An extraordinary meeting of Torrevieja City Council has approved a further extension for the construction of the pedestrian footbridge linking the new leisure centre, which opened on 14th June, and the elevated promenade along the Levante breakwater. The project, awarded to the firm Orthem (Hozono Group) for a total of 2,630,583 euro including VAT, faces a new completion date of 25th November 2026.
Torrevieja Mayor Eduardo Dolón had previously assured the media during a visit before the inauguration of the Paseo del Mar seafront promenade that the walkway could be operational this summer. However, it has emerged that he was already aware of the extension request at the time.
The repeatedly delayed infrastructure project involves constructing a pedestrian walkway over the road running alongside the Levante breakwater. It also encompasses the renovation of the first section of the promenade, starting from the Monument to the Man of the Sea. This part of the scheme features a new stepped fountain valued at half a million euro, alongside an expansion of the breakwater platform itself to accommodate a new viewpoint.
Complex administrative and ground delays
The contract originally specified a ten-month duration, with construction scheduled to begin on 27th January 2025. However, during the site handover, technical staff from both the company and the City Council discovered that the General Directorate of Ports of the Valencian Government had not yet authorised the concession. Torrevieja City Council had not disclosed this lack of authorisation, nor had it made public the partial permissions granted by the regional government for public domain use of the port area. As a result, work did not actually begin until early March 2025.
A second amendment subsequently extended the schedule by five and a half months, shifting the completion deadline to 25 June 2026. The latest amendment, requested on 10 June, appends a further five months, bringing the total expected construction timeline to twenty and a half months.
While work has accelerated over the last month and the footbridge structure is starting to take shape over the road to the Marina Salinas marina, more than 200 metres of the breakwater platform and the half-million-euro stepped fountain remain unfinished. This incomplete section stands as a primary barrier to local accessibility, restricting pedestrian entry to the renovated Levante breakwater promenade to stairs only, whilst also hampering access to the leisure centre, Marina Salinas, and the local fish market.
According to the municipal technical report overseeing the works, the latest delay is acceptable as the causes “have accumulated over time and do not correspond to a specific event.”
Unanticipated terrain conditions
Heavy rainfall between December and February was identified as the initial cause of delay, halting construction for several days and requiring mud clearance before teams could resume. This accounted for thirteen days of the overall five-month extension.
The most critical issue, however, involves the installation of the foundations. The initial geotechnical study carried out during the design phase recommended a specific foundation type, but contractors encountered entirely different ground conditions once drilling commenced. This discrepancy forced engineers to drill new boreholes, leading to a modified project approval on 1 December 2025 that stipulated 4,760 metres of micropiles.
Subsequent verification surveys during active construction revealed that the required length was even greater, ultimately reaching 6,985 metres. This additional 2,225 metres of drilling translated into 32 working days, or 45 calendar days of delays. Technicians noted the installation rate of the micropiles was severely slowed by the highly uneven, heterogeneous terrain. The existing rockfill proved far more problematic than anticipated, causing drill breakages, encountering excessively hard elements, large structural gaps, and concrete leaks. Layers of muddy sand containing algae were also found to be much thicker in certain areas than initial surveys suggested.
Furthermore, the report highlights significant challenges linked to the water table and the marine environment. While the proximity to the sea and tidal fluctuations were known factors, the seawater proved to be far more aggressive than anticipated. This required a change in the durability rating of the concrete to protect against sulphate attack, alongside unexpected fluctuations in the water table, which has notably prolonged concrete curing times.
No error attributed to designers
Municipal technicians stated that responsibility does not lie with the project designer, Ipydo, which is on track to bill over two million euro for its work since winning the port area design contract in 2022. The council resolution clarifies that the issues do not stem from a lack of technical diligence or errors in the original or revised site surveys, but rather from “the manifestation of a variability that could not be detected.” Similar terrain issues had previously impacted the concessionaire of the Levante dock during a separate project funded by the council.
Though the council’s Legal Department issued a favorable report regarding the extension, it noted that the documentation did not sufficiently prove that the request was submitted within the mandatory fifteen-day window from when the delays first arose. The department also raised concerns over the succession of extensions, noting that the project has now doubled from its initial ten-month timeline to twenty and a half months, and recommended stricter planning and analysis for future municipal execution deadlines.
