Palaphitic pier of the Óbidos Lagoon at risk

Quatro of the nine anchorages of the palaphitic dock of the nadadouro, on the north bank of Lagoa de Óbidos, collapsed due to lack of maintenance of the structure built in 2023 and currently at risk of being completely destroyed.

The warning for the “existence of weaknesses in several anchorages” was given in May by the president of the Junta de Freguesia do Nadadouro, Filipe Pereira, elected by the PSD/CDS-PP coalition, which has since called for the intervention of the Caldas da Rainha House, in the district of Leiria, to stop the degradation of the pillars that support the palaphitic pier.

The danger of falling structure materialized last August, with “the collapse of the first anchorage and, to this day, have already collapsed three more, out of a total of nine,” he told the mayor to the Lusa agency.

The junta, which after the collapse of the first anchorage banned the others, today lamented that, although “it continued to request an intervention”, it was not done by the Queen’s House of Caldas “no work of prevention or stabilization” of the wooden structure.

According to the mayor of the parish, located on the north bank of Lagoa de Óbidos, the information transmitted by the House of Caldas da Rainha is that “he requested an opinion from the University of Minho to assess whether the material used was adequate and met the requirements of the project”. However, added Filipe Pereira, experts “have not yet addressed the site” predicting that this may happen next week.

According to the information provided by the council to the parish council, “the company [constructor] indicates a small crustacean as the cause of the problem in wood”, but without a scientific opinion that points to the causes of the collapse of the four anchorages, it remains unsolved “a conflict between the municipality and the company”.

Without intervention, “the palaphitic pier will disappear over time, and it seems that that time is being too fast”, lamented the board president, who has no “ability to make an intervention that can ensure this structure” and ensure the continuity of the pier, which “became a symbol, an icon of the parish and received many visitors daily”.

“It is a pleasant place to be, it has a historical component, of tradition”, describes the mayor, admitting it is “frustrating to see him fall, or in this state”.

The Palaphytic Pier was built in 2023, in the place where, in the past, an old structure would have been used as a mooring by fishermen and shellfish gatherers, eventually abandoned a few decades ago, when the Lagoon of Óbidos was no longer navigable.

The structure, inaugurated by the former joint executive in October 2023, has nine wooden anchorages and has an extension of about 400 meters, based on partially submerged wooden pillars.

The project represented an investment of around EUR 330,000 resulting from an application for the LAG (Local Action Group) West Coast, a partnership between public and private entities, managed by ADEPE (Peniche Development Association) and promoting sustainable local development of the fisheries sector and fishing areas of five municipalities: Alcobaça, Nazareth, Óbidos, Caldas da Rainha and Peniche.

The quay was banned in August and, in a publication of the social network Facebook, the junta appealed to users of the space, which integrates a trail inserted in the project Know, Protect and Value the Lagoon, which respect the signage and adopt a conscious use of the surrounding area, until the conclusions of the technical evaluation on the safety conditions are known.

“ It is very important that people are aware of the danger they are in, given that they are structures that are several meters high, whose foundations may give way and cause serious falls”, the president warned.