La Pineda dike park preliminary project

In recent years the Port Authority of Tarragona has been working in collaboration with different public administrations and entities in the search for an emblematic solution for the adaptation of the La Pineda waterfront to climate change.
This solution is intended to be sustainable, to integrate the development plans of the City and the Port foreseen in the coming years and to try to meet all the needs of the environment from a physical, economic, environmental and social point of view through debate and joint decision-making by the stakeholders.

In this sense, since April 2021, the different agencies and institutions have been collaborating with the Port Authority, IHCantabria and LANDLAB in the conceptualization of a solution to the problem of stabilization and restoration of La Pineda in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This conceptualization was presented in October 2021 and different compensation measures were proposed for the development of the Infrastructure Master Plan and the adaptation to climate change considering the development plans foreseen.
The adopted solution proposes the introduction of new habitats and landscapes, thus generating a rich environmental and landscape diversity for social use.

Thus, in the part closest to the city, an access space/plaza is proposed that serves as a junction point with the parking lot and as an articulation with the sea promenade. To this end, it is proposed to redesign the existing park at the meeting point of Amadeu Vives Street with the promenade, generating a space prior to the restored natural space of Els Prats d'Albinyana and a new route along the beach, surrounding the large and small lagoon, until the meeting point with the park-dike on the breakwater.

As a continuation of the area comprising the restoration of Els Prats d'Albinyana, a transitional landscape is proposed between the lagoon, the wetlands and the sea. This landscape is characterized by a set of lagoons that complements the proposal in the restoration project, as well as a dune cordon, which can be crossed through the wooden walkways previously described. This diverse and naturalized landscape of beach, lagoons and dunes is a new attraction in the whole of the beach of La Pineda. Its creation will undoubtedly reduce the pressure and intensity of use from the restored area, which will become the real heart of a much wider environmental and landscape system.

The starting point of the new dike, which is also the end point of the Els Prats d'Albinyana boundary path, is transformed into the access to the park-dike with the aim of recovering the lost habitats of this coastal area. In this case, a gradation is proposed from a coastal copse area to the dunes and beach environment.

This park-dike landscapes the difference in elevation between the upper promenade of the counter-dune and the beach by means of a vegetated slope that houses spaces for strolling, lounging and shaded viewpoints. This avoids the visual impact the dike alone would produce, while generating a transitional landscape between the city, Els Prats d'Albinyana and the new dike-park. A place of recreation with various shrub and tree species (such as tamarix, tipuana tipu, pinus pinea, among others) that provide shade to users and generate places to stay.

From the Plaza del Mar, the real center of social use of the complex, the promenade and the bike path reach the end of the counter, being practically unfeasible to have vegetation. In this part we pursue the design of a breakwater and living walls capable of hosting underwater habitats. With this same intention and that of protecting the social use of the dike, part of the existing one (now converted into a reef thanks to the use of ecological concrete pieces) is maintained in the sea. Thus, the current structure is converted into an element with underwater life, giving the action a more sustainable character and increasing the resilience of the entire waterfront.