The Málaga port authority is awarded the 2011 National Innovation Prize for its use of the Cubipod

In Bilbao, Her Majesty Queen Sofía presided the award of the National Innovation Prizes, for Innovating Public Purchases, granted by the General Secretary of Innovation, Ministry of Science and Innovation, to the Málaga Port Authority, as part of the National Innovation and Design Prizes, 2011 Edition.

Specifically, the Málaga port authority was rewarded for its Fitting out and improvement project for the San Andrés external wharf and shelter at the Málaga port, for which the Cubipod was proposed, a new technology developed by SATO, an OHL Group subsidiary specializing in port infrastructures.

The prize event was attended, amongst others, by Luis Cueto, General Deputy Director for Business Innovation Development (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness), and the president of the Málaga port authority, Enrique Linde. The OHL Group was represented, amongst others, by Rafael Torres, general manager of SATO, Manuel Villén, head of Innovation and Sustainability (OHL Group), and Miguel Reyes, OHL manager in charge of Maritime Works in Andalusia.
Tendered by SATO and protected with an international patent, the Cubipod has been developed in conjunction with the Polytechnic University of Valencia and offers significant advantages over a traditional cubic block, e.g. great solidity and structural resistance, whilst also overcoming its disadvantages by preventing paving and increasing internal layer friction. In addition, it is user-friendly in terms of manufacturing, handling, placement and storage, generates costs savings and reduces any environmental impact.

Implementation of the Cubipod at Málaga port has represented the first real application at a port of this R&D&I initiative developed by the OHL Group through its SATO subsidiary. This is not the first time the Cubipod has been acknowledged, as the García-Cabrerizo Foundation already granted SATO a diploma as winner of the García-Cabrerizo Prize for Spanish Inventions at the 36th Edition of the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva. At this exhibition, considered the world’s largest fair of its kind, the Group’s subsidiary received two new international recognitions:

• Gold medal with honors for the Cubipod.
• Silver medal for the SATOGrab claw, a device for the recovery of blocks in port breakwaters.

Incorporation of innovating components

The tender held by the Málaga Port Authority to execute the fitting out and improvement of the San Andrés external wharf and shelter has departed from the usual trend, allowing variants for the first time over the type of component used in the external cover of the shelter dyke in the base project. This has enabled the presentation of value-added innovating components.

According to the tender’s specifications, not only were these variants allowed, but an advantage also gained with the presentation of technical, constructive or aesthetic improvements- these technical improvements have been covered by the Cubipod.