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The consortium led by SOMAFEL – Engenharia e Obras Ferroviárias, S.A. and in which Teixeira Duarte – Engenharia e Construções, S.A. also participates, was awarded the contract for the Railway Track and Catenary between Évora and Elvas/Fronteira and the construction of the subsection between Évora and Évora Norte. The work assignment was signed on 14 July at the headquarters of Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) for an amount of 87 million euros and provides for an execution period of 935 days.

The contract work includes the construction of the track and catenary superstructures between Évora and Elvas/Fronteira, and civil construction – general works – of the Évora – Évora Norte subsection, in the new Évora Line. Considered the largest new railway line work in the last 100 years in Portugal, the Évora – Évora Norte subsection is part of the new Évora Line, which is about 100 kilometres long, of which 90 kilometres are completely new, between this city and the Linha do Leste, on the connection with Spain. The work is part of the Portuguese Southern International Corridor, within the scope of the Ferrovia2020 Programme.

The main works in the project are:

• Construction of a new railway channel;
• Construction of fixed electrical traction installations necessary for electrification;
• Construction of the Xarrama, Degebe and Vale Figueira railway bridges;
• Railway track, allowing for speeds of 250 km/h;
• Catenary systems, allowing for speeds of 300 km/h;
• Installation of the infrastructure for electronic signaling and telecommunications;
• Installation of the traction return system.

The new railway channel under construction between Évora and the East Line, connecting to the Spanish border, was created as part of an evolutionary development of the railway connections to Spain, in the framework of the Trans-European Transport Network ( RTE-T) and of the railway connection of cargo between the Portuguese ports and the rest of Europe, ensuring from the very beginning a passenger connection.

Referring back to the work of its founder, Engineer Ricardo Esquível Teixeira Duarte, Teixeira Duarte has broadened its activities from water collection and drilling, to Geotechnics and Foundations, to Buildings and, later, to Infrastructures and all other areas of Construction, including, a few decades later, the Concessions and Services, Real Estate, Hospitality, Distribution and Automotive sectors.

Today, after 100 years, the group of more than 180 companies that constitute one of the main Portuguese Economic Groups, ensures an activity in more than 20 countries, in four continents, by the commitment and dedication of 9,000 employees.

A journey based on Ingenuity, Truth and Commitment, which makes us proud, which teaches us and inspires us to continue to “Execute, contributing towards the construction of a better world”!

Last December 15th, Teixeira Duarte – Engenharia e Construções, S.A. signed the contract for the execution, in consortium with the companies Dredging International NV and Tecnovia, S.A., of the Contract for the Exterior Breakwater Extension and Maritime Accessibility of the Port of Leixões, for the Administration of Douro, Leixões and Viana do Castelo Ports (APDL).

Teixeira Duarte will be the leading company in the consortium with a 40% stake.

The work, which will allow the Port of Leixões to receive more than 70% of the world’s fleet of ships and continue to serve the hinterland, which covers 14 million inhabitants, has a 30-month execution period and was awarded for 130.2 million Euros.

The contract basically integrates three fronts of action:

• Exterior Breakwater Extension, in an extension of 300 m, composed of a conventional structural solution of the breakwater of slopes, composed of core and rockfill filters and protection blankets of antifer concrete blocks;
• Marine Accessibilities, contemplating the deepening of the access channel and the rotation basin by dredging of incoherent and rocky material, besides the partial demolition of the North Breakwater in an extension of 80 m and the reconditioning of its forehead in a receding position;
• Repair of the Technical Gutter, between the rooting of the Outer Breakwater and the A Station, an organ dedicated to the passage of pipes of the Leixões Oil Terminal (TPL).

According to APDL, the average size of the ships seeking the Port of Leixões has been growing – an increase of 77% between 2006 and 2018 – and it is essential to ensure the safety and navigability of these vessels.