OHL to use the Cubipod, one of its leading technological innovations, in the Punta Langosteira harbor wall

SATO, OHL’s port infrastructure subsidiary, as part of a joint venture, has been awarded the contract for what will be the second project to use one of its principal technological innovations: the Cubipod, a construction element for use in the main armor layer of mound breakwaters. The Cubipod, which is internationally patented, performs better than traditional cubic blocks at lower cost and with less material.

Specifically, the contract awarded by the A Coruña Port Authority is for the Proyecto Constructivo de Protección de la toma GNF y mejora de la utilización de infraestructuras en Punta Langosteira (A Coruña) (Construction Project for the Protection of the GNF intake and improvement of the utilization of infrastructure at Punta Langosteira (A Coruña)). The request for tenders allowed the inclusion of innovative elements that could potentially provide competitive advantages. This prompted SATO to include the Cubipod, which directly reduced materials by 20% with respect to the base budget in the request for tenders. This project is also important because it represents the first time that this new type of block will be installed in a single layer.

The project will consist of the construction of the first 550 meters of the harbor wall at Punta Langosteira. In parallel, with a distance of 132 meters between axes, another breakwater 335 meters long will be built on the inside of the dock to protect the water intake of the Sabón thermal power plant. In the future, this breakwater will be integrated into the port esplanades.

The harbor wall construction is part of phase 3 of the new Punta Langosteira outer port, which began at the beginning of this year, following the conclusion of phases 1 and 2 at the end of 2011, which included a breakwater 3,360 meters long.

In term of previous uses of the Cubipod, the construction project for the outer breakwater of the San Andrés dock, awarded in 2011 by the Málaga Port Authority to SATO and OHL, with a 50% stake each, was the first real experience of breakwater armor-layer construction using Cubipods.

This technological innovation, which is the product of the collaboration between SATO and the Technical University of Valencia, received several prestigious awards in 2011, including the award at the International Invention Expo in Geneva, the National Innovative Public Procurement Award for the Málaga Port Authority, and the García-Cabrerizo Award for the Best Spanish Invention.