Guadalmedina: contract for five bridge-plazas awarded. Funding still open

The contract to draft the construction project for the urban integration of Málaga's Guadalmedina river has been awarded to the engineering consultancy Esteyco, according to the Ayuntamiento de Málaga (city council). The award has appeared on the Plataforma de Contratación del Estado, the national public procurement platform. It moves forward the plan for five puentes-plaza (bridge-plazas) over the river, but Diario Sur reports that the contract has yet to be signed and that how to pay for the scheme remains unresolved.

Key facts

• Contractor: Esteyco, which already drafted the preliminary design (anteproyecto).
• Value: about €1.4 million; Diario Sur gives the exact figure as €1,446,651.
• Deadline: 11 months to deliver the project.
• Stretch covered: from the Armiñán bridge to the El Perchel footbridge.
• Cost of the works: €117.3 million for the first phase, without the tunnels, according to Diario Sur.

What has been awarded

The council says the contract is co-financed 50% by the Junta de Andalucía, the regional government. The work covers hydraulic adaptation, cross-river links through the five bridge-plazas, and the renaturalisation of the river.

Diario Sur reports that the council's procurement board picked Esteyco in early August. Since then the council has asked the firm to correct several formal issues, which explains the three months before the award was confirmed. The contract is still awaiting formal signature.

The other bid came from the group Ayesa, in a joint venture with the Catalan firm Batlleiroig. Esteyco scored 89.4 points against 66 for that offer, Diario Sur said.

In March the council approved asking the Junta for a grant to fund half of the drafting work. Diario Sur adds that the council's environmental sustainability department has put an item in its 2027 budget covering the whole amount Esteyco bid.

What the plan contains

According to Diario Sur, the scheme has five X-shaped bridge-plazas. Three, of between 2,600 and 4,500 square metres, would sit between the Armiñán and La Aurora bridges. Two, of 1,300 and 1,400 square metres, would be around Santo Domingo.

The Junta has declared the operation to be of regional interest. Diario Sur says this should let the council carry out the works more quickly, as it overrides local urban planning.

The plan also includes a river park 1,400 metres long covering 47,900 square metres. Together with the pedestrian space gained, Diario Sur reports a total of 76,115 square metres of green areas and 600 trees.

Flood capacity

Some supports for the bridge-plazas would stand in the riverbed, but Diario Sur says they should not reduce its ability to carry water in heavy rain. The Junta requires the channel to handle up to 460 cubic metres per second.

To allow the walls along the channel between Avenida de Fátima and Avenida de la Rosaleda to be removed, the council plans to lower the riverbed between the Armiñán and La Aurora bridges, clear obstacles and build two drops to steepen the slope there.

In a report, the Junta asked for measures to guarantee the channel's capacity at all times and recommended further analysis of flood risk in extreme rainfall.

Funding and tunnels

Diario Sur calls the financing the main unknown. The first phase is valued at €117.3 million. Adding the €222.6 million that Esteyco has estimated for burying traffic along the riverside and laying out the new pedestrian areas takes the total above €330 million.

The tunnels are not part of the project now being contracted. Diario Sur says the council has widened the study area for burying traffic, from Ciudad Jardín to the port, replacing earlier plans for tunnels of about 1,400 and 500 metres.

The council hopes for support from the Junta and European funds. Esteyco has been asked to look at funding sources other than municipal ones, including European funds and a loan from the European Investment Bank.

The contract also includes a citizen participation plan, with workshops, surveys, events, a website and social media profiles.

What it means for residents

The award starts the detailed design stage for one of the city's largest planned urban projects. Construction depends on the contract signing, the 11-month drafting period and, above all, on securing funding.