BELLUNO. Severe disruption due to a huge mudslide and debris, caused by bad weather, which yesterday, July 1st, invaded the provincial road 347 of the Duran pass, in the municipality of Val di Zoldo (Belluno). The pass, in the heart of the Dolomites, between mountains such as the famous Pelmo and Civetta, connects Agordo and the valley of the same name with the Zoldano.
The road is interrupted in the Le Vare area (at an altitude of approximately 1,250 m), at the height of a bridge, on the Zoldo side of the pass, just under four kilometres from the summit. which is at 1,600 metres and from which various hiking trails start, in particular towards Moiazza, passing through the Carestiato refuge, and Mount Civetta itself, or on the eastern side Mount San Sebastiano.
A landslide had already occurred in the same area last year. No damage to people or buildings was reported, but the consequences on the road infrastructure are heavy. Last year, a landslide had already occurred in the same area: on that occasion, approximately 400 cubic meters of rock material had fallen; yesterday, it was estimated that the mass that fell down the valley was 4-5 times greater.
The mayor of Val di Zoldo, Camillo DePellegrinexplained that after the 2023 event a containment basin had been set up to protect the road. This allowed part of the landslide material to be retained, but given the overall size, another part of enormous dimensions completely invaded the roadway.
It will now take several days to remove the debris and then checks will be necessary on the road conditions and on the danger of new detachments, the protection structures will also have to be restored and strengthened.
The Duran pass for those climbing the Agordino side is 12.5 kilometres long (total difference in altitude of 990 metres), while from the Zoldo valley the ascent is shorter and starts higher up, near the town of Dont (altitude 915), for a development of just over eight kilometres and with a difference in altitude of 700 metres.
[foto credits: Fb Giampaolo Bottacin, assessore Regione Veneto]
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