Son Blanc. Only 20-30% of the work on the jetty has so far been completed

Son Blanc. Only 20-30% of the work on the jetty has so far been completed

20/01/10 0:00
TW
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C.M.W.
Maó
Construction work on the exterior jetty at Son Blanc has fallen ten months behind schedule and the Port Authorities are becoming increasingly worried by the delay. The Vice-president, Manuel Antonio Patiño, explained that they could understand that a delay could have been caused by this year's storms, which have been worse than in previous winters, or by the procedures to be followed to obtain a licence for blasting in the quarries or to extract materials, but what most concerned them was that they had not been given dates for the delivery of the next caissons for the jetty.

According to him, the temporary alliance of companies carrying out the project, Ferrovial, MAB and Pedres Ciutadella, had promised that the machine which makes the concrete caissons would remain in Barcelona for this project but that it had been moved to Bilbao and the Port Authorities did not know when the remaining modules would be made or when they would be delivered.

To date eight of the outer jetty's 14 modules have been installed, leaving six pending. Apart from these large modules, 40 smaller caissons are also required for Son Blanc's interior jetty and these are similarly subject to uncertainty.

The Port Authorities have asked the companies to clarify the situation and inform them when the machine will again be available in Barcelona and have demanded that the temporary union of companies fulfil the contract and finish the jetty "the sooner the better for all concerned".

Although it was originally considered that the project would take three and a half years to complete, the temporary alliance awarded the 50.25 million euro contract undertook to complete the work in a period of two years, which was one of the reasons why it was the successful bidder. As work started on 9th May 2007, this means that the project should be completed in two months time but at present only 20-30% of the work has been done.

Patiño declared that the delay was not the fault of the Balearic Government which was up to date with the work certificates and payments so the company had no excuse for the delay.