Portal de Cartagena
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Twenty researchers, teachers and students have developed six lines of solutions to make the municipality a sustainable 'smart city'
Prevent avenues, increase energy efficiency and sustainability, alleviate traffic in La Manga, improve green areas, regenerate soils and integrate telematic control tools have been the main objectives
The Chair of Infrastructures of the City of Cartagena and the UPCT today presented the results of research carried out by a dozen fellows led by eight professors over the past year in six different themes.
The works have been presented this morning at the Polytechnic by the rector, Alejandro Díaz, and the mayor of Cartagena, José López, who has highlighted how the works in the line of hydraulic infrastructures "have contributed to avoid that the runoff produced by the last Torrential rains would flood Cartagena. "
The opportunity offered by the Chair to initiate a dozen students in research has also been highlighted by the Rector, who has expressed the University's interest in "continuing to collaborate whenever we are required."
Among the solutions provided by the researchers is, for example, a sustainable mobility plan to reduce traffic congestion in La Manga between 60 and 80% and a pioneering proposal in Spain to install photovoltaic awnings.
Line of hydraulic infrastructures
The intense rainfall in December was used to evaluate the computational tool developed by Sandra García Galiano's Water Resources Management group to monitor the rainfall in real time from the satellite and with automatic rain gauges available to generate early flood warnings.
"The Automatic Hydrological Information System (SAIH) of alert against avenues, managed by the Hydrographic Confederation of Segura, currently presents operational problems, so that the possibility of having alternative sources of spatiotemporal information close to the real time is fundamental For decision-making in the face of stormy events that are catastrophic, "explains the researcher at the School of Roads and Mines, who reminds that" due to the effect of climate change, extreme weather events will be more and more recurrent and larger. "
Line of energy efficiency and renewable energies
Faced with the idea of ​​the Consistory of placing awnings in the streets, the researchers of the Polytechnic have thought of giving added value to the shade incorporating photovoltaic cells printed in plastic and can be folded.
"It is a new technology, developed by a Danish university using electronics designed by the UPCT", explained José Antonio Villarejo, responsible for this line of work.
"Photovoltaic awnings could generate multiple services, from charging mobiles on public roads to accumulating energy to illuminate at night," said the researcher, who also suggests applications for emergency services.
The team led by this professor of the School of Industrial has also evaluated the feasibility of solar photovoltaic systems at the Ramón Alonso Luzzy municipal center and ultraviolet solar water purification systems.
Likewise, the change of lights in municipal facilities has been studied, going from 18 watt fluorescent tubes to 10 watt led, with the corresponding reduction of energy consumption.
"The lumens per square meter achieved are well above the minimum required and the quality of light is better for the human eye, which interprets better colors despite the lower power," explains Villarejo, who predicts that "within a few years The lighting will be led ".
Sustainable Urban Mobility Line
Researchers who have studied traffic problems in La Manga have proposed measures to increase the capacity of road infrastructure, rearrange parking areas, enhance the use of alternative means of transport to the private vehicle and reduce the number of cars passing through The sleeve.
"A deterrent car park and the improvement of bus services and bicycle lanes could reduce traffic congestion in La Manga between 60 and 80%, as well as reduce associated air pollution," says the responsible researcher, Pilar Jiménez, "And promote a healthy life that allows to enjoy all the available leisure offer with more security and comfort.
The researcher, who also proposes a bonobus for the summer, estimated at three million euros the investment needed to achieve these improvements in mobility, "much less than the eleven million that would cost to create a fifth lane, which would only be used a few days A year and would not provide a true sustainable solution in the long term, "he has compared.
Green infrastructures line
The Chair has participated in the design of new landscaped spaces in the triangle between the ascent to Tentegorra, the municipal nursery and the urban orchard, selecting the most suitable plant species, the umbracles and the distribution of spaces.
The agronomists of this line, led by Professors Encarna Conesa and Jesús Ochoa, have cataloged 54 green areas and inventoried their urban furniture, studied the children's play areas according to the new European security regulations and surveys have been conducted Users, making proposals for new parks for dogs.
The study has made it possible to calculate the density of green spaces in the city, "higher than cities such as Seville or Malaga," according to Conesa.
They have also inventoried and georeferenced more than 3,500 specimens of trees of 66 species in the urban area and a phytosanitary report of the tree in the Huerto de las Bolas has been made with recommendations for action on damaged trees and to revitalize the vegetation.
Regeneration line for degraded soils
The group of Environmental Soil Science, Agricultural Chemistry and Technology has done for the Chair a project of restoration of soils with autochthonous plant species in the old municipal dump of El Gorguel.
After cataloging the soils to select the appropriate plant species, the researchers led by José Álvarez and Héctor Conesa have conducted greenhouse trials to test the positive effect of the use of urban solid waste as an amendment to improve soil fertility.
The results and knowledge derived from the project may be applied in other areas of the municipality.
ICT line
The line of Information Technologies and Communications of the Chair has integrated into a free software platform a tool to visualize the different municipal resources (ORA, luminaire, gardens, buses, garbage trucks, containers, trees, security cameras , ...) and display them both in a control room and any device connected to the internet.
"This way, the City can control its resources in a more efficient way, or what is the same, to turn Cartagena into a Smart City", explains the person in charge, José María Molina, from the School of Telecommunication.
Source: UPCT
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