The new marina and fishing port facilities at Laredo, built by FCC, have received the great distinction of winning the José de Azas Award, given by the Cantabrian Division of the Spanish Professional Association of Civil Engineers. The judges, whose decision was unanimous, declared that the project is the most brilliant piece of engineering done since 2009.

The association's president, Enrique Conde Tolosa, stressed that the project is "magnificent in its design, exemplary in its execution," and moreover "the first of its type, in port engineering, to receive the José de Azas."

The people and organizations who were mainly responsible for the job and thus really earned the prize were the engineers, Antonio Bocanegra Diego (the project's architectural supervisor) and Jose María Berenguer Pérez (project designer); UTE Marina de Laredo (a joint venture between ASCAN and FCC), which built the marina and runs the concession; and Puertos de Cantabria, the harbour agency of the Department of Public Works and Housing of the Government of Cantabria, as the project's developer.

Port of Laredo

The new port of Laredo stands next to the old port and the old city centre, sheltered to the north by a curved groyne a bit over 700 metres long, which provides a defence from the waves for both the marina basin and the fishing port basin. The new port was opened in 2011.

The port has been designed to satisfy sport boating's demands and fishing needs. It has a fishing basin, a marina basin with jetties and the old port's marina berths. It can moor 857 boats on 12 docks prepared to accommodate crafts 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18 and 20 metres in length. It has latest-generation services, like a Travelift system for 50-ton craft, and a car park for 420 vehicles.

FCC's port-building experience

FCC has a great deal of experience in building complex port projects, such as the floating dock in La Condamine harbour in Monaco, the Sant Adrià del Besòs marina, the Olympic port at Barcelona, the port of Igoumenitsa in Greece and the bulk solid terminal in Castellón harbour.

It recently enlarged El Musel port in Gijón, improved the south basin in Castellón harbour, built the new lock for the port in Seville and built a lock for the port in Vienna.

In late 2011 FCC won the contract to build the new container terminal at the port of Cádiz. The job is worth 92.04 million euros, and 50% of its cost is being funded by European Regional Development Funds. FCC is also currently involved in building the Química Quay at the port of Tarragona.

The company has specialized machinery and craft, including the floating docks Mar del Aneto and Mar del Teide and the split barges Bocami and Acanto, which it employs in port and harbour projects of all kinds, in any country.