Barra do Douro North Pier
Secil - Companhia Geral de Cal e Cimento, SA and the Order of Engineers awarded the Secil Civil Engineering Award 2009 to the Barra do Douro North Pier, a project designed by engineer Fernando Silveira Ramos. The award, recognised as the civil engineering reference in Portugal, distinguishes the most significant project in the area every two years.
Fernando Silveira Ramos
Porto (Portugal)
Civil Engineering
More about Barra do Douro North Pier
The work awarded is a structure built on the north bank of the mouth of the Douro River to resist the direct action of storm waves and currents of major floods, which incorporates more than 65,000 m3 of concrete and 2,500 tons of steel.
For engineer Fernando Silveira Ramos, winning the Secil Award, which he describes as "the Nobel of engineering in Portugal", was received with reinforced reasons for personal satisfaction. The project required "more than ten years of work and struggle, above all struggle", says Fernando Silveira Santos, highlighting "the difficulties inherent in an ambitious programme that combined hydraulic, sedimentary, structural, landscape, navigation and urban integration requirements".
The author of the award-winning work is keen to emphasise that it was a " collective work" carried out by "a cohesive and multidisciplinary technical design and consulting team". He lists, among the main flagships of this project, "the victory of imagination and innovation in the engineering work over the usual grey and repetitive pragmatism", as well as "the transformation of the 'strong and ugly' coastal pier into a quality urban and recreational facility for public use".
| Project: | Barra do Douro North Pier |
| Owner: | Instituto Portuário e dos Transportes Marítimos, I.P. Eduardo Martins – Economista (Administrator - General Coordination) Francisco Lopes – Civil engineer (Administrator) Amaral Coutinho – Civil Engineer (Local Representative) Ludgero Gonçalves (Local Representative) |
| Constructor: | ACE Consortium – Molhes do Douro Rui Vieira de Sá – Civil Engineer (Somague Engenharia - General Coordination) Eduardo Gomes – Civil Engineer (Irmãos Cavaco - General Coordination) Paulo Cruz Ferreira – Civil Engineer (Somague Engenharia - Coordination of Construction Work) José Mota Fraga – Civil Engineer (Somague Engenharia - Construction Management) |
| Project Team: | Consulmar – Projectistas e Consultores, Lda. Fernando Silveira Ramos – ECivil Engineer (Direction and Coordination) Carlos Abecasis – Civil Engineer (Project Coordinator) Alexandre Ferreira da Costa – Civil Engineer (Project Management and TA at the Work Site) Pedro Martins – Civil Engineer (Structures) Lucília Luís – Civil Engineer (Coastal Engineering) Miguel Robert – Civil Engineer (Maritime Hydraulics) José Manuel Morim de Oliveira – Civil Engineer (Project Coordinator) Carlos Prata – Architect HIDROMOD – Modelação em Engenharia, Lda. Adélio Silva – Civil Engineer (Mathematical Modelling) PROCESL – Engenharia Hidráulica e Ambiental, Lda. Nuno Matos – Biologist (EIA) Maria João Sousa – Environmental Engineer ( AT on site) NEMUS – Gestão e Requalificação Ambiental, Lda. Pedro Bettencourt – Geologist (EIA) |
| Supervisory Team: | DHVTECNOPOR / DHVFBO António Alves Dinis – Civil Engineer (Coordinator) José Joaquim Ranção Ferreira – Civil Engineer (Resident Engineer) |
