Founders’ Honors

Santos Station extends Lisbon Metro’s Yellow and Green Lines to Cais do Sodré along an alignment of approximately 665 meters through a dense historic district. Consultores de Engenharia e Ambiente (COBA) led design in a consortium with JETsj, addressing extreme geological and hydrogeological variation, groundwater, heritage assets, existing buildings, and live transport corridors within a highly constrained urban setting. The alignment crossed power, water, gas, drainage, and telecommunications networks, while a former 16th-century convent, archaeological findings, and unforeseen cavities introduced further uncertainty. Excavation beneath roads, rail, and trams could not interrupt ongoing service or compromise surrounding structures.

To meet these challenges, COBA connected more than 70 boreholes, hydrogeological modeling, staged construction analysis, structural design, and monitoring through a shared digital workflow. Using Bentley applications, the team continuously updated models as groundwater and geological conditions evolved. The approach supported excavation to approximately 38 meters, more than 300 construction stages, 953 monitoring devices, and a 100-year design life. It also helped maintain the serviceability of road, rail, tram, and utility networks throughout construction.