The naper made of plastic sandbags on Ada, installed at the beginning of the year to protect the beach from erosion, is damaged and it is unlikely that it would be able to "make it through" another winter in its current state.
Prof. confirmed this to "Vijesta". Dr. Sava Petković from Belgrade, the creator of the project of emergency beach rehabilitation measures on the island, for which the installation of nappers as a temporary solution was foreseen in the winter.
Since nothing was done in the meantime to install the classic, or fixed, napper, Petković assessed that it is necessary to replace the damaged bags as soon as possible.
"Unfortunately, some bags in the naper are damaged and half empty. This could be expected because plastic bags are sensitive to solar radiation, as well as to mechanical damage during the execution of works. However, it is unfortunate that vandalism was observed, i.e. cutting plastic bags with a scalpel and other sharp objects. Such actions can hardly be explained, just like the actions of setting forest fires," said Petković.
He stated that it is clear to everyone that with the appearance of slightly larger waves, the damaged bags will be completely emptied and that the waves will carry them into the sea.
He added that only full and tied sacks have the same function as stone blocks weighing one to one and a half tons.
"If the director of the Ulcinj Riviera had looked a little more carefully at who was destroying his key facility for preventing beach erosion, perhaps he would have looked with a little more optimism at the upcoming winter season dominated by large waves from the south and southeast," said Petković, alluding to the director of the Ulcinj of the Riviera, Bojan Đakonović, who recently publicly expressed his doubt that the naper can withstand the first stronger waves.
Petković reminded that, despite the doubts, Naper gave positive results from the start.
"The deadline for the creation of the project of emergency measures was only seven days, in order to start work on stopping the erosion of the western end of the beach on Ada as soon as possible. Namely, the erosion of that part of the beach was so intense that it threatened its complete disappearance as well as most of the facilities of the existing tourist complex," said Petković.
Immediately after the construction of the naper, he stated, very positive effects were observed.
"Erosion of the western part of the beach on Ada has been stopped and the formation of a spacious bathing area for this year's tourist season has been made possible. Even in the project of emergency measures, it was emphasized that sandbags are only a temporary measure," said Petković.
A month ago, he warned the competent institutions that it is necessary to urgently take measures to repair the damaged parts of the naper.
He suggested a detailed inspection of the nappies to determine the exact number of damaged bags, critical locations and the extent of damage as a whole.
He stated that it is necessary to define the technology of rehabilitating nappers, i.e. replacing damaged bags in a simpler and faster way, especially considering the time constraints.
"All damaged bags should be replaced or covered with new full bags. As has been emphasized many times, damaged bags have no function under the action of waves of higher heights. At the first blow from the south, the waves will wash away the sand from the damaged bags, and then we can expect a progressive erosion of the napres and the dumped sand on the coast of Ada".
Since it will most likely be a new contractor, he stressed that all sandbags must be tied down well.
It is unfortunate that vandalism was observed, that is, cutting plastic bags with a scalpel and other sharp objects. Such actions can hardly be explained, just like setting forest fires
As the level of sand on the eastern, left side of the naper is equal to or higher than its existing crown, Petković said that it should be mandatory to foresee "the height of the naper crown with another layer of sandbags".
In this way, he stated, sand would be prevented from "overflowing" over the crown of the naper during the action of high waves during the winter.
"If there is a possibility, the naper should be extended on the mainland in order to prevent erosion of the beach at the root of the naper, due to the effect of waves from the west," said Petković.
He concluded that it has been definitely confirmed that to stop the erosion of the western part of the beach on Ada, it is necessary to build a fixed naper and that the investor of future works will certainly ask for information on how much it would cost.
"That's why it is necessary to make a conceptual design of the nave in which different types of nave construction would be analyzed - from stone blocks, plastic slabs or wooden piles and the prices of different variant solutions would be determined".
In the Public Enterprise for the Management of Marine Assets, they point out that they are in intensive communication with the relevant Ministry regarding the deterioration of the situation on the Ada and the mouth of the Bojana.
"One of the things that is constantly mentioned is monitoring. And in conversations with experts, everyone emphasizes that without constant monitoring, that is, adequate data from the field, it is not possible to draw conclusions and work on solutions based on them. For now, measurements are being made at the level of geodetic measurements of the position of the coastal line of the beach on Ada Bojana", the questions of "Vijesti" were answered.
They state that the relevant Ministry has prepared a whole series of different measurements for which significant financial resources should be provided and which will be engaged as soon as possible.
"We have testimonies from locals from these areas and some old photographs that show that the coastline was close to 100 m away from the houses of the Ulcinj Riviera. The most critical was last fall, when the waves reached the houses themselves and damaged a couple of them. With the urgent interventions we undertook this spring, we managed to move the coastal line away from the houses by about 40m, that is, to create about 12.000 m2 of beach area", the answer reads.
In addition, they add, a temporary ridge was formed at the western end of Ada Beach, which managed to prevent erosion, or reduce it to a minimum.
They note that this is a temporary solution.
"We believe that so far all the available resources that have been engaged in solving this problem indicate that this pearl of our coast will have a beach width sufficient to accommodate all interested users. For the final solution, it is necessary to carry out testing and monitoring over a longer period of time, and these activities are already underway".
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
