Awards and recognitions

The IV International Alcántara Bridge Prize, instituted by the San Benito de Alcántara Foundation to reward the public work of greatest cultural, technological, aesthetic, functional and social importance, awarded, in 1994, a runner-up prize to the “Canalization of the Segura River from Contraparada (Murcia) to Guardamar del Segura (Alicante) and recovery of the river’s copses”, a runner-up prize to the “Channeling of the Segura river from Contraparada (Murcia) to Guardamar del Segura (Alicante) and recovery of the river’s copses”, for being a work of singular social importance for the Segura river basin, as it would drastically reduce the frequent floods that devastated the area due to the phenomenon known as “cold drop”. This work provided the river with a capacity of 400 m3/s, which represented the defense of the middle and lower reaches of the Segura against flooding, carried out in the upper basin of the river by means of the construction of thirteen reservoirs which, with a total capacity of 178 Hm3, ensured, under the established return period, that the Segura riverbed, in its middle and lower reaches, would not receive a flow of more than the aforementioned 400 m3/s.

The promoter was the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Environment and SYNCONSULT was the project developer.