Rio Monterroso

The Monterroso River (Rio Monterroso or Arroyo Monterroso) is a seasonal river that flows from the Sierra Bermeja mountains[1] to Estepona, Andalusia, Spain, where it empties into the Mediterranean Sea.[2] It remains dry through the average summer weather and flows during the winter rainy season depending on the amount of rain.

River monterroso culvert inlet
Monterroso River
River Monterroso during rain
Native nameRio Monterroso (Spanish)
Location
CountriesSpain, etc
Physical characteristics
MouthMediterranean Sea
  location
Estepona, Spain

The river was originally culverted on the coast of Estepona in the 1960s for use as the paseo maritimo.[3] However, a much larger culvert was constructed in the 1970s.[4] It runs underground in the city of Estepona, beginning at Calle Monterroso.[5]

On January 12, 1973,[6] the dossiers were signed to construct the modern rectangular Monterroso Culvert. Construction started in April 1973 and ended in June 1974.[7] It took 14 months (430 d) to complete. The name of the work was "Embovedado del arroyo Monterroso" and the construction company was Construcciones Civiles, S. A.[8][9]

 River Monterroso Culvert outfall on the beach

The culvert is located directly under Av. Juan Carlos I, the main road in Estepona.[10] The outfall of the culvert is located on the southern end of the Av. Juan Carlos I. The river culvert was constructed to form the Av. Juan Carlos I. The culvert is 1.16 kilometres (0.72 mi) in length, has a span of 11 metres (36 ft) and a rise of 2.61 metres (8.6 ft).[11]

The construction of the Monterroso river culvert had a base budget of 55,105,234 Pesetas, The bid price on March 29, 1973, was 51,247,869 Pesetas.[8]

On October 11, 1986, the separate 1960s culvert that the Monterroso river flowed through via the newer culvert collapsed.[12] A sewage treatment truck was engulfed, but the operator managed to get out in time. The collapse created a 700 square metre sinkhole and sparked the construction of the rest of the culvert to engulf the original location of the collapsed bridge maintaining the shape and size of the original box culvert in 1987.

700m2 sinkhole in the River Monterroso's original culvert

As of 2015, there were plans to build a river park along the banks of a portion of the Monterroso river in Estepona.[13]

In 2017, the plans to build the river park lacked authorization and were never instated; however, a beautification project was conducted.[14]

Inlet of the arroyo de juan benítez

Inside the River Monterroso culvert, the Arroyo de Juan Benítez flows in via another culvert which is also over a kilometre in length.[15] In 2018, plans to resize a portion of the culvert were successfully completed.[16][17]

The resizing was conducted by Constructions y Excavations Manzano[18] and cost 5 million euros ($6 million) to conduct.[19]

Historical designs of Arroyo De Juan Benítez culvert

The 3rd version of the Arroyo de Juan Benítez is located on the eastern wall of the Monterroso culvert, flowing directly under the Calle Parque central.[20] Version 3 is the largest of all versions of arroyo de Juan Benítez culverts. This is one of 3 versions of outfalls located on the eastern wall of the Monterroso culvert. Version 3 was built to relieve version 2, which had a 90° (right angle) internal bend and caused problems with water flow. It consists of a 5-foot tall rectangular concrete outfall, with ceilings that slope up to 6'5" inside and slant to the right. This shape limits the flow of the Juan Benítez stream in times of flooding to minimize erosion, and prevents the Monterroso river from backing up into the Juan Benítez culvert.

Version 3 Present Day Arroyo De Juan Benítez culvert

It is surrounded by a steel beam and two columns, with the measurements of the beams and columns, a total weight of 1,042 kg (2,297 lb) is added and resulted. A calculated weight of 492 kg (1,085 lb) for the top horizontal steel beam with a length of 9 feet 10 inches (3.00 metres) and a weight of 275 kg (606 lb) each for the two steel columns either side with a height of 5 ft (1.5 m).[21]

It was 22 November 1989 when the 3rd version of the Juan Benítez culvert was announced to be ongoing construction. Whilst heavy storms and flooding occurred during an news interview with the mayor of Estepona, it was said that the Arroyo De Juan Benítez Embovedamiento project was very important and the new embovedado would be completed if they managed to get enough concentrated personnel.[22]

Version 2 of the Juan Benítez culvert outfall is located 160 metres north from the current version Juan Benítez outfall. It is same shape, except with slightly smaller height, and stays the same height its entire length. It had a 90° bend inside that caused hydraulic problems which was the reason the third version of the culvert was built.

2nd version of the Arroyo De Juan Benítez culvert in 2019

Version 2 previously was built to relieve version 1 of its duties as it also had a 90° (right angle) bend. Due to the circumstances, the version-2 culvert was built with the same exact same right angle as before, which was later resolved in the version-3 modern day culvert.

Version 1 Arroyo de juan benítez

The 1st version of the culvert is located quite a distance from the previous outfalls and is located only 140 metres from the northern inlet of the Rio Monterroso culvert. Its outfall is located directly under Av. J. Martín. Mendéz[23] and it has a different design than the other two, consisting of a vaulted ceiling and a channel on the floor designed to channel the water through the centre so that water does not accumulate. It was built with a 90° (right angle) bend that was located under San Fernando football stadium.[24]

Versions 1 and 2 are now both bricked up and unused. Version 2 has accumulated silt and concrete debris from lack of use.

Original culvert

Air view of the Monterroso river 1965 original culvert.

In 1881, with the construction of the n340 highway, A bridge was constructed over the river for the passing of vehicles.[25]

In April 1965, the Monterroso River was originally culverted on the coastline and extended was approximately 45 metres (148 ft) long for use as the n340 passover. The n340 is a road over 1000 km long, was the only road connecting two halves of southern Andalusia, and had large amounts of traffic. The culvert was originally budgeted at 294,053.93 Pesetas however the finish price costed 9,828,431.02 Pesetas.

45 Metre Culvert Construction in 1965

[26]

Like the original Monterroso river culvert, most Spanish culverts from that era featured a vaulted ceiling, which is where the name "Embovedado" comes from when associated with culverts in Spain.

In 1970 the original 60s culvert was extended with a rectangular beam bridge with a span of about 10 metres, 3 years later the modern Av de Juan Carlos 1 culvert was constructed using the same dimensions as the bridge. The arches of the original culvert were embedded into the bridge.

1970 Photograph of the River Monterroso

On October 10, 1986, due to the funneling effect of the rectangular culvert, the 1965 culvert shifted breaking apart the surrounding bridges, causing a 700 square metre sinkhole.[27]

Drainage

Inside the Monterroso river culvert, there are storm drains and sewers connected to the outfall into the culvert system via pipes. The pipes range from 5 inches to 4 feet in size, and there are over 500 outlet pipes that flow into the Monterroso culvert.[28]

Examples of the drains in the Monterroso and Juan Benítez culvert.

However, the most common seems to be 8-inch concrete cut-outs in the wall that were created when the culvert was first constructed. These pipes are called lateral pipes and are installed using a core-cutting machine into the walls.

Lateral pipes installed during construction are created by casting the concrete wall and creating a template in the desired shape/size of the pipe in the liquid concrete.

These consequences could range from the simple unwanted factors of the river water back flowing into the lateral pipe, to turbulence in the water flow[29] potentially inducing currents that erode its surroundings.

See also

References

  1. https://maps.google.com?q=36.4699825,-5.1759006&hl=en-GB&gl=uk&entry=gps Upstream area where the Monterroso stream merges from its first basin, located on the southeastern position on the Bermeja
  2. Marzo, Ildefonso (1853). Historia de Malaga y su provincia [History of Malaga and its province] (in Spanish). Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). Rosal. p. 67.
  3. Aqua Nostra, agua de todos : el agua en la costa occidental malagueña. Marbella: Asociación Cilniana para la Defensa y Difusión del Patrimonio Cultural de la Costa del Sol. 2005. p. 122. ISBN 8-4609-3637-6. OCLC 629799130.
  4. "Vistas de ayer y hoy: Avenida de España/Río Monterroso, Estepona, Málaga". September 9, 2011.
  5. "Calle Monterroso". Google Maps. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  6. Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). 1973.
  7. Desarrollo, España Ministerio de Planificación del (1975). Ejecución del programa de inversiones públicas: año 1975 : Avance al 30 de septiembre (in Spanish). Dirección de Vigilancia de la Planificación.
  8. https://boe.es/boe/dias/1973/03/29/pdfs/A06230-06248.pdf
  9. https://boe.es/boe/dias/1973/03/29/pdfs/A06230-06248.pdf#page=5
  10. "Estepona amanece inundada y el Ayuntamiento activa el plan de Emergencia Municipal". Diario Sur (in European Spanish). 2016-12-04. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  11. "Calle Monterroso". Calle Monterroso. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  12. "Lluvia torrencial en Estepona". El País (in Spanish). 1986-10-12. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  13. "Estepona proyecta un parque fluvial en el arroyo Monterroso". www.europapress.es. 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  14. "El Ayuntamiento trabaja en el Parque Fluvial del Río Monterroso".
  15. "36°26'02.8"N 5°09'16.7"W". 36°26'02.8"N 5°09'16.7"W.
  16. Construction Of New Culvert arroyo Juan Benítez In Estepona, retrieved 2021-04-26
  17. "El Ayuntamiento de Estepona impulsa obras de urbanización valoradas en 30 millones". La Vanguardia. November 28, 2016.
  18. "Log into Facebook". Facebook. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  19. "Ayuntamiento de Estepona adjudica las obras de urbanización del sector Juan Benítez por 5,1 millones de euros". 21 November 2017.
  20. "Calle Parque Central · Calle Parque Central, 29680 Estepona, Málaga, Spain". Calle Parque Central · Calle Parque Central, 29680 Estepona, Málaga, Spain.
  21. robbie e sayers (11 January 2021). "Arroyo de juan Benítez vigas : Robbie Edward Sayers : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Retrieved 2022-05-16.
  22. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Manuel Sanchez Bracho On Arroyo De Juan Benítez Embovedamiento Construction 1989. YouTube.
  23. "Av. José Martín Méndez · Av. José Martín Méndez, 29680 Estepona, Málaga, Spain". Av. José Martín Méndez · Av. José Martín Méndez, 29680 Estepona, Málaga, Spain. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  24. "Estepona · 29680 Estepona, Málaga, Spain". Estepona · 29680 Estepona, Málaga, Spain.
  25. "N-340 road (Spain)". Wikipedia Associates. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  26. R2. ESTEPONA, MALAGA, ESPAÑA: Gaceta de Madrid. 1965. p. 5026. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  27. "Lluvia torrencial en Estepona". El País. 11 October 1986.
  28. amount counted when walking through the culvert
  29. "Turbulence", Wikipedia, 2021-04-12, retrieved 2021-04-26
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