Cubipod: new method to build mound breakwaters
Different research and development projects performed by SATO working with the Valencia Polytechnic University and the University of Cantabria and jointly funded by CDTI between 2007 and 2011 have led to developing the Cubipod, a new element to protect docks that avoids paving the traditional block, with greater hydraulic stability and less overflow, with greater structural strength and therefore, a significant saving in material. They have also designed special systems for formwork and stacking, allowing systematic and effective production, that guarantees a highly competitive final product cost.
In 2011, the Cubipod was awarded the gold medal, with an honorable mention, and the prize for the best Spanish invention at the 39th edition of the International Invention Fair in Geneva, the largest fair in the world of its type.
Aplications
In 2011, SATO began the first application of the Cubipod in a real port, within the project to recondition and improve the San Andres outer harbor and outer protective dock in the Port of Malaga, adjudicated by the Malaga Port Authority, that received the National Innovation Prize in 2011 for this experience, in the Innovative Public Procurement category.
The second real application of the Cubipod on site came in 2012 when SATO was adjudicated the “Construction Project to Protect the GNF inlet and improved infrastructure use in Punta Langosteira” on 13th July, by the A Coruña Port Authority. This would be the first construction experience with Cubipod in a single layer, as both the main armor and the roundhead of the harbor wall would be composed of Cubipods fitted in a single layer, proving the superiority of this part, not only compared to the traditional cube but regarding the bulky types mainly used internationally in these types of dikes.
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