment to plant posidonia seagrass in an area equivalent to that occupied by the new infrastructure in order to have a positive impact on the seabed.
Noise production was also controlled rigorously in order to limit noise pollution in the biosphere. Once the project was completed, two surveys carried out using underwater robots and divers confirmed that it had not resulted in alterations of plant species apart from the area occupied by the newly built infrastructures themselves.
