Italy’s Hydrovia Nears Completion After Key Canal and Bridge Upgrades
Navigation on the Fissero-Tartaro-Canal Bianco-Po di Levante waterway is expected to begin after April 15, 2001.
During a meeting organized by the Associazione industriali di Mantova held on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Azienda regionale dei porti di Valdaro, and attended by representatives of navigation agencies and technical staff from the Lombardy and Veneto Regions, a timeline for the completion of the slowest Italian river transport route was finally announced.
By mid-April, maintenance and widening works on the only remaining narrow passage, the San Leone lock in Governolo, Mantova province, should be completed. The project involves a content expansion costing 150 million lire, after which trial trips can commence.
Necessary interventions and current conditions
The only remaining intervention to be carried out will be the raising of the Arqua Polesine railway bridge in Rovigo province, which currently does not constitute, even partially, an obstacle to navigation due to its existing configuration.
Meanwhile, in preparation for the hydrovia’s operational start, the Regione Veneto, within its powers, has already spent 480 million lire on maintenance of the four existing locks in Veneto, located in Barricetta, Brusoni, Canda, and Torretta, and allocated an additional 380 million lire for channel dredging.
These operations are part of routine administrative activities, as the first set involved restoring structures, especially aerodynamic systems, somewhat damaged by their lack of use until now, and the second involved cleaning the bed of the watercourse, which is a cyclical necessity.
Situation of the Arqua Polesine bridge
The situation is different regarding the Arqua Polesine bridge, which currently has an air draft of 5 meters and 13 centimeters, compared to the standard measure of 6.5 meters.
This situation limits the passage of some types of vessels but does not prevent the hydrovia from being navigable for all others.
To solve this issue, the Region plans to build a new bridge replacing the existing one, which cannot be raised due to potential slope problems relative to the nearby Arqua Polesine station.
The estimated cost for this operation is 25 billion lire, and funding will be sourced from a portion of the funds allocated to river navigation in Veneto by the national finance law.
From the 146 billion lire to be transferred from Rome for the navigation of Po di Brondolo, approximately 90 billion will be spent. An additional 30 billion lire will be invested to complete the Fissero-Tartaro-Canal Bianco-Po di Levante, including shoreline reinforcements and further work still to be detailed.
Luca Fiorin