A day held yesterday at the Campus of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia presented the conclusions of various plans for the adaptation of ports, beaches and promenades, which stand out for their high vulnerability, with very high risks, especially for twelve promenades , and beach erosion and flooding, in which the threat to the three deltas stands out: Ebre, Llobregat and Tordera.
With regard to promenades, the most vulnerable are those that have an elevation of less than two meters above sea level, together with others with a beach that emerges in front of them of less than 15 meters or in the case where the areas behind the beaches are occupied by infrastructures and do not allow the dynamic evolution of the sand belt.
In the port area, the study detects the facilities most likely to be affected by climate change and refers to the loss of operability of docks and jetties due to the increase in sea level.
During the days, the promenades were presented with preference for action given their vulnerability. Some are those of the eroded beaches of Maresme and others of more vulnerable ones in Garraf, Tarragonès and Baix Ebre. The study proposes five different scenarios based on the increase in sea level attributable to climate change. Due to the effect of sea level, it is foreseeable that the load of the waves will increase, which will require additional reinforcement of the structures.
31 walks have been analyzed and the risk in each has been assessed. The study results in the prioritization of performances in twelve walks with a very high risk of being affected. Vilassar de Mar leads this ranking, followed by Premià de Mar, El Masnou, Montgat and Sitges. The first four, all in the Maresme, have serious problems with waves and undermining of the structure’s foundations. It is followed by the Riera de Pineda beach promenade and those of l’Escala, Llançà, l’Ampolla and Salou.
The urgent actions recommended by the study, in anticipation of strong storms and in case of probable erosion of the structure, are the placement of natural or artificial breakwaters and geotextile containers filled with sand (geocontainers) attached to the structure of the walk. In the medium and long term, breakwater protection is proposed to reduce the risk of sinking. It is advised to ensure resistant pavement and leeward drainage to help reduce wave damage and consider strengthening structures with additional shielding and more foundations.
The climate change adaptation study of the ports concludes that the highest risk is the loss of operability of the docks and piers in the face of sea level rise, although the use of floating docks that can be adapted is considered with relative ease. 82% of Catalan port facilities have a very low risk of inoperability at the docks. In the case of docks, this risk is 68%.
Another risk detected in ports is agitation. Between 16% and 25% of ports have a very high risk of excessive agitation. The instability of dikes, between 41% and 51% of cases, has a very high risk of instability. From the same study it follows that 27% of ports maintain a high risk of sand accumulation in the mouth.