Work begins for the construction of the containment wall. The ministry gives the ok to the preliminary interventions for the scaling of the rocks in the balance
QUINCINETTO. The procedure for the construction of the containment wall, or a rockfall barrier, has officially begun, downstream of the landslide facing the Chiappetti locality, along the section of the A5 Turin Aosta motorway between Quincinetto and Pont-Saint-Martin. It is a preparatory work for the scaling of the overhanging boulders, two in particular, of considerable size.
The affected area was temporarily fenced off with 5 meter high protection nets, installed on the road surface, for a stretch of about 370 meters. The future protection structure, with a trapezoidal section, will instead reach the imposing height of 8.5 meters (therefore 3 meters higher than the current network) and, as we said, will have the function of protecting both the motorway and the railway below the landslide. In recent days, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility has given an answer to the Società Autostrade Valdostana, which is responsible for the construction of the work, which in recent months had requested the start of the State-Region agreement procedure for obtaining the opinion of urban planning compliance through the calling of a services conference called to approve the project, giving the long-awaited go-ahead. The interested entities, the Municipality of Quincinetto in the lead, will have until 7 September for any additions to the project before it passes to the final examination by the commission, called to grant the authorization to start the works.
“The process has finally begun, let’s just hope that the landslide is still quiet for the time necessary to realize the planned works”, said the mayor of Quincinetto, Angelo Canale Clapetto, who has never hidden his fears regarding the sword of Damocles for years looming over the locality of Chiappetti and that at each wave of bad weather triggers the alarm with consequent partial or total closure of the motorway. Closure that, especially in the summer months, would generate great inconvenience to traffic and consequently damage to the tourist sector. Difficulties not only on the motorway with traffic jams and queues caused by the establishment of the alternating two-way in case of closure of a lane, but problems for the entire territorial road system if the traffic is diverted to the state road 26 that crosses Borgofranco. Discomforts affecting all the towns in the area, from Baio Dora to Pont-Saint-Martin. And it is the summer that is the most critical period for the landslide due to the sudden storms of strong intensity, which could favor the landslide movement, moving the boulders in the balance. “We will provide our observations and additions to the project within the time specified in the document, which we will evaluate in these days”, concluded Canale Clapetto.