Albufeira Mayor, José Carlos Rolo, explained the project “is one of the interventions foreseen in the Albufeira General Drainage Plan” adding that the work will be “carefully programmed to not hamper the normal functioning of the city’s tourism”.
The installation of a pumping system will, according to newspaper Correio da Manhã reports, prevent the accumulation of water in the most sensitive areas of the lowest-lying parts of the city during peak rain seasons.
Currently the water is drained into the sea through a tunnel, but sometimes the accumulation of sand prevents the passage of water.
The contract to build the pumping station was awarded for a value of 934 thousand euros and, according to the contract, the expected execution time is 240 days.
Meanwhile, assessment work is under way for the construction of a new tunnel that will channel the flow of the Albufeira stream directly into the sea.
This infrastructure will have an extension of about 1.4 kilometres and will discharge into the harbour.
The assessments, which involve the gathering of soil samples for analysis, will help avoid any unexpected surprises during the execution of the tunnel - a project that has an estimated cost of around 15 to 16 million euros.
In 2015, Albufeira was hit by floods that left a trail of destruction in the city’s downtown area, causing losses estimated at more than 20 million euros.