Tenerife - Elevador de Aguas de Gordejuala

sketchfab

This charming piece of local heritage can be discovered west of Puerto de la Cruz on Tenerife's picturesque terrain. A freshwater spring once flowed majestically down the cliffs, eventually emptying into the sea - initially situated too low to be beneficial for irrigating banana plantations higher up the slope. In 1902, the Hamiltons of Santa Cruz undertook a bold project to construct a steam-powered pump station that would harness the freshwater from the spring and transport it to the upper reaches of the Orotava Valley's banana plantations. The project was completed in 1905 and successfully pumped 4,800 cubic meters of water daily. However, with oil and electrical power soon becoming accessible on Tenerife, the pump station became economically unviable, leading the Hamiltons to sell it in 1919. By 1940, the entire site had been entirely abandoned, leaving behind a once-thriving piece of local history. The model was expertly assembled from approximately 350 high-resolution drone and DSLR photographs using cutting-edge software like RealityCapture and Houdini. Striking a balance between file size and detail proved to be a challenging task - I aimed to preserve both the intricate graffiti details and the surrounding environment's nuances, ultimately resulting in a stunning digital representation of this captivating piece of local heritage.