Portugal’s new Luís de Camões Airport in major flood plain risk

The area on the south bank of Lisbon’s River Tagus at Alcochete earmarked for the city’s new Luis de Camões International Airport is at major risk from the type of flooding witnessed in Portugal in January.

And of all the sites suggested over the past few years, it turns out that Alcochete, on a former army firing range, is the most expensive, representing a cost to Portugal’s budget of anywhere between €25-35Bn reports CNN.

Civil engineering could solve the problem by shifting the largest amount of earth ever moved in Portugal: 35 million cubic metres of earth, the equivalent of a 400-metres high compacted earth mound covering the entire stretch of the city’s Avenida da Liberdade, or a five km high tower of earth with the configuration of the Benfica football stadium.

But to shift that amount of earth would end up making the project a lot more costly. The road accesses to are a potential hazard because the area is a hazard for potential floods.

Paulino Pereira, an expert in Geotechnics, Transport, and Communication Ways calls for the project to be relocated.

In his opinion, the airport would be in a safer spot at Rio Frio, Montijo or on a higher part of Alcochete that is closer to Lisbon.

Source: CNN; Image: Architects impression