New Bay

130708 - The government has announced that it 'hopes' that the hiring of the definitive project of regeneration could take place “probably next year". It seems that the regeneration of the bay is now a 'complex' project because of the number of government agencies involved. I hope they don't use up all the money working on 'risk assessment' rather than getting the job done - I've seen that happen before. See Verdad link.

280508 - In an article in Issue 127 (23rd May -5th June) of the Costa Calida Informer there are two announcements: 1. that the technical project for the new marina will be completed by the end of August 2008 2. even more importantly that with the backing of the local government work on the regeneration project is likely to begin in September 2008.

The responsibility of the total project will rely on the coordination of three government bodies (sounds like everyone wants to be in on the act):

220408 - The technical project for the new Marina will be completed by the end of August (confirmed by the article above) - See original link

130208 - Two new articles re the bay and it's progress - Article 1 Link, Article 2 Link. Rough translation of the two articles

271107 - News that the regeneration of the bay will start in 2008. See Link in Spanish and a rough translation in English. Additional link describing the pilot.

121107 Scuttlebutt - The MOPU line (see picture) defines the actual Mediterranean coastline even though they seem to be well inland. New build cannot be made within 500 meters of this line. This contrasts with the 100 meters on the Mar Manor MOPU line. This is good news as it insures that Portman will not look like Benidorm in the next few years. The photo was taken near the old port.

061107 Scuttlebutt - It seems that the bay will come in 250 M to the new beach and a 14 meter wide tree lined promenade with lights and benches will stretch the length of the beach. Lavadero Roberto will be replaced with two upmarket hotels and a new auto via will make its was across the mountain from La Union. Planners are looking at a city of 20,000 and because of all its prestige, the government of the local region will be moving from La Union to Portman. However, in the interim the La Union government will have to settle with a newly refurbished listed building on the c/Mayor.

Reassurances that the bay will be completed in 2009. See La Verdad article of the 19/10/07 and Babel Fish Translation

The pilot has been encircled by fencing. The retaining wall (Showing current and in process) continues at a good rate and the steel infrastructure is being installed in Building 1. See pictures below dated 8/10/07

As with all the latest news the timing of the regeneration of the bay seems to slip. According to a recently found news article issued on the 1st of August, (see link) the bay will possibly be finished in five years. Supposedly the contracts to start the dig will be let in 2008.

This is a top view of the pilot. The pilot project will occur in three areas: Zone A (Green) will test for the best way to prepare the soil for vegetation; Zone B (Brown) will use treatments to stabilise the soil; and, Zone C (Red) is an experimental beach. The yellow line is the location of the large retaining wall shown in the status pictures below. One can see that the extent of the pilot is significant. More detailed descriptions and pictures may be found in Club Nautico and La Liga de Vecinos. The following is a side view of the pilot.

The pilot project has started for the recuperation of the ground in the contaminated bay site. The foundation has been laid for two buildings and the steel reinforcing is being put in place. In addition a large reinforcing wall is being put in place in front of Lavadero Roberto. The whole area in front of the old plant out to the first road (I estimate 1000 feet) is being fenced off and gated. New administration huts have been installed by the gate. Access to the the port will have to be through alternate routes. It is being billed as a pilot, if it is it's a big one. Engineering work started in 2007. More to come as the pilot progresses

230608 - Progress regarding power for the pilot. A new power tower is being installed in the sewage plant complex. It will probably replace the old transformer building that the local children have been trashing as well as the power for the pilot. More in the next couple of days. Sadly, the water for the pilot remains disconnected.

060608 - The sewer seems to be in but the electricity has not been connected. The safety wall on the side of the access road is continuing.

220508 - The pilot seems to be in limbo until the utilities (sewer and power) are connected. One would assume it will start in earnest after the connections are completed.

150508 - Work has been continuing on the mound that covers the Great Portman Creator. The sides have been tapered and a layer of topsoil put in place. All is quiet today as we wait for the next phase to start.

280408 - Rumour has it that work should start on the movement of soil from the bay to the pilot in a couple of months. The soil will be used as foundation for the several mounds that will populate the park. Additional work is being done on the wall adjoining the road.

270408 - The capping of Zona B seems to be complete. We wonder what will be the next move.

180408 - Work on Zona B continues and the area to cap grows smaller - view from road to Playa in picture on left. See picture on right - humble beginnings on 24 Oct. Note the Great Portman Creator in the foreground. That is now the vegetation mound. Great and professional progress.

140408 - Work on Zona B continues with a relatively small area to cap - view from Lavadero Roberto. They are also building a safety wall of stone (See two right pictures) on top of the large stone wall behind Lavadero Roberto. They are doing a great job however we do not know where this road will lead once completed.

100408 Work on the mound in Zona C (Left Photo) seems to have stopped at the same stage as Zona A. Zona B (Right Photo) is progressing with the area being stabilised getting smaller. Could be complete by the end of next week.

050408 Two views of Zona C show the progress. Left to right, the large rock covering has been completed and now a further smaller rock layer has been started.

020408 Views from Lavadoro Roberto of the top of the road and the Zona A mound. They are putting a safety wall along the top of the large stone wall. Note the trench around the top Zona A for water circulation.

010408 - The stabilisation continues in Zona B at a rapid rate (left image) ánd the . Zona C is quickly becoming another mound (right image). The parade of 35ton trucks full of rock continues on a daily basis.

170308 - The stabilisation continues in Zona B. We are seeing a parade of 35ton trucks full of rock. See what look like small mounds that are really 6 foot high.

29/02/08 - Left to right - View of pilot from Cineza. Work on Zone C is progressing. The ditch created in Zone A is being filled with course gravel. The truck access road is getting a stone safety wall.

26/02/08 - Work has started on Zone C (see Zone Maps above) with the levelling of the contaminated earth and the application of limestone.

The retaining wall trench is being dug (see top right illustration below) which will encircle the limestone layer and planting earth

15/02/08 - Posted at La Liga an update re the Pilot. Sorry for the definition as these are copies of copies. Expand the browser page to see more definition. a very rough summary translation of the images left to right and down is as follows:

Top Middle - Shows pictures of the areas of the pilot buildings, the green pilot area, the area of stabilization that has been covered with at least a foot of compressed rock, the experimental beach area and the notation that the area outside the fence will be researched in the pilot buildings to ascertain the best use of the soil or the best way to renovate it.

Top Right - Pilot project for the regeneration of the bay of Portman. The main problems in the approach to the recuperation of the contaminated soil in the bay of Portman are: 1. Heavy metal contamination; and, 2. Soil stabilisation. The Plan of work has 4 objectives: 1. Diagnosis and analysis of the risks associated with the actual contamination; 2. Mapping the areas of the bay according to their stabilisation needs; 3. Demonstrating through the pilot the technologies needed for decontamination; and 4. Determine uses for the contaminated soils.

The four objectives are detailed below with the first objective in process. No date given for completion however one can see the work as it progresses.

Center Left - Decontamination technology used to stabilise the soil. The image on the lower left shows the layers being built up for the vegetation pilot. On top of the contaminated soil, on a mound where the great Portman creator once was, a layer 100 cm of limestone is mixed with the contaminated soil. As of 12 Feb this was in process. Then a 40 cm of granular material will be applied as the next layer (it looks like they are in the process of applying that lay as of 18/02/08). The final 60 cm layer will be proper soil for planting.

The images on the right hand side of the page show (top) a top view of the pilot parcel with the arrow showing the slope, the flow of the water and the position of the holes used for diagnosis of the water at various levels in the dune. There will be several of these dunes in the final application. The bottom view is a side view of the mound showing the depth of the water diagnosis holes.

Center Center - Chemical and X-ray diffraction tests will be used to determine the result of the soil mix

Center Right - Most of phase 1 has been completed or is in the final stages of execution. In addition the design of the lab has been completed as well as the selection of equipment and the processing containers.

Bottom Left - Diagram explaining that the quality of sources must be constantly monitored to reduce risk. The vegetation pilot will go one for one year where the chemical and isotopes will be monitored in the bore holes.

Bottom Right - Process for reviewing the effects of direct contact (absorption, ingestion, breathing) of the contaminated soil and indirect contact (absorption by plants, food, the Med).

03/02/08 - The vegetation mound (see Zone A above) continues to be worked by folding limestone dust into the soil in hopes that will stabilise it so it will support growth. The whole pilot has been encircled by a 6 foot metal fence. We await the next dramatic event.

The Blue area shown in the pictures above is now being covered with tons of bright white marble dust. According to what has been reported, the marble duct will assist in making the soil viable for vegetation. The little people gathered on the marble dust in the picture on the right are visiting dignitaries with their police guard and various TV crews. I expect more to come in the next few days..

The pilot continues to move forward with the fencing starting to encircle the beach pilot area. See red area above.

The pilot is moving forward at a speed and professionalism not normally attributed to Spain by our beloved committee. Kudos to the management. The metal fence has been extended to encompass the beach sub-pilot. It's all happening.

The almost one foot thick rock barrier has been extended and the progress substantial day by day. See reference plan above. I fear the loss of our quiet little village.

These are photos taken from Mont Ceniza and the lighthouse. One can see the immense size of the project and the substantial progress that has been made since this summer.

This is an overview of the pilot taken from Monte Ceniza. The red line shows the pilot fence. 'A' shows that the Great Portman Crater is almost fill of replacement earth and will soon be capped with rock as in 'B'. 'C' is the area that will be capped with rock as the pilot progresses. A, B, and C are Zona B in the above photos.

A effort to fill in the Great Portman Crater continues and the rock barrier in Zona B (See above ) continues to expand.

The retaining wall may be finished to the creek entrance by the end of this week.

The main pilot building is now roofed and the rock barrier and wall are continuing.

Earth will soon be transferred from this pile to make room for the retaining wall and to fill the Great Portman Crater.

The pilot buildings are continuing to take shape. The brickwork continues and the roof has been put on the main building. The retaining wall (see yellow in the top picture) continues and the provision of the Zona B rock barrier has started. (The extent of the Zona B barrier is shown as brown in the top picture.) Note that the Great Portman Crater is being filled with earth from other parts of the bay as shown in the foreground of the picture.

Tons of rock are being brought in to stabilise areas that will probably be either roads or parking areas.

The natural stone retaining wall continues in front of Lavadero Roberto (the old processing buildings) stabilising the upper slope.

The Great Portman Crater, rumoured in some circles to have been caused by a meteorite, in front of Lavadero Roberto (the old processing buildings) is being filled with soil that had been dumped in other parts of the pilot zone thus cleaning one area and filling the other.

Portman will have a 1300 metre beach and a marina with 1000 (not 700 as previously reported) moorings Looks like the gin palaces will be on their way. Latest word is engineering for the bay will be completed in June. However digging will not start in October '07 as previously reported but has been pushed back to at least April of 2008. More on this after a visit to La Union's Planning Department.

Latest word is the fill from the bay will fill the San Jose pit. It's located in the valley to the left behind the Portomagno site, the same one the water line from La Union will be coming through. Looks like it will require a lot of infrastructure upgrade to get the roads in shape to support the trucks.