Emergency work on Line 9 Tram d’Alacant through Mascarat area completed
In parallel, work continues on the construction of the new Mascarat and Algar viaducts in Altea with the aim of having them completed before the end of the year.
The Minister for the Environment, Infrastructure and Territory at the Generalitat Valenciana, Vicente Martínez Mus, has visited the emergency works that have been carried out on Line 9 of the TRAM d’Alacant (the section linking Benidorm and Dénia) as it passes through the Mascarat area in Altea.
These works, carried out by FGV, began last April to deal with the damage caused by the fire that affected the railway infrastructure and the condition of the surrounding areas of this line the previous January. The work has been carried out along nearly three kilometres between the stations of Olla d’Altea and Calp and has had a budget of three million euros.
The visit was also attended by the regional secretary for Infrastructure and Transport, Javier Sendra; the general director of Transport, Manuel Ríos; the managing director of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV), Alfonso Novo; the mayor of Altea, Diego Zaragozí and representatives of the company that carried out the works.
The minister explained that “these works have been carried out in parallel and in coordination with the works on the new railway viaducts of Mascarat and Algar on the same Line 9, with a joint budget exceeding 16 million euros and financed by European Funds”.
He also confirmed that work to dismantle the original bridge over the Mascarat ravine and the installation of the new viaduct will begin. He added that when the project to renovate the viaducts of Algar and Mascarat are finished, the diesel-electric propulsion units Series 5000 will be able to operate between Dénia and Benidorm without the need for a transfer.
Emergency Works
The emergency works have been carried out to deal with the damage caused by the fire that took place between in early January in the vicinity of the Campomanes and Mascarat marinas, which spread and extended to the west due to strong winds, reaching beyond the AP-7 motorway and affecting the railway infrastructure in the section between the Olla d’Altea and Calp stations.
The work being carried out includes the completion of the renovation of the affected infrastructure with the removal of trees, the reduction of possible geological risks, the reconstruction of an embankment and drainage infrastructure as well as the reduction of erosion on slopes and hillsides close to the track layout.
Currently, the service cut affects the Altea-Teulada section, this time due to the works on the Algar and Mascarat viaducts. In the final phase of these two projects and before their completion in December, the closure will include the Garganes-Calp section.
Mascarat Viaduct Replacement
The works at Mascarat, with a tender budget of 8,266,980.43 euros, involve the replacement of the current viaduct, built between 1913 and 1915, with a new one with similar characteristics and maintaining an aesthetic similar to that of the original viaduct. The new viaduct will have a total length of 43.20 metres, spanning the ravine with a single isostatic span and with the same characteristics as the original deck (PRATT-type metal structure).
In addition, the Mascarat work includes the replacement of the current superstructure of the ballast railway surface with slab track along the entire route (approximately 1.5 kilometres), the protection and execution of 12,475 m2 of slope surface using triple torsion mesh and the placement of dynamic screens.
