Part of the route of the new conductor is through a rough terrain (Photo: Ortelio)

The new pipeline under construction from the largest drinking water storage tank, on the island of Turiguanó, to the area known as La Bandera, located in the south of Cayo Coco, is among the largest projects related to the completion of the hydraulic infrastructure of the wide tourist region, in the north of Ciego de Ávila.

 With nine kilometers in length in its first stage and valued at just over 37 million pesos, it has the particularity of being an important link in the water supply of the Guillermo, Coco, Romano and Paredón Grande cays, in addition to replacing an old one with 500-millimeter conduits, glass-fiber-reinforced polyethylene pipes, in operation for about 27 years, and another 800-millimeter wide high-density polyethylene.

Engineer Eduardo Castellanos Castellanos, specialist from the Investment Department of the Provincial Directorate of Hydraulic Resources, said that UEB Cuito Cuanavale workers completed the first 400 meters of excavation and are advancing the welds in modules of five tubes (60 meters) that allow a faster assembly. He explained that the greater complexity of the work lies in the fact that in a part of the route it is close to the fiber optic cables of ETECSA, so they must take extreme precautions when excavating.

However, the route will continue along the right side of the causeway as well as the existing one, so the work will require great precision and demand when extracting one and placing the other, in order to avoid stoppages of pumping to the more than 9,200 rooms in Jardines del Rey.

Hiorvanys Espinosa Pérez, delegate of hydraulic resources in Ciego de Ávila, specified to Granma that, in a second stage, scheduled to begin next year, the remaining 27 kilometers should be completed, until reaching 36, with which the Jardines del Rey destination will receive the maximum demand for drinking water, which is 360 liters per second, coming from the supply sources Patria III and Los Satos.