The Port Authority of Algeciras (APBA) concluded in recent weeks the works on the new dock intended for the Guardia Civil in the Dársena del Saladillo of the Port of Algeciras, facilities that will be inaugurated on October 11 during the events celebrating the feast of the Virgen del Pilar by the Comandancia of Algeciras.
The dock, whose works began at the start of 2024, is located next to the new police facilities and represented an investment by the APBA of USD 3.7 million and is the result of the agreement signed by the port institution with the Secretaría de Estado de Seguridad of the Ministerio del Interior of Spain.
This agreement will, on one hand, allow the APBA, once it is vacated, to give a commercial use to the facilities occupied by the Servicio Marítimo of the Guardia Civil as well as to the open areas where the confiscated vessels are stored at the Muelle de Embarcaciones Auxiliares of the Port of Algeciras; and, on the other hand, it allows the Servicio Marítimo to relocate its fleet to the new berthing line, where it has more space and draft for the new vessels of the force and for the better fulfillment of its functions.
The project, awarded by the APBA to Dragados, involved the construction of a 167.7-meter-long gravity dock at the old launching ramp north of the Dársena del Saladillo, with more than 15 meters of width and up to 4.5 meters of draft, as well as an open area attached to the dock. The dock was built in dry conditions and the facilities include all the necessary berthing, ladder, and mooring elements, in addition to water supply, electricity, and lighting services. Numerous sunken vessels have also been removed and the area has been dredged.
The project is included in a package of investments by the APBA that are now in their final stretch in the South area of the Port of Algeciras, quantified at over USD 23 million. Thus, in parallel to the Guardia Civil Dock, the pontoons located on the right margin of the sports dock are being renovated, to which the already executed works such as the Armamento Dock, the reordering of the Southern Access, and the Green Corridor must be added.
In the pontoon project, which will increase the number of berths by half a hundred, the fixed concrete ones have been demolished and replaced by floating ones, which are more comfortable for users.
Furthermore, 22,000 cubic meters of sediments were dredged, 14,000 of which were contaminated, allowing the dock to be cleaned up and bad odors to be avoided. To prevent this situation from recurring, the Ayuntamiento has also acted upstream, eliminating interference from the neighborhoods to the Arroyo del Saladillo that flows into the dock.
The dock will be named the Muelle Marqués de Rodil, in homage to José Ramón Rodil y Gayoso, a prestigious military figure to whom the Ministerio de Hacienda in the 19th century entrusted the organization of the Real Cuerpo de Carabineros de Costas y Fronteras to prevent smuggling.
