IHCantabria successfully completes the final phase of a project to provide solutions to the flooding problem on the Malecón in Havana, Cuba

The project evaluated effective coastal protection alternatives through physical laboratory tests on a 2 km stretch of Havana’s coastline, which will benefit the heritage and the population of that area. of that area

The Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the Universidad de Cantabria (IHCantabria) participates as International Consultant in the project “Complementary studies for the integral solution to flooding in the Havana Malecon”. This initiative ─which was awarded to IHCantabria after a competitive international bidding process with other high level institutions─ responds to the increasing risk of coastal flooding faced by the Traditional Havana Malecon. This project has included the performance of 2D and 3D physical laboratory tests, as well as the provision of training courses and technical support to assist in designs and decision making.

According to Juan José Díaz, director of the project on behalf of Empresa de Servicios Ingenieros Hidráulicos Occidente (ESIHO), “by indications of the President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the country, the State Plan to confront climate change was approved, This plan is called “Tarea Vida” (Task Life) and through which the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH) and the Center for Hydraulic Research of the Technological University of Havana (CIH-CUJAE), together with other institutions of the country, were assigned the responsibility of continuing the coastal defense studies of the Havana Malecón. “The fundamental problem is that in Cuba we do not have the necessary conditions in the laboratories to carry out this type of physical tests in 2D and 3D. With the collaboration of IHCantabria we have been able to solve a serious problem that affects infrastructures and the building heritage of the territory. Last but not least, the objective is to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of the areas adjacent to the Malecón,” adds the project director.

Therefore, the project referred to by Juan José Díaz has been promoted by the INRH and the CIH-CUJAE, and executed by IHCantabria ─on behalf of the Fundación Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental de Cantabria─, together with The Associated Engineering Partnership (Dar TAEP) and R5 Marine Solutions. Representatives of these entities participated in the closing ceremony of this project, earlier this week, at the facilities of IHCantabria. The implementation of this project is financed by non-reimbursable funds provided by the Kuwait Fund for Economic Development (KFED). Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development..

“The results obtained so far are quite encouraging, since the overflows are being reduced to values close to what the Cuban team had planned. If implemented, they can have a great economic and social impact for Cuba, because they will end up providing effective protection to the Malecón, which can improve the image and functionality of one of Havana’s main landmarks,” says André Cardoso, representative of R5 Marine Solutions.

Scientific contributions for solutions adapted to the Cuban context

The development of this project has made it possible to study and compare different structural solutions ─such as free-standing dikes─ in the face of extreme wave events, including hurricanes and cold fronts, which are responsible for the usual penetrations of the sea in urban areas of Havana.

From the technical point of view, this project has led to important methodological advances. “Fundamentally, these are advances associated with limiting scale effects, working on different laboratory scales, limiting differences between 2D and 3D effects in the results. In the end, we have incorporated a series of high-level scientific-technical information, with the aim of collaborating in the implementation of solutions for this type of problem,” says Antonio Tomás Sampedro, on behalf of IHCantabria. “Our idea is that, based on all the information that has been generated, decision-makers can make good use of it,” he adds.

The sustainability of the project is guaranteed by the training offered.

In order to guarantee the sustainability of this project, from the beginning it was considered necessary to include a professional training component, through four training courses given from IHCantabria’s facilities in mixed mode (on-site and online), in November and December 2023, in May 2024, in November 2024, and in May of this year.

With the support of teaching and research staff from the University of Cantabria and IHCantabria, the training program offered technical training in advanced coastal and maritime engineering technologies, which was aimed at strengthening the capabilities of the team of Cuban professionals from ESIHO and CIH-CUJAE. “It has really been magnificent the set of studies of the four formative courses that we have had during this project in IHCantabria, which have been directed to physical and mathematical modeling, with the participation of magnificent professors, which puts the Cuban group ─that is, the Consultar Local─ in better conditions to continue the studies of the Havana Malecón”, underlines Luis Fermín Córdova López, technical director of CIH-CUJAE.

A strategic opportunity for the future of the city

The results of this project have marked a milestone in IHCantabria’s international scientific cooperation, for its contribution to applied research, technology transfer and professional technical training, focused on the search for coastal adaptation solutions to the challenges of climate change.

Khaled S. Alfouzan, General Director of Dar TAEP, valued the potential of the project for the urban and tourist development of the Cuban capital: “I think the results are very good, after the interesting trials we have seen, with the different designs they have developed. If the project progresses to implementation, we will have a very valuable solution for the Malecón, which will be very much appreciated by the people of Havana”.

With the culmination of this project, the participating entities reinforce their commitment to international scientific cooperation, the development of sustainable solutions to the impacts of climate change and the transfer of technical knowledge to particularly vulnerable regions, as is the case of the coast of Havana, Cuba.

Representatives of the promoting and awarded institutions of the project “Complementary studies for the integral solution to flooding in the Malecón de La Habana”, at IHCantabria’s facilities

Installation of the Cantabria Large Marine Engineering Tank (CCOB), where IHCantabria personnel developed the 3D physical model tests to evaluate different alternatives for protection against extreme wave events affecting Havana’s Malecón Tradicional, in Cuba