We are FCC - Nº3

draulic levels to minimise the risk of flooding and to improve the environ- mental conditions of the river by im- plementing a landscaping project and recovering the areas of ecological interest such as wetlands and mean- ders. With a budget of more than 53.8 mi- llion euros, the project was executed in 50 months. Work involved the contention and dre- dging of River Bogota along the 52.5 km through the city of Bogotá. The adaptation resulted in a more than double increase of the river’s ori- ginal water capacity thereby reducing the risk of floods for neighbouring communities. The project took off in February 2013 and, during the 4 years of work, eight million cubic metres of soil was excavated of which more than 4 million were from the dredging of the riverbed. Dykes were also built along both sides of the river, creating a beach 30 metres wide along the en- tire river thereby achieving the expec- ted increase of its capacity. Landscaping along the banks of the river involved the planting of more than 100,000 different types of nati- ve bushes and trees in the lower zo- nes subject to flooding and in those that are not affected by flooding. Two parks were created, the San Nicolás Park in Soacha and the Porvernir Park in Bogota. This infrastructure has benefited more than 6 million people and 125 families that lived along the River Bogota were relocated.