More than one water loss has been defined as a “waterfall” the one that surprised motorists who were traveling along the tunnel on Friday Pedemontana Veneta highway in Malo (Vicenza), inaugurated about three months ago. And after days it still continues to cause discussion: CoVePa is the one pointing the finger (Veneto Pedemontana Alternative Coordination), who has always been against the way in which the infrastructure was designed and built, and asks for clarification. But the Region also wanted explanations, and the urgent question from the regional councilor Andrea Zanoni. Sis, the company that was responsible for the construction of the infrastructure, plays it down, explaining that the blame lies only with an extraordinary weather phenomenon.
Dismay in opposition
«The car wash that Sis proposes in the southern section of the SPV tunnel from Castelgomberto towards Malo confirms that Spv it literally leaks, we now have a Supersubacquea Perdemontana Veneta, to be explored with fins, snorkel and glasses – said Matilde Cortese, Massimo Follesa and Elvio Gatto, spokesperson for CoVePa – Jokes aside, the data for which we presented a complaint to evaluate the possible attack on the safety of public transport and anything else that emerged regarding the tests carried out are confirmed”. The tone of bewilderment is also maintained in the speech of the councilor of the Veneto Democratic Party, Andrea Zanoni: «What happened is unheard of, to say the least. We are talking about a brand new work, which should be perfectly insulated and which instead turned out to be a dangerous sieve, because these events lead to ruining the reinforcements of the tunnel, accelerating its degradation. Added to the fact that this infrastructure, between economic income and expenditure, will cost Venetian citizens something like 220 million per year for the next 39 years, reality tells us that the Pedemontana is a leaky work in all senses. I will present a question for urgent response to delve into the causes of what happened on Friday.”
The technical explanations
Meanwhile, the Region has already sent an official letter to the dealer requesting immediate technical explanations, also reserving the right to proceed with actions to protect the work. However, the Sis company does not seem worried. «With all that rain there was an exceptional accumulation of water which found its outlet between two concrete joints – declared the president of the company, Claudio Dogliani – It was completely exceptional, it wasn’t predictable in the slightest. A significant amount of water pushed over a weak point of waterproofing. Unfortunately it happened, but the traffic was immediately restored, it was a fault promptly repaired and we will investigate in the next few days the phenomenon better. Let’s say that the exceptional nature of the event accentuated a small problem. But there is no risk in terms of road safety or static or structural safety of the tunnel.”
The inconveniences
The water leak forced the dealer to close a lane of SPV in those hours, to vent the problem and be able to intervene. «But after a very short time the traffic was restored» reiterates Dogliani. The incident occurred after days of persistent bad weather throughout the province of Vicenza, in particular in the Alto Vicentino area, the area where the tunnel is located. And phenomena of the same type could occur also in the next few hours: the decentralized functional center of the civil protection of Veneto has already issued a new warning of hydraulic criticality (yellow alert) until tomorrow.
