Carlos Moedas spoke to journalists following the ceremony initiating the excavation work for the second tunnel of the PGDL by the tunnel boring machine H2O, connecting Beato to Chelas over a stretch of one kilometer.
“It’s a very unique moment because the city has been waiting for this project for 20 years. We started this work on December 4, 2023, in Campolide, with the first tunnel, which is nearly five kilometers long and has already reached Santa Apolónia. Now, the machine has departed Santa Apolónia to construct this new tunnel, which will be a kilometer between Chelas and Beato […]. It’s the largest climate adaptation project in Europe,” he emphasized.
The social democrat stated that the project, “costing 150 million euros,” aims to protect “Lisboans from floods and what has been a constant suffering in this city for years.”
The mayor also highlighted the moment’s significance “to boost the morale” of the men and women working “in very challenging conditions: they work three eight-hour shifts inside the machine, drilling tunnels that are crucial for the city.”
“They deserve our respect. I know it’s a project that is invisible to the people’s eyes, but it is the most important work in Lisbon over the last 100 years to protect the citizens, so we are here to honor those who work every day,” he noted.
Regarding completion deadlines, Carlos Moedas stated that, considering all the delays, “often typical in such projects,” this tunnel is expected to be finished by April.
The mayor also noted that simultaneously, the “delicate part of the work on the other tunnel, which involves passing very close to the Metro tunnel, will occur in the first half of January.”
“The two projects will be carried out more or less at the same time,” he said, mentioning that “by August or September,” the “final connection, the last link for rainwater to reach the river,” will be completed.
This intervention, which does not interfere with the Lisbon Metro, will proceed “more quickly” than the other, he indicated, stressing that any archaeological discoveries, like those in the Santa Apolónia tunnel, will necessitate a halt in work.
“Every time there’s a problem, there’s a delay. This has been the nature of such a project,” he justified.
The ceremony at the Beato yard also included a mass in honor of Santa Bárbara, patron saint of miners, celebrated by the Patriarch of Lisbon, Rui Valério.
The first PGDL tunnel, linking Campolide to Santa Apolónia, began construction in December 2023 and was completed on July 22 of this year. Previously, with delays accounted for, it was anticipated that the second tunnel would be completed by the end of 2026.
The initial PGDL schedule estimated its full completion by February 2025.
With a total investment of approximately 250 million euros, the PGDL—first announced in 2006 but only advancing in 2015 under Fernando Medina (PS) as mayor—is considered a crucial project to tackle flooding in the capital. However, the major interventions, notably the tunnel construction, only began in 2023 under Carlos Moedas’ (PSD) presidency.
The project has allocated an investment of 79 million euros for 2025.
The two tunnels will capture water collected from high points (Monsanto and Chelas), as well as additional collection points along their route—notably Avenida da Liberdade, Rua de Santa Marta, and Avenida Almirante Reis—channeling the water to the receiving body, the Tejo River (in Santa Apolónia and Beato), according to PGDL’s website information.
