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Cova del Túnel de l'argentera

Cova del Túnel de l'argentera

Cova de 58 metres de recorregut a l'interior del túnel del tren a Pradell de la Teixeta.

Pradell de la Teixeta • Priorat58m0

A 58-metre-long cave inside the railway tunnel at Pradell de la Teixeta, on the Barcelona-Flix line.

Characteristics

Location

It opens inside the railway tunnel of the Barcelona-Flix line, known as the Argentera tunnel. The cave lies 500 metres from the entrance on the side of the Pradell de la Teixeta station. The coordinates correspond to the tunnel mouth on the Pradell de la Teixeta side.

Warning: walking through the tunnel is extraordinarily dangerous, and long. It is a single-track tunnel, very narrow, with two-way train traffic. If a train passes at the same time, the safety of those walking through is seriously compromised. In addition to trains on the regular lines, with pre-established timetables, freight trains and railway maintenance units also run. Therefore, pedestrian intrusion into the tunnel can be fatal.

Mapa

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Cova del Túnel de L'argentera

    Elevation: 354 m

    41.132989, 0.859835
    UTM 31T (ED 50) 320459 4555931
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Cova del Túnel de l'argentera - Photo, Pradell de la Teixeta, PrioratView image
Click to enlarge

Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

Image 1 of 12

Description

Morphology

The cavity keeps a fairly uniform height, approximately between three and four metres. The widths are somewhat more variable, but overall the whole cavity is comfortable to traverse. The cavity was heavily modified by the works: widening was necessary and earth was dumped, so it is difficult to know what the original morphology was like.

Speleothems

In some places, the floor is concretioned by water trickles. Elsewhere, the floor consists of a dark-coloured sediment, a consequence of the accumulation of washed-in soot. Likewise, the area of the access stairs and the first metres of the cavity have black walls from the soot accumulated when steam trains ran.

Hydrology

Along the whole length of the cave runs a small watercourse, until it reaches the final semicircular arch channel, where it pools.

Progression

Access is via an opening in the left wall of the tunnel, about 2 m wide by 2.7 m high. Steps follow that place us at the start of the cave, all of it descending, until reaching the lower part, where it ends in a kind of channel with a half-arch vault where the water flowing through the cavity accumulates. The total route from the railway tunnel would be about 90 metres according to the survey that appears in the book El Túnel de Argentera, or 58 metres according to the GES-CMB survey.

Other details

Along the whole route we see the various works that were carried out to consolidate the cavity, especially the large number of columns present so that the ceiling does not collapse. If we have not miscounted, we can find:

  • 42 columns
  • 6 buttresses to support the walls
  • 2 retaining walls on the south side, in order to secure the abutments of the tunnel lining.
  • The channel with a half-arch vault, which is 22 m long.
  • The access stair and the walls that bound it.

History

This cavity was discovered during the drilling works of the railway tunnel (called the Torreta tunnel), which began in 1883 and, after many financial problems, achieved the joining of the two mouths in 1890. The works were directed by the engineer Eduard Maristany.

The appearance of the cave meant a budget overrun, since they had to reinforce with 48 pillars the ceiling of the cave that passes just below the tunnel, and this work cost about 19,000 pesetas of that time.

It is not until 1918, however, that Joan Ferraté reports the cave in his work Espeleologia de les comarques tarragonines.

We have news of different explorations by speleologists from Reus and Barcelona mainly during the 50s and 60s of the 20th century, but nothing was published about them. It is not until 1981 that members of GES - CMB publish a record card and a sketch made shortly before.

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Bibliography

  1. Borràs, J.; Miñarro, J.M.; Talavera, F.(1984).-”el baix camp, el priorat i la ribera d'ebre”. Catàleg Espeleològic de Catalunya (vol.7):1-283. Ed. Políglota.Barcelona.
  2. Ferraté, J.(1918).-Espeleologia de les comarques tarragonines. Pp:1-133.
  3. Guillèn, P. Borràs, J.(1981).-”Arxiu GES de cavitats”. Sota Terra (2):58-61. GES-CMB. Barcelona.
  4. Maristany Gibert, Eduardo.(1891-1892).-El Túnel de Argentera (3Volums.). Imprenta de Henrich. Barcelona
  • Dades i fotografies extretes del web:geb.cat (del Grup d'Espeleologia de Badalona). Apunt del 7-09-2017. Recopilació i informació, J. Cuenca, F. Cardona, F. Miret i Ratpenat de l’Argentera.

Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/