The heavy rain falls in recent days on the south coast of the province have been especially damaging along the coastline of the Vega Baja, where they have left significant destruction to the beaches.
In Orihuela Costa the heavy downpours have caused the landslide of a cliff on the maritime promenade that connects Cabo Roig with Cala Capitán. The fall of numerous rocks was largely held by the metal mesh that was installed a little over a year ago to avoid landslides in the area, which are common, and which could cause serious injuries, but in some areas the weight of the fall actually broke the restraints allowing the rock to cover a large part of the promenade. Now the infrastructure must be repaired.
First on the scene were representatives of FAOC – Federación de Asociaciones de Orihuela Costa-Alicante, which was quick to pass on their warnings to the council.
While pedestrians were required to avoid the pile of fallen rocks that covered the walkway, the councillor for Beaches, Luisa Boné, said that the mesh had “done its job” in preventing the collapse from reaching the beach. She denied that the breakages were as a result of poor workmanship, as were reported by some residents.
“The work was completed very well and the mesh did exactly what was required, which was to provide greater security to pedestrians as they walked along the pathway”.
Boné added that council staff have now been in touch with the company that installed the mesh which has visited the area or inspect the damage and to assess the work required to effect repair.
The original work was carried out in May of last year for a tender price of 250,000 euros, although it was awarded for 187,000 euros. It consisted of covering areas of the coastal cliffs with a wire mesh with the purpose of avoiding landslides due to the erosion of the rock.
In addition to the damage caused along the rockface, the intense rains have dragged all kinds of debris and stones down the ravines and onto the Orihuela Costa beaches.
The rainwater has washed away a lot of the sand leaving many exposed rocks that were previously buried. The Department of Beaches announced that it will take them a few days to replace the sand and remove the rocks in the areas where there has been the maximum amount of damage.
Image: FAOC
