Article Visits: 17
The suspended walkway on Path 406, which connects the Sassi to the Murgia Materana Park, is accessible again after the scheduled maintenance works that affected it last week. The intervention, planned in relation to the duration of validity of the certifications, saw the complete replacement of the fall protection nets and anchoring clamps, the realignment of the walking surface boards and their treatment with a specific impregnator, the cleaning of the access areas , checking the ropes and the tightening of the clamps and placing information tables.
With this intervention, path 406, which has inevitably become a focal point in the reality of the Park due to being a natural gateway to the park itself, becomes fully accessible again; as is known, in recent months, following reports, it was also necessary to verify the safety conditions of the route due to some fractures in a block of rock along the left bank of the Gravina Torrent, on Path 403, which is the continuation of 406, for which the entire route was inhibited to allow a geological study and some interventions aimed at neutralizing the erosive effect of the root systems on the calcarenitic ridges.
It must be remembered that in a large and varied environment like that of the Park, zero risk does not exist, especially given that it is a natural environment, characterized by a multiplicity of uncontrollable variables, which can trigger possible microdisasters; The path, moreover, is classified as category “EE”, therefore suitable for expert hikers because it can be followed with some difficulty, as the terrain is made up of slippery slopes, mixed with rocks and grass, rocks, rocky passages which are not always easy to climb, and exposed sides. . It is therefore always necessary to appeal to the sense of responsibility of those who decide to follow the path, because they need to be aware of their physical and environmental conditions (heat or rain for example); observe common hiking rules; equip yourself with appropriate clothing and footwear; do not go off the beaten path and so on.
The Park is also committed to identifying and promoting a use which, in addition to guaranteeing rigorous respect for the environment and the overall safety conditions of the historical, architectural, anthropological heritage as well as of the visitor, also guarantees levels of accessibility modulated to the different needs, suitable for inexperienced or disabled people, so in the coming months other areas of the over 8000 hectares of the Park will be able to be offered to knowledge and an experience of conscious reunification of man with the territory.
