Construções Técnicas, S.A.R.L. Profile

Construções Técnicas, S.A.R.L. Profile

BOAVIDA, J. (2018). Livro das CT.

PT BUILDS

1946-1998, Portugal

Praça do Município, N 13, 3 1100-365 Lisboa, Portugal

1946

1998

Construções Técnicas was a construction company founded in 1946. The founder and president was Engineer Henrique Burnay Leitão, although it started with three other shareholders, the brothers D. Rodrigo de Castro Pereira (1887-1983) and Nuno José van Zeller de Castro Pereira (1907-1986) and António Casanovas Augustine. Initially created with limited liability, in 1971 the company became a public limited company. Since its beginnings, its aim was the elaboration of the project and the consequent construction of major works in the country's infrastructure collection, especially when talking about the “Estado Novo” and the Public Works policy inherent to the regime. This pattern would also be seen in democracy, from 1974. The internationalization of the company occurred, like so many others, due to the need to build the overseas territory, acting mainly in Angola, Cape Verde and Mozambique, where the company had delegations.

Large companies as this one are always associated with great technicians. Several men helped build the legacy of Construções Técnicas, including engineer José Brigham da Silva, who opened and managed the company's Cape Verde Delegation, engineer José Ricciardi and his brother, who started and directed the execution of the Silos in Porto do Lobito in 1952, engineer Rui de Sousa, who managed the Delegation of Mozambique between the end of the sixties and the beginning of the seventies, Henrique Francisco Martins, who managed the Delegation of Angola when the execution of the Cabinda Pier started, engineers Virgílio Lopes Cabrita and Oliveira Neves, who introduced modern design, planning, budgeting, execution and control techniques to the company, and engineer Manuel Rocha, who later became chair at the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC) and served as president of the Order of Engineers. On the other hand, with regard to the company's portfolio, there are several works of renown that can be associated with Construções Técnicas, namely the 25 de Abril Bridge in Lisbon, the reconstruction of the National Theater D. Maria II also in Lisbon, the Marina of Vilamoura in Algarve, the Alto da Boa Viagem Node, the Ports of Leixões in Matosinhos, Luanda and Lobito in Angola, Beira and Lourenço Marques in Mozambique and Porto Grande, Porto Novo and the Porto do Vale dos Cavaleiros in Cape Verde, the Sacavém viaduct, the number six hangar at the Lisbon Airport, the Luanda Water Treatment Station, one of the company's first works, and the Raiva and Aguieira dams in Penacova and Corte Bique dam in Odemira.

Construções Técnicas established links with the world's major construction companies, securing a Swedish patent for the sliding of silos and chimneys, which led to the forefront in the technique of sliding in the country, applying it to the numerous bulk silos, cement factories, chimneys, both in Portugal and in the Colonies. With the April 1974 revolution, the company drastically changed its course. With the alienation of the company's management and with state intervention, without being nationalized, Construções Técnicas took time to recover the volume of business they had previously had. The company ended up not surviving the turn of the millennium, having filed for bankruptcy in 1998.

Click on the selected works below to know more about them:

Ponte 25 de abril, Lisboa
Viaduto de Sacavém, Loures
Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, Lisboa (Reconstruction)

The timeline of works done by/with the collaboration of Construções Técnicas, S.A.R.L.