Anti-flood projects in N. Greece and in areas of Bulgaria for the management of transboundary waters

Anti-flood works and interventions in its areas Central Macedonia, her Eastern Macedonia and Thrace but also her Bulgaria were recently completed, within the framework of a territorial cooperation program between Greece and Bulgaria and in an effort to effectively manage the transboundary waters of the Strymonas and Evros rivers as well as Lake Kerkini, where part of these waters end up.

Specifically, at the level of flood prevention, wall construction and waterproofing projects were implemented in parts of the eastern embankment of Lake Kerkini and interventions in the beds of the Strymonas and Evros rivers through retaining walls and wire mesh boxes. At the level of dealing with emergencies, the Regions of Central Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace procured equipment suitable for interventions, which they handed over to the second EMAK and the fire service. The equipment includes, but is not limited to, climbing gear, clothing, boats, aerial and underwater drones, diving equipment, pumps and generators that can be used in population rescue operations.

At the same time, the competent services procured floating dams, which are a temporary flood protection measure and are placed along the Evros and Strymons riverbeds, in specific positions in order to protect important infrastructure (roads, schools, hospitals, etc.) in the event of a flood.

The framework of the measures taken “complements” a monitoring and leak detection system that was placed on the embankment of Lake Kerkini, covers a distance of 14.5 kilometers and enables the early detection of leaks so that there is immediate intervention and the neighboring settlements are not flooded. Through the system, which has similarities with optical fibers, the temperatures and any micro-movements of the soil in the embankment are recorded so that leaks or excavations can be detected and the technical services can send a control team to specific points in time.

Corresponding interventions were implemented in the mountainous parts of the regions of Blagoevgrad, Haskovo, Kardzali and Smolyan in Bulgaria, at the points where the watercourses that end up in the Strymonas and Evros rivers start.

The projects and interventions carried out in the framework of the “Flood Protection – Cross Border Planning and Infrastructure Measures for Flood Protection” program, which belongs to the INTERREG VA European Territorial Cooperation Program “Greece-Bulgaria 2014-2020” and is co-financed with 13.2 million euros from the European Union and from national resources, are presented today at the final conference of the project, in Serres.

As the civil engineer from the Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia – Region of Central Macedonia Anthula Dota reported to APE-MPE, the interventions carried out in Greece and Bulgaria are similar but were implemented in different parts of the water catchments. “These projects strengthen flood protection while as it is a dynamic situation, new needs arise constantly and the intention of the Region of Central Macedonia is to expand the program so that new actions and projects can be carried out to strengthen the regions and all the entities involved” he added.

In this spirit, Georgios Tsakoumis, president of TEE – TCM and founder of Consortis SA, a public and private project design and services company, presented at the final conference of the “Flood Protection” project, which began in 2017, the strategic plan prepared by the company, after a detailed analysis of the floods in the Strymonas area and an evaluation of the technical works implemented by the municipalities of the area and the Region, in the last forty years.

“The analyzes showed that in areas where serious anti-flood works were carried out, there were not as many floods or major damages. In some other areas, technical works were carried out, but others probably need to be done, while in many areas where cleaning works are repeated very often, it is necessary to carry out larger interventions so that costly repeated works are not needed”, Mr. Tsakoumis emphasized to APE-MPE.

He clarified that such points where greater interventions should be made are, for example, bridges, where transportable materials accumulate or the tributaries of large rivers. “Flooding is a phenomenon that cannot be stopped. But he can do projects to mitigate it and prevent the consequences” he added.

Source+photo: APE BEE

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