Hidromod, part of ABL, has been commissioned to support the planned expansion of Portugal’s Douro Marina with a hydrodynamic study for the project’s preliminary study and environmental impact assessment. The work will assess how the proposed layouts could affect conditions in the Douro estuary and help guide the marina’s design.
Hidromod will assess how different expansion layouts at Douro Marina, located between Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, could affect water movement, water velocities around mooring structures and floating walkways, and the need for future maintenance dredging.
To assess performance under different environmental conditions, the study will compare the existing marina with the proposed layouts under both typical operating conditions and extreme events, including a 100-year return period scenario.
In the next stage, Hidromod will combine its hydrodynamic model with a sediment transport model to examine siltation patterns and estimate maintenance needs within the marina and nearby areas.
José Chambel Leitão, managing director of Hidromod, said: “This study brings together advanced modelling capabilities and deep local knowledge of the Douro estuary. By analysing both hydrodynamic behaviour and sediment processes, we are supporting a design that is not only technically robust, but also sustainable over the long term.”
The work will use the MOHID modelling system, a numerical platform co-developed by Hidromod and widely used in Portugal for river, estuary and coastal studies. According to the company, it has previously applied the model to studies across the Douro estuary, including the navigation bar and breakwaters, the Afurada fishing port, Cais do Cavaco and at the marina.
