Muelle de Tharisis
by Saskia Mier
Muelle de Tharsis is a dock showing a good example of the design and technology of the nineteenth century European avant-garde in terms of civil engineering and constituting a specialized and unique element within the port.
In 1866, Ernest Deligny from The Tharsis Sulphur and Cooper Company Limitedcommissioned engineers,William Moore and James Pring, to build a dock on the Rio Odiel opposite Huelva. It was inaugurated in February 1871 and was supported, along 873 meters with rotating platforms for wagons and cranes that could load 2500 tons daily. The dock allowed three or four ships to dock simultaneously.
It was built to give way to the significant amount of mining material during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from the mines of the different points of El Andévalo or Rio Tinto mines of Huelva. Numerous companies were operating these mines, such as the Tharsis, Sulfur and Copper Company Limited, which operated the Tharsis and La Zarza area.
It was necessary to construct a structure that would allow the unloading of material from boats arriving from the Ría de Huelva in a fast and effective way.
In 1915, another Scottish engineer, Sir William Arrol, was chosen by the company to build a new dock, extension of the old one, for which he built a new branch that started 300 meters from the end of the existing one.
The dock closed in 1992 and deteriorated until it was declared a Property of Cultural Interest in 1996, although the facilities were seriously damaged in a fire in 2003.
Located at on west bank of Rio Odiel opposite Huelva city
Admission
Not open to public, can only be viewed from a distance.
