THE EAGLE. Large contracts which together are worth 300 million euros handled by two government commissioners who however travel in different lanes. The real risk for Abruzzo is an overlap of structural interventions that could lead to the closure of the Gran Sasso tunnel.
But an act, published two days ago also on the Region’s website, can shake a stalemate situation aggravated by the failure to establish the technical coordination table announced by the MIT in the last meeting with the mayors of Abruzzo and Lazio.
THE STASIS UNBLOCK ACT
Marco Corsinicommissioner for the anti-seismic safety of the A24 and A25 motorways, managed by the company Strada dei Parchi di Carlo Toto, has convened the Services Conference that will give the green light to one of the two tunnel projects that crosses the Gran Sasso. He was also invited to the conference Pierluigi Caputithe other commissioner who must take care of the safety of the aquifer.
The dialogue will resume between the two senior officials. But time is pressing. The safety works ordered by Corsini must be completed by 2025. THE TWO COMMISSIONERS
Corsini has the task of providing for the planning, design, assignment and execution of the interventions necessary for anti-seismic safety and the complete restoration of the functionality of the A24 (Rome-Teramo) and A25 (Torano-Pescara). The ongoing interventions are, or rather will be, implemented in functional phases according to priority levels that guarantee the complete safety of the motorway infrastructures.
Engineer Caputi, former director of the Abruzzo Region and of the Municipality of Pescara, is instead the extraordinary government commissioner for the safety of the Gran Sasso water system, the most powerful aqueduct in Abruzzo which supplies the L’Aquila area, including the Piana di Navelli and the Subequana Valley and, on the other side, the entire province of Teramo.
A system that must coexist with the Tunnel, a passageway for public and private transport with potential pollution risks, and the Gran Sasso Nuclear Physics laboratory.
THE TWO PROJECTS
The overall costs of securing the Gran Sasso water infrastructure are estimated at approximately 180 million euros. Processing times can be estimated at between three and four years, depending on the type of construction site that will be possible to carry out, but overall it will be close to 10 years, if all goes well and without any bureaucracy. The aim is to carry out the works without interrupting essential services, i.e. water supply, motorway traffic and access to nuclear physics laboratories. Below the tunnel, a subservice tunnel will be inserted, inside which the water pipe will go, isolated from any contact with the external and surrounding environment, with external pipes parallel to the tunnels to capture the water.
As regards the adaptation interventions of the tunnel systems entrusted to Corsini, the reference law is 264/2006 regarding safety for the tunnels of the motorway network. Their cost, quoted by Italferr, would be 100 million euros and include the installation and safety of the electrical, lighting, signage, ground, SOS emergency, closed-circuit television and fire detection systems. , ventilation, collection of dangerous liquids and air quality control.
As regards preparatory extraordinary maintenance interventions for structural safety, a “zero point inspection” is envisaged, which consists of an extraordinary verification inspection to evaluate the state of consistency of the tunnel linings and define the interventions safety measures that are necessary.
THE TUNNEL.
The Gran Sasso tunnel extends over 10,000 meters and is one of the few tunnels of this length in Europe that has a double fornix. The two flanking tunnels are connected to each other by short transverse tunnels (by-passes) equipped with smoke doors, with distances between one and the other varying from 400 to 800 metres; furthermore, placed at a distance of approximately 300 metres, along the right wall there are niches equipped with two fire extinguishers and an SOS phonic column with emergency call selection; a longitudinal ventilation system, installed in both arches, allows the dispersion of fumes kept under control by a network of sensors; 100 cameras ensure continuous monitoring of the entire route and two variable message portals, positioned before the respective entrances, are able to provide any emergency information.
An emergency response unit, 24 hours a day, is able to guarantee first aid in any emergency situation and in particular in the event of fire. The mobile telephone service has been active in the Gran Sasso Tunnel since 2014. And all the tunnel systems are monitored, 24 hours a day, by specialized technicians who operate in the system monitoring center located at the entrance to the L’Aquila side of the tunnel.
Inside the western carriageway of the tunnel, towards Rome, there are the entrance and exit ramps of the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics.
THE CONVOCATION.
«The Services Conference on the Security Project is convened pursuant to Legislative Decree. 264/2006 and Extraordinary Maintenance through structural interventions to make the Gran Sasso Tunnel safe for the acquisition of authorizations and clearance for the purposes of approving the project financed with funds from the National Plan for Complementary Investments”.
Thus we read in the document sent by Corsini to twenty-nine Administrations which, «within the peremptory deadline of 15 days from the date of receipt of the summons, may request documentary additions or clarifications relating to facts, states or qualities not attested in documents already in possession or not directly acquirable by other public administrations”. The same administrations will have to provide their opinions or acts of assent within the peremptory deadline of the following 45 days. Attached to the notice of call is the link with the project. But it doesn’t open.
The date of the synchronous meeting is set for August 9th. Anas, Strada dei Parchi, Ruzzo Reti, Gran Sasso Acqua and the Extraordinary Commissioner for the Safety of the Gran Sasso water system, are invited by Corsini to express an opinion on the compatibility of the intervention «with the activities and/or programs of competence» .
The other administrations that received the invitation are the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Ersi Abruzzo, the local health authorities of Teramo and L’Aquila as well as the respective Food Hygiene and Nutrition Services, Arta Abruzzo, the president of the Abruzzo Region, Marcus Marsilio and the directors of the regional Departments of Health, Territory and Environment and Infrastructure and Transport. And of course the Municipalities of L’Aquila and Isola del Gran Sasso, the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park Authority and the National Institute of Nuclear Physics. The race against time has begun.
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