History of Iron ore loading docks on the estuary

The loading docks on the estuary are the final link in the chain of a complex transport system that took valuable iron ore from mines to the ships, to then be exported to European countries.
The loading docks in Barakaldo are the best set of loading docks still standing on the Nervión-Ibaizabal estuary and they comprise a landscape of highly valuable heritage.

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A bit of history

  • The loading docks on the estuary are the final link in the chain of a complex transport system that took valuable iron ore from mines to the ships, to then be exported to European countries. The loading docks in Barakaldo are the best set of loading docks still standing on the Nervión-Ibaizabal estuary and they comprise a landscape of highly valuable heritage.

  • Two of them, the loading docks of Orconera Iron Ore Co. Limited and Société Franco-Belge des Mines de Somorrostro, served to transport iron ore, and the third, the one belonging to Sociedad Española de Fabricaciones Nitrogenadas, S.A. (Sefanitro) was for loading and unloading nitrogen fertilisers. They are true gems of 19th and mid-20th century industrial heritage towering over the river like industrial colossi.

  • The largest set of protected loading docks is the one comprised of the old Orconera iron ore docks, one of which has reached the present day in very good condition. It is the oldest wooden loading dock on the water, erected in 1877. It is one of only two wooden loading docks still standing in the world, along with the Dunston dock in Gateshead, England.

  • The three jetties for Franco-Belge date back to 1886. They were the unloading point for iron ore transported on the iron line the company had between Cadegal station in Ortuella and the Requeta neighbourhood in Barakaldo next to the Lutxana neighbourhood. The loading dock still standing is No. 3, which was fully remade using period-appropriate methods.

  • The Sociedad Española de Fabricaciones Nitrogenadas, S.A (Sefanitro) loading dock is a concrete structure that connected the industrial complex to the berth the company had in Lutxana. It was built in the 1940s and was made on the remains of the old loading dock belonging to the mining company Lutxana Mining, also known as the El Regato railway. Inaugurated in 1872, it transported iron ore from the Barakaldo neighbourhood of El Regato to the loading dock in Lutxana. When the company went under in 1928, it was purchased by Altos Hornos de Vizcaya, which utilised it until it closed after the Spanish Civil War, when Sefanitro was founded.