Alcácer do Sal advances with work to stabilize castle slope

A Câmara de Alcácer do Sal, in Setúbal district, will move forward with the stabilizing endeavor of the south side of the castle, an investment of 1.9 million euros, to prevent further landslides.

In a statement, the municipality explained that the “large-scale intervention” was awarded this Thursday at a meeting of the camarary executive of socialist majority.

According to the municipality, in addition to repairing the damage caused by bad weather, which devastated Alcácer do Sal earlier this year, the work “represents a bet on the protection of the territory”.

The project aims to prevent new landslides due to the instability of the land that puts at risk residents and users of roads surrounding the hillside of the city castle.

In February, following the passage of the Kristin depression, the municipality requested the mobilization of the Army military, the engineering specialty, who stabilized that slope after having suffered landslides “in various places and repeatedly”.

To Lusa, Lieutenant Tiago Oliveira, commander of the detachment of the Engineering Regiment No 1, based in Tancos, in the municipality of Vila Nova da Barquinha, Santarém district, indicated that the military found that “there were areas in the slopes beneath the castle wall that had given way a little” and that “several portions of land had fallen”.

The intervention now awarded will focus “specifically on the areas on the Santa Luzia road and access to the Bairro da Graça”, the municipality needed.

The work will be articulated between the company responsible for its execution, the municipality of Alcácer do Sal, the Cultural Heritage IP and the Regional Coordination and Development Commission of Alentejo, added.

In the statement, the city council emphasized the complexity of the project, which will have a “strong impact on the safety and mobility in the city” of the Alentejo coast.

“It’s a reality that has been dragging on for about two decades and that has worsened following the storms earlier this year,” Kristin said.

The municipality said it was now seeking “external financing” to support the investment, as this will be only the first of several interventions planned to consolidate the entire slope.