Page 48 - FCC-N10-eng

FCC and Barcelona’s
sewer network
1911-2011” Exhibit
FCC presents the mayor of Barcelona with a medal
commemorating the 100th anniversary of the
company’s frst sewer maintenance
contract with the city
Centennial celebration of the frst services
contract by FCC and Barcelona City Council
The exhibit was inaugurated last 15 Nov-
ember by Joan Puigdollers, Barcelona’s
Councillor for the Environment and by José
Luis de la Torre Chairman of FCC Services.
In 1911, Barcelona City Council awarded
its frst services contract for sewer cleaning
and maintenance in the Eixample district to
FCC which since then has been providing
these services in the city uninterruptedly.
The exhibition entitled “FCC andBarcelona’s
sewer network, 1911-2011”, will be open
to the public free of charge in Sala Ciutat
until 8 January. It offers a historical glimpse
of the last 100 years in Barcelona through
On 23 November, FCC Chairman and
CEO, Baldomero Falcones, presented
Barcelona’s Mayor, Xavier Trias, with a me-
dal commemorating the 100th anniversary
of the frst sewer services contract awarded
by the city to Fomento de Obras y Cons-
trucciones (now FCC), in 1911. The cere-
mony was held at an event organized by
the Mayor for FCC executives in the Barce-
lona City Council’s Saló de Cent hall.
That frst contract, for sewer cleaning and
maintenance in the Eixample district for a
period of 10 years, was awarded to Fomen-
to de Obras y Construcciones. Since then,
Barcelona has renewed this contract with
FCC, the Citizen Services group, on seven
consecutive occasions, most recently in
the development of its sewer network. This
commemorative exhibition offers a closer
look at a century’s worth of history based
on three main conceptual areas. The frst,
which focuses on the contract and its de-
velopment over the course of the century,
highlights the relationship between FCC
and the city through successive contracts
and their main characteristics, which also
tell the story of the city’s development and
modernisation.
The second and third feature historical ob-
jects related to the sewer network viewed
as municipal infrastructure, and as the wor-
kplace of technicians and operators, with
their equipment. This includes the original
cart from 1916, which was known popularly
as the “la patentada”, and the frst stone
laid in 1887 to build the sewer on Diagonal.
Each historical object offers insight into
specifc aspects of the sewage network’s
history, and, consequently, of the “under-
ground” history of the city of Barcelona over
the last 100 years.
2005, and it is still in force
today.
During these years, FCC
has been hired by Bar-
celona to provide other
services, including street
cleaning and collection
of municipal solid waste,
maintenance of fountains, playgrounds and
recreational areas, and cleaning of schools
and nurseries. The group provides services
at city landmarks such as the Port of Barce-
lona, the Port Vell marina, the World Trade
Center Barcelona, and Mercabarna market.
Baldomero Falcones commented at the
event: “There is no doubt that the relation-
ship between Barcelona and FCC, which is
based on trust and constancy, is an exam-
ple of how productive public-private part-
nerships can be. Our aim is to replicate this
model in over 5,000 cities worldwide.”
According to Xavier Trias, “Barcelona has
always been a pioneer. The revamping of
the city’s sewer network was an ambitious
and innovative project at the time, and to-
day the sewer network continues to drive
innovation and is a model for other cities.”