Guadalquivir Archives

3.5 kilometers over the Guadalquivir and a height that no other bridge in Europe reaches

June 16, 2026 by usatoday24

Seville is going to have the longest road bridge in Spain and, most likely, the largest in all of Europe. The most interesting thing of all is that the project already has an official green light and until approved budget. What is missing, as usually happens in these macroprojects, is time. Decades without solution. The SE-40 ring road has been a pending issue in Seville for years. Of the 75 kilometers planned, only 38 are in service today. The section that was missing (and that was the most difficult) is precisely the one that must cross the Guadalquivir to the southwest of the city, between Dos Hermanas and Coria del Río. As long as this situation continues, traffic continues to be diverted to the SE-30, a road where traffic accumulates daily and for which the SE-40 was born, precisely, as a solution. It took a while to start. For almost two decades, the project has been paralyzed because no agreement was reached on whether to opt for a subfluvial tunnel through the Guadalquivir or build a bridge. The tunnel option ended up being discarded due to its enormous technical difficulty and exorbitant cost. Furthermore, according to point El Confidencial, the failure of that plan left consequences such as a tunnel boring machine valued at 37 million euros that was stored unused for more than a decade and ended up being sold for just 1.8 million. So the Ministry of Transportation ended up opting for the bridge solution, approving the project last November. The bridge traces the Dos Hermanas–Palomares–Coria del Río section, is 5,069 kilometers long and has an estimated budget of 688.11 million euros (VAT included). ORn pillarless cable-stayed bridge across the river. Perhaps the most outstanding element of the complex is a cable-stayed bridge whose central span, 366 meters of lightwill avoid the Guadalquivir without supporting any pile within the channel. This decision aims to protect the riverside vegetation and the Special Conservation Area of the Bajo Guadalquivir, also guaranteeing that large boats can cross it. The total of viaducts add up to approximately 3.5 kilometers in length. A record gauge. The minimum vertical clearance over the river is 70.80 meters. It was a figure required by the Port Authority of Seville so that the bridge does not interfere with maritime traffic towards the river port. According to the newspaperthe current European champion in vertical clearance is the Puente de la Constitución of 1812, in the Bay of Cádiz, with 69 meters. This new bridge aims to surpass it, which would place it among the bridges with the largest clearance on the entire continent. ANDThe longest road viaduct in Spain. The Constitution Bridge of 1812, known as the La Pepa Bridge, measures 3,092 meters and has held the national length record since its inauguration in 2015. The set of viaducts on the SE-40 will total approximately 3.5 kilometers, according to collect The Vanguard. Two records in one. When can it be used? There is still no official date for the start of works or opening to traffic. According to the mediathe Government’s forecasts suggest that the works could last until 2030 or 2031. El Diario points out that the tender for the central structure of the bridge would not take place before January 2027. To give context, the Pepa bridge took about eight years to build, so it looks like there is still some distance left. When the southern arch of the SE-40 is closed, several key highways will be connected (A-4, A-92, A-376, A-8058 and A-49) that today do not have a direct link to each other in the south of Seville. It remains to be seen how the project progresses. Cover image | Recreation of the Ministry of Transportation (climbing with Upscayl) In Xataka | Building tunnels is very good, but in China there are regions that are doing other things: cutting mountains in half

The only thing that can save the Guadalquivir from widespread flooding are the swamps and the room for maneuver is becoming less and less

February 4, 2026 by usatoday24

Right now, Andalusia has six rivers at red level and many more than 3,000 people evacuated in Cádiz, Jaén, Granada and Málaga. But that’s not the bad news, the bad news is that there are hours and hours of rain ahead. A rain that, according to the data that is beginning to arrive, not even the models have captured well and is exceeding expectations. That’s what Google saw when it activated the flood risk. What I didn’t see is that the reservoirs can contain the problem. They are, in fact, the last hope of the lower Guadalquivir valley if the situation gets out of hand. The question is whether they have room to maneuver. What is lamination? Flood lamination is a hydraulic engineering technique used to reduce the peak flow of a river flood. What is done is to temporarily store water in reservoirs and retention areas in such a way that the amount of water that reaches downstream is controlled. Although all reservoirs have the capacity to laminate floods (that is, the maximum flow that can leave the reservoir is always less than the maximum flow that can enter), not all have the same capacity to do so. In this case, the truth is that the Guadalquivir basin has many reservoirs and is hyperregulated. And what does that mean? Well, the SAIH of the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation has been working for days to prepare the basin so that the impacts are minor. For example, the reservoirs in the upper part of the Genial basin (where the largest water discharges are expected this afternoon-night) They have been releasing reserves for days downstream. In the same way, the swamps at the head of the Guadalquivir (especially The Tranco and, to a lesser extent, Siles) are ready to receive water. The problems are further down, of course: in Seville there is only one reservoir is below 90% and although Iznájar has capacity to laminate the Genil, the situation can quickly get complicated. How quickly and how complicated? The CHG I said yesterday that “for it to overflow (in Seville) the flow must reach 3000 cubic meters, now it is at 740.” That does not mean that other places, such as Palmar de Troya, do not end up suffering from the flooding of the river; but it does give us a psychological limit of how strong the flood has been and how effective the lamination has been. The situation, however, is much more complicated. in the Guadalete-Barbate basin. Right now, the accumulation in Grazalema is destroying the forecasts, the reservoirs are full, reaction times are much shorter (because the distance to travel is shorter) and cities like Jerez are currently living in terrible uncertainty. This week’s lesson. There is something important that we don’t seem to learn well in the terrible DANA from Valencia: that the danger is not always where it rains, that a red warning does not only affect the place where it is declared and that we must be prepared for the weather to surprise us. Let’s hope that these days we have time for the waters to return to normal. Image | Manuel In Xataka | Andalusia anticipates the storm and has already canceled in-person classes and activated the UME. The doubt is placed on the workers

More than a decade ago, Seville created a system to defend against Guadalquivir waiting for not having to use it. Last night he had to activate it

March 19, 2025 by usatoday24

Anyone who was yesterday at the entrance to the Pava Charco, could see how the city’s firefighters They moved the huge gates of defense that shield the city of Seville of the floods of the Guadalquivir River. And it is likely not to know, but I was attending a historical moment: it is the first time since it was built that these steel plates (more than four of meters high and five tons of weight) have to close. Phase 1. Yesterday afternoon, the Hispanic City Council activated the emergency plan in phase 1 and brought together all emergency services (including Local Police, Civil Protection, National Police and 112) to coordinate the necessary measures. 30 people were evicted from a “chabolist settlement” that was in flood zone, control points were installed and It was decided to close The connection that connects La Vega de Triana with the city. That’s where the doors that have just closed are. He has also put the neighbors of Tablada, Valdezorras and El Gordillo on alert. But hadn’t it stopped raining? Yes, weather forecasts They do not show abundant rains In the area and in fact (although the red alert is maintained) the river flow has already begun to decrease in Córdoba. However, when we talk about Seville, the river is just one of the things to take into account. The tide. Although it is often difficult to imagine, the truth is that when the Guadalquivir arrives in Alcalá del Río (that is, 15 kilometers before reaching the municipality of the city of Seville) It is already at sea level. That makes that point more or less, the entire riverbed is subjected to the influence of the tides. And that is what worries the authorities: if the river flood coincides with the pleamar, the chances that the Guadalquivir will overflow begin to be huge. How historical is this really? Indeed, to say that the doors have closed for the first time is not saying too much: they settled in 2012 and the last time the city was on the edge of the debacle It was in 1996. However, the challenge is more than considerable. Because, like Díaz del Olmo explained years agoProfessor of Geography of the University of Seville, the reduction of the alluvial plain of the Guadalquivir (which has gone from 4 kilometers to 500 meters) adds risks to the situation. “It is worth that with the swamps that retain the water, so much alluvial plain is needed, but the current one is not much less sufficient,” he said. And not only for the plain itself, but because “If the river is wide and with meanders, the energy that the water carries is blurred; but if it is narrow and straight, the water acquires a great speed … like the flow of the river rises of the 4,000 cubic meters per second … we have a problem for which they do not serve neither the storm tanks or anything.” A monster called Guadalquivir. Luckily, we are not yet in that situation. However, this is a warning for navigators: taught by tons of concrete, rivers are sleeping monsters, but monsters after all. Just yesterday we talked about The great paradox of our time: Have to prepare for long periods of drought while we have to have infrastructure to contain torrential rains. Today we see that it is not something punctual, it is the true “new normality.” Image | Toni Pomar | ECMWF In Xataka | With the reservoirs to be overflowed with the rains of March, there is a reason for hope on the horizon: the light of the light

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