Court of Auditors grants favourable approval to Raminho Road project and work starts next week
Ponta Delgada
Secretaria Regional do Turismo, Mobilidade e Infraestruturas
The Court of Auditors has just granted favourable approval to the Slope Stabilisation Works Contract for the Raminho Regional Road on Terceira Island, awarded by the Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructures to the company Transjet - Construções e Transportes, Lda.
Representing an investment of more than 2.3 million Euros (VAT included), the work will start next week. It is intended to stabilise the slopes along the main road between the parishes of Serreta and Raminho, municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, which has been closed since January 14, 2024, due to landslides caused by the seismic crisis that has hit Terceira Island since mid-2022.
This intervention aims to permanently solve the instability of slopes, create a new drainage system and enhance the safety of the road.
Since June 2022, Terceira Island has been facing a seismovolcanic crisis, with a significant increase in seismic activity in the Santa Bárbara Volcano perimeter. This resulted in the fall of rock blocks on Regional Road no. 1-1, located in the Raminho area, and forced the road to be closed in a specific section.
The complexity and high cost of the potential solutions for stabilising the existing slope led to the need to find an alternative solution.
With a completion period of 180 days, this project will include the levelling of the excavation slope, the creation of benches, and the construction of a protection barrier and support wall at the base of the slope. Additionally, a new drainage system will be implemented and the section will be resurfaced.
The intervention will cover an area of 500 metres, starting next to the Raminho viewpoint.
The Regional Secretary, Berta Cabral, welcomes the favourable approval from the Court of Auditors and reiterates the urgency and importance of this work. According to her, it is "fundamental to reopen the section of the regional road, near the Raminho viewpoint, with all the safety conditions for the population."
The government official underlined that the context of the seismovolcanic crisis and its worsening, as well as the LREC reports, "imposed caution and foresight. The geotechnical complexity of the site could not be overlooked when considering the various solutions to stabilise the slope."
It should be noted that an initial design-construction tender was launched for a new road solution. However, only one proposal was submitted at four million Euros, i.e. well above the base price. For this reason, it was rejected.
In view of the current seismovolcanic crisis, the Regional Secretary for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructures has decided to clean, remove stones and clear the slope immediately to allow traffic only in emergencies and better assess the condition of the slopes.
Meanwhile, the same government department has opted to improve the Raminho Forest Road, in the parish of Serreta, to create an alternative route to the regional road.
