Good things come in twos, bad things come in threes. November, February, March. In five months, three landslides. State road 350, connecting Veneto to Trentino, continues to lose pieces. And to remain off-limits. The last rock - which then turned out to be two, one after the other - detached on Easter Day, causing the interruption of traffic on a heavily frequented stretch, in these holiday days. But beyond the inconvenience for commuters and holidaymakers, local administrators are also very concerned about the dangers associated with a landslide instability that, despite recent safety operations, remains active. 'Honestly, even when it will be reopened, there will always be fear in passing through there, until a solution is found,' observes the mayor of Lastebasse, Emilio Leoni. Like many of his fellow citizens, who work beyond the Trentino border (and will now be forced to an extra 60 km detour, compared to the usual 20 km), he wonders: is it appropriate for the artery that connects Lastebasse to Folgaria and Lavarone to be reopened, given the repeated landslides? The answer, currently, is no, as anticipated by Paolo Nicolussi Paolaz, director of the Infrastructure Service of the Autonomous Province of Trento. 'The road is still closed, the geologist who went out on Sunday with the emergency team does not believe there are grounds to reopen, but we’ll conduct a new check to understand if and when circulation can be restored.' What worries is the unpredictability of these detachments, continues Nicolussi Paolaz: 'The first rock, of modest dimensions, detached around 5:30 p.m. on Easter: the technicians arrived immediately, closed the carriageway and inspected the wall, but in less than an hour, a second rock detached, shortly after the descent of the technicians, incidentally.”
The episode occurred at kilometer 25 along state road 350, between the locations Buse and Busatte. A kilometer upstream, towards Folgaria, compared to the February and November landslides (recorded at km 26). The causes? 'The usual ones, the disintegration of rock masses due to physiological degradation, which worsens with bad weather.' A situation already known since Vaia. 'Protection interventions with nets and rockfall barriers had been carried out, but now it is clear that a broader and stronger action will be necessary,' concludes the director. That means to install at least a kilometer of protective mesh, along the entire length of the rock wall overlooking the road. Similar to the one positioned at km 26 after the February collapse. Works that will be financed by the Autonomous Province of Trento, due to territorial competence. For the people from Vicenza, it's 'the usual inconvenience for those who work up there,' summarizes the mayor of Lastebasse. Namely, switching from state road 350 to SP 64. From Lastebasse-Folgaria to Lastebasse-Arsiero-Tonezza-Fiorentini-Folgaria. From a 20 km to 60 km drive.
(GdV, martedì 2 aprile)