For the first time in Spain, a specification for marine infrastructures requires the use of
ECOncrete will be the "ecological concrete" that will be used in the remodeling of the outer dam of the Port of Cala Rajada (Mallorca), works that have already begun and that aim to reinforce this element to withstand the rise in sea level that climate change can bring. This is the first time in Spain in which the tender specifications for a work in a marine infrastructure require compensatory measures such as the use of the aforementioned "ecological concrete", along with other more traditional ones such as the planting of posidonia.
The company Melchor Mascaró (with the technical collaboration of the RUBAU Group), which was awarded the tender for the execution of these works, recently signed the agreement with the Israeli start-up ECOncrete, which has developed a solution to ensure that the concrete used in all kinds of marine infrastructures is, unlike traditional concrete, compatible with life, both flora and fauna.
The head of Melchor Mascaró's Group, José Ramis de Ayreflor, has highlighted the importance of being able to produce "biopowering ecological concrete" without altering standard construction processes and adds that "we hope to be able to use ECONCRETE technology in other marine infrastructure projects".
The Director of Sales for Southern Europe of ECOncrete, Paolo Tedone, has highlighted the importance of the fact that, for the first time, an administration requires in a tender the use of this type of concrete, and adds that "what the Balearic Government chaired by Francina Armengol has done is a first step of something that will end up being common in all works in the marine field. We cannot continue to use concrete incompatible with biodiversity in seas and oceans when there is a solution that has already proven its effectiveness."
Indeed, the solution developed by this Israeli company, founded by two marine biologists, has already been implemented in more than ten countries, mainly in the United States, with very satisfactory results, demonstrating that there is a feasible path for a more solid infrastructure that, in turn, benefits the environment; something very relevant, taking into account the tens of thousands of kilometers of the marine environment that receive the impact of these infrastructures. In Spain it is being used in ongoing projects in the ports of Vigo and Malaga.
The tender approved in the Balearic Islands for the works of the port of Cala Rajada points out the need to "significantly reduce the intensity of negative impacts on the marine environment and, with it, on fisheries resources". Therefore, in section 6.2.3 it is required as a compensatory measure "the use of "ecological concrete" in the manufacture of the blocks that will make up the slope, which will increase the capacity to become a reef and its effectiveness".
The other novel requirement in this tender, in addition to the use of "ecological concrete", is the planting of new Posidonia Oceánica in an area equivalent to 1.5 times that affected by direct occupation, which in the case of the port of Cala Rajada is an area of 1.5 x 2,693 = 4,000 m2.
