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100,000 euros to be spent replacing and renewing sand on Cartagena and Mar Menor beaches
Sand will be removed to prevent sludge from forming on shorelines between La Manga and San Ginés
Work is about to get underway on a large-scale operation to remove excess sand that has been dragged onto Cartagena’s beaches during the recent rains and storms. A 100,000-euro investment has been set aside to clean up the shorelines from La Manga and the Mar Menor to the western beaches of La Azohía and San Ginés.
This environmental work is vital, as a build-up of displaced sand leaves plenty of shallow water and dry land where algae can sit and rot, turning into smelly sludge and mud. When this hasn’t been tackled quickly enough in the past, beaches have had to be closed.
The work will be carried out in specific areas of the beaches using specialised machinery including scrapers and chain backhoes, while other shorelines will require the replacement of sand to be done by hand.
To protect the fragile ecosystem, anti-turbidity and anti-pollution barriers will be erected anywhere that the machinery may come into contact with the water.
The plan is to remove a few centimetres of sand close to the shore, in areas free of seagrass, posidonia and caulerpa, marine plants which are valuable to the environment. This debris is not part of the beach itself, but will have been blown or washed down to the shore during the storms.
Once that’s done, the area will be completely smoothed over to ensure the beaches are flat and even, without any sinkholes or steps along the waterline that could lead to the formation of sludge in the future.
The removed sand will be piled up and left to dry out so it can be used to raise and even out the beaches or repair holes.
The areas where the work will be carried out are:
- Los Urrutias: From Punta Brava to the first beach resort; from the first beach resort to the pier; El Caletón.
- Los Nietos: In the sections where the sand has disappeared from the beach, to replace it, allow the passage of cleaning machinery and give continuity to the beach.
- Islas Menores.
- Playa de Mar de Cristal: Next to the marina breakwater.
- La Gola – Playa Chica – Golamar (La Manga).
- Mediterranean Sea: Playa de la Urbanización Babilonia (La Manga).
- Mediterranean Sea: La Chapineta beach in La Azohía.
- Mediterranean Sea: San Ginés Beach.
In other news: San Javier rainwater management project tackles flooding and protects Mar Menor
Image: Ayuntamiento de Cartagena
