Algarve news and information portal - AlgarveMais

It is the largest operation of artificial sand filling ever in the Algarve. Six beaches will receive more than one million cubic meters of sand during summer. The operation began in late May, and will only be ready later this year. The sand filling operation in the beaches of Forte Novo, Almargem, Loulé Velho, Vale do Lobo, Dunas and Golden Vale Garrão, will take place in over than five kilometers of coastline and is the largest ever held in the Algarve.

"This operation involves the dredging of one million two hundred and fifty thousand cubic meters of sand. The second largest was in the Sixties, in Praia da Rocha, with 900 thousand cubic meters, "says the source of the Hydrographic Administration of the Algarve (ARH).

According to the ARH, the work to be undertaken in the six beaches by the Danish company Rohde Nielsen , will use two dredgers that 'suck' the sand from the seabed, to be distributed later in the dunes, through a system of tubes.

The sand is initially sent through pumping stations and subsequently spread in a radius of 300 meters on each side of the tubes.

The project began on the beaches of Vale do Lobo and Dunas Douradas, being paid partly by this resort, by 30 percent. The remaining 70 percent is financed by EU funds.

According to the ARH, the artificial refill of 1,250,000 cubic yards of sand will allow an expansion from 30 to 45 meters of useful area in the beaches; the public entity estimates this action will contribute to postpone the problem of coastal erosion during another decade.

source: http://www.observatoriodoalgarve.com