History of Evaristo de Churruca: the engineer who ‘tamed’ the estuary
Bilbao, Bizkaia and the Basque Country as a whole owe a great debt to the engineer Evaristo de Churruca.
As the head of the Bilbao Port Works Board starting in 1877, this audacious engineer led the work necessary to channel the estuary, one of the major engineering feats undertaken in the history of Bizkaia.
A bit of history
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Since its start in the 14th century, ship and port activity in Bilbao has converted the Nervión-Ibaizabal estuary in the backbone of the metropolis of Bilbao. Since the definitive development of industrialisation, the estuary has become a space for work, unceasing movement loading and unloading goods, transport of people, ships and barges, creating a scenic landscape with great visual appeal.
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The appearance of the estuary as it is today is a direct result of the industrialisation process of Bilbao and the towns around it, on both sides of the estuary. Its bridges, docks, jetties, piers, etc. correspond to the idea of commerce and economic development that has characterised this place since the 19th century.
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If our ancestors from centuries ago saw the Bilbao estuary today, they wouldn't recognise it. The channelling of the estuary was one of the major engineering feats undertaken in all of Bizkaia's history. It wasn't easy to do. Although Bilbao was a safe port, free from storms and privateer attacks, going upriver 15 km was quite an adventure for sailors.
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Entering the estuary at Abra was the biggest headache due to the famous ‘Portugalete sandbar’ on the riverbed that moved of its own free will and controlled how ships could pass through the narrow passages created by the ebb and flow of the tide. Once they had gotten around that obstacle, captains had to avoid the Fraile rock, located at the Axpe curve, at Erandio, where a single slip-up could cause the ship to run aground. The Elorrieta turn was another obstacle, as it did not allow long ships to manoeuvre, just like the Zorrotza curve. For those who could head toward town, there still remained another tough spot, the Olabeaga washout, a bank of pebbles surrounded by sand that was more than one kilometre long, obliging large ships to unload their goods at this point to then be taken on barges to the old quarter.
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These natural hindrances led the Bilbao Consulate to undertake small-scale works to improve channelling in the 16th century. In the 17th century, local authorities built the first channel on the estuary, across from the current Campo Volantín, which circumvented the curve in Uribitarte. Then, as now, this entailed creating an island, Uribitarte, a portion of earth that was there until the 19th century, when the authorities decided to refill the natural branch of the estuary and leave the artificial section as it is now.
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On 27 November 1877, road, channels and ports engineer Evaristo de Churruca became head of the Port Works Board. His first act was to analyse the estuary’s current situation and the works needed and establish priorities. He decided to first create the channelling dyke known as the Iron Jetty to eliminate the dangerous sandbar. Bilbao, Bizkaia and the Basque Country as a whole owe a great debt to Evaristo de Churruca. The same is true for the people who decided to request the creation of the Port Works Board, the members of the Board of Commerce whose vice chairman was Emiliano Amman (the chairman was the governor of the province) and another roads engineer, Pablo de Alzola, who took responsibility in 1871 for ‘drafting a small project and budget to facilitate entry into the port and navigation on the estuary’. This was the origin of the Royal Order of 19 November 1872 on creating the Council, the predecessor of the current Port Authority.