From what I have read recently, the navigable channel in and out of Alvor is increasingly silting up and presenting a problem for the larger fishing vessels. At low tide, this certainly looks to be the case. The arrival of a small suction dredger in the harbour a few weeks ago, raised an amount of interest among passers-by as did the large number of pipes, dropped at strategic positions. Over the last weeks, the pipe lengths have been floated out into the estuary, flanged together and led from the estuary side, across the dunes and on to the beach. I understand that the dredging process will not only improve navigation but also, the removed sand will be deposited on the beach to preserve the depth of sand along its length. It was on our walk this morning that we noticed the dredger was now coupled up to the pipeline out in the estuary and, with engine running! Being interested in all things mechanical and more so, man's interference with nature, we made our way over to the beach. This may have been just a trial run, involving a deep pit dug out by a JCB to see how successful the pumping operation was going to be. After all, the distance involved is quite significant. However, it soon became apparent that far from bringing clean sand from the estuary, the river bottom was thick black sludge. The sludge duly filled the pit and overflowed down to the sea, which in turn became black! The pumping ceased and the pit was filled in again, restoring the beach pretty much as it was. An interesting experiment, I wonder where we go from here?
Maureen Fillngham
29/3/2019 10:35:58 am
Hi there Comments are closed.
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