Elche Council has awarded the works for the conditioning of a stormwater system in the Santa Pola area, in an infamous stretch of road of the Venta Durá establishment, which is usually one of the points of greatest flooding when there are floods caused by torrential rains.
The objective is for the first runoff waters to continue along the old Elche – Santa Pola road, and to build a collection and conduction there that diverts flows to the Second Diversion Canal. The successful bidder was Construcciones Hermanos Espín, for an amount of 119,255 euro, and will affect 630 metres or road.
The tender has lasted three months with an abbreviated procedure, and the works period is now six weeks. “So that it is ready for periods of possible cold drop,” explains the Councillor for Contracting, Claudio Guilabert. April and May being the usual rainiest period of spring, and so the completion is not possible before that, however.
The firm has waived its request for an increase in the price of the work in the event that it was necessary to work on holidays, work overtime or if there were again an increase in prices. With the planned system, the capacity of the existing infrastructure will be expanded, since it allowed water to go towards the road. It will now be redirected to be discharged into the nearby diversion canal to try to reuse the water.
The Government Board is aware that this is only a provisional and short-term solution. The basic solution, or the one that the City Council wants, is a storm tank that can drain the discharge in the area of the San Antón ravine – where the water will end up after the construction of the South Ring Road -, and that could be near the ravine, next to the Ronda Sur, where there are already three collectors. Although the Confederation of Segura, Aigües d’Elx, would have to be involved. They want to start the procedures during this legislature.
