61 years later, the memory of the Vajont tragedy remains alive. From Mount Tok to Legnano, solidarity shortens distances
They are about 4 hours away by car. More or less 385 km.
But they are united by a close thread of solidarity. What, 61 years later, has meant that a Legnano, in the Verona area, arises the first monument dedicated to the victims of Vajont.
After monumental cemetery of Fortogna, in Longarone and 487 memorial stonesas many as the children who died on October 9, 1963the Vajont tragedy will have its monument entitled “The spell of nostalgia”.
And concrete wallthe same one used for the construction of the largest dam in the world in the Belluno area and the original stones of Mount Toc, from which the landslide of 260 million cubic meters of rock plunged into the artificial lake behind the dam.
The pelvis contained at that moment, they were the 22.39 of 9 October 1963, 115 million cubic meters of water.
The 50 million cubic meter wave that rose passing the other side of the dam literally wiped out the countries below (Longarone, Pirago, Corissago, Rivalta and Faè) and theirs inhabitants.
The Legnano monument will be built on the initiative of a hotelier in the area, Giuseppe Calini, thanks to a fundraiser small town. And he wants to be a a sign of solidarity and closeness to the families of the victims.
In just 4 minutes of apocalypse well 1917.
Vajont: the largest dam in the world
The Vajont dam, designed by engineer Carlo Semenza and later built between 1957 and 1960 between the towns of Erto and Cassowas the answer to the country’s energy needs.
The reservoir was to serve as a large water reservoir into which they would flow, through 35 km of pipes dug into the mountainsthe waters of all the other surrounding power plants.
The narrow and deep gorge that the Vajont torrent had dug out to reach the Piave was perfect for building an artificial barrier and Sade, the Adriatic Electricity Company, founded and owned by Giuseppe Volpi, Count of Misurata (as well as Minister of Finance of (then Mussolini Government and First Prosecutor of San Marco, as well as president of the Venice Biennale and president of Confindustria) took the opportunity to build what it would become the largest dam in the world.
The variant in progress
The original project, which dates back to 1940, envisaged aheight of 200 meters and a water volume of 58 million cubic meters.
In the 1957, however, one was introduced variant in progress which brought the dam to measure 261 meters and to increase the volume of water at 150 million cubic meters. Giorgio Dal Piaz, the geologist in charge of verifying the feasibility of the work according to the new parameters, certified the stability of the surrounding mountains and the variant was approved by the Ministry.
As we know, not everything went as it should have.
Vajont Dam
The unheard fears
Already during the period of the first water invasion, in 1959, some landslides considered unimportant occurred. And subsequently one was found fracture in the rock which no one gave much importance to.
But among the population, made up mostly of farmers and breeders who knew their territory well, fear began to arise more and more strongly about that futuristic work.
It was caught by Tina Merlin, a journalist for L’Unità at the time, who, regarding these events, wrote:
“We were therefore right when, gathering the concerns of the population, the existence of a certain danger was reported formed by the formation of the lake. And the danger becomes more and more looming. At the site of the landslide the ground continues to give way, an impressive noise of earth and stones continuing to fall can be heard. And the large fissures in the ground that cover an area of entire kilometers certainly cannot make you calm.”
Voices and warnings unheard. In October 1961 the dam was in fact inaugurated.