The Tuscany Region will start work this week to move the debris deposited in the bed of the Bagnolo stream following the flood of November 2nd. The material, carried downstream by the fury of the waters, had raised the level of the river that flows along Via Riva a Bagnolo, one of the areas most affected by the floods. In particular, the debris was deposited near the small bridge which is located near the “Enchanted Garden”, a place particularly loved and frequented by the Montemurlesi. Right here, last Friday, the residents of Bagnolo who gathered in the flood committee had organized a sort of sit-in and asked for urgent safety measures. The citizens had measured, measuring tape in hand, the reduced span of the arch of the small bridge, which in the event of a flood could therefore once again be blocked by wood and mud, causing further flooding.
In recent days the same residents of the Banti hall had had a meeting with the institutions, requested by the Municipality of Montemurlo: on that very occasion Giovanni Massini, director of the soil defense and civil protection sector of the Tuscany Region, present together with the mayor Calamai and the Regional councilor for civil protection Monia Monni explained what was done in the first six months post-flood and the planned interventions.
The details of the intervention on the Bagnolo stream
Massini and Monni explained that the debris in this phase will not be removed from the riverbed but moved to other points of the stream, where an accumulation of material has not been created. This operation – they assured – will allow the flow of water to be restored in a riverbed of the right size and depth, capable of guaranteeing good flow and avoiding other flooding phenomena in the future. Before getting to the removal of the materials accumulated in the riverbed, in fact, the problem of disposing of the green-serpentine marble that is mixed with the debris must be resolved, a procedure that will still take some time. Therefore, while waiting for the total removal and correct disposal of this type of material, the Region has decided to move the material, which will allow the correct size of the riverbed to be restored and therefore greater safety in the area. The Municipality of Montemurlo continues to carefully follow the various phases of the work and, in view of the final reconstruction of the Bagnolo riverbed, has asked the Region to remake the bridles and counter-bridles with the aim of reducing the attitude of the stream to the transport of debris and to protect the banks from erosion. The bridles and counter-bridles serve to slow down the flow of water and reduce debris accumulation phenomena.
