The APB presents new sundial in the Port of Palma
Palma
14/09/2016
The Chairman of the APB (Port Authority of the Balearic Islands), Joan Gual de Torrella, and the engineer and expert in gnomonics, Rafael Soler Gayá, this morning presented a new equatorial sundial located on the access road to the West breakwater of the Port of Palma.
The sundial is a reconstruction of the one designed in 1989, again by Rafael Soler Gayá, which was demolished years later due to structural problems. Located a little more westward than its initial location, it is one of many sun- and moondials designed by Soler throughout the Balearic archipelago. An investment of 47,000 euros was made to undertake this project.
It is a sundial in the shape of an armillary sphere, used throughout the centuries to show the movement of stars around the Earth or Sun. It has two 180º semi-rings (one meridian and the other equatorial) made of reinforced concrete, with stainless steel bars placed on top.
The sundial provides information on the real time hours, the time hours according to Palma's time zone, the zodiac calendar and the regular month calendar. With the aim of making it easier to read, the structure comes with a few simple instructions in four languages.
Gual remarked that, asides from his status as expert in gnomonics, Soler is also a leading figure in terms of understanding the current set-up of the ports on the Islands, and of the navigational guidance system throughout the whole of Spain.
Rafael Soler Gayá (Sant Joan, Mallorca, 1929) is a key figure in order to understand the evolution of the maritime signals in the State. Since joining the public administration in 1958 as an assistant engineer at the Port of Palma, until his retirement in 1994 as director of the then recently created Port Authority of the Balearic Islands, he has carried out extensive work regarding improvements to the light ranges of lighthouses and maritime signals of the country and has written 250 port projects and 122 on maritime signalling.
