The new Bailey bridge built between via Renaccio and via Cimatti forced the municipal council to make some changes to the intermunicipal civil protection plan for the territorial area of the Union of Romagna Faentina. However, the one relating to the new temporary infrastructure inaugurated two months ago is not the only chapter for which it was necessary to update the emergency operating procedures. On the basis of the technical-scientific study carried out by Hera, the areas in which, in conjunction with certain river levels and rainfall volumes, so-called ‘sewer backwater flooding’ can occur have been identified: the list presents no surprises, these are the areas most affected by the 2023 flood. The mechanism that allows the city to equip itself with a water pumping system, pending the permanent lifting systems still in planning, has been updated. The temporary water pumps will be installed by Hera in the event of civil protection weather alerts; the action plan is instead based on four ‘sentinel’ sensors: the hydrometers of Strada Casale and Sarna for the Lamone, those of Modigliana and Rivalta for the Marzeno stream. The water pumps are divided into three groups: the first includes the portion of the city south of Via Emilia, with machinery active at the intersection between Via Lapi and Via Renaccio, at the intersection between Via Cimatti and Via Pellico, near the Marconi centre, and at the Orto Bertoni, near the Baden-Powell park. The second group is dedicated to Borgotto: the water pumps – and the related fuel tanks – will be positioned in the northern corner of Via Fratelli Bandiera and in correspondence with the Ponte delle Bambole. The third group is located in the portion of the city between the Ponte delle Grazie and the Ponte della Memoria: the systems will find space on the eastern vertex of via De Gasperi, in via Ponte Romano and in the nearby neighborhood of public housing.
When the orange alert goes off, the group 1 water pumps will be positioned first; at the same time those of the other two groups will prepare for departure. The water pumps of all three groups will be deployed starting from 3 hours before the start of validity of the red alert; they will come into action in the event that river levels exceed the red threshold. As regards the Bailey bridge, and with it the Ponte delle Grazie, the practicability of the two infrastructures in the event of weather warnings will be confirmed by the two sentinel sensors of Sarna and Rivalta. When it is no longer just the weather alert that is yellow but the alert relating to the exceeding of the Lamone level threshold, the Civil Protection machine will be set in motion to be able to close the two bridges at any time; with the red alert the closure will be triggered, communicated to the Rescue Coordination Center and to citizens, also through a fixed presence.
Filippo Donati
