Dom Gallery Closure Expected This Autumn Amid Rock Movement Concerns

The Dom gallery, the one built to connect the Agnese tunnel — 3 kilometers and 600 meters of elevation — with the us of Busa, will need repairs. An unofficial announcement indicates a closure expected this coming autumn, which could be of considerable duration since alternative options are being evaluated, weighing their pros and cons. There are two options: through the Dom via the route used by construction trucks during the work, or via the Foci road. The province continues to monitor the tunnel’s movements.

The dynamics of rock movement

Vincenzo Ceschini explains easily that this is a “hot” zone. After a stretch of pure Dolomia, in the final part of the Agnese tunnel, the Dom gallery passes through marly strata. This marl is literally under pressure. In fact, the active seismological line of Ballino runs right there.

What does this mean? Simply put, there is an almost 60-degree inclined rock layer (clearly visible where it emerges in the open section between the two tunnels), on which the mountain above — including all the Ledrian Alps — rests with its entire weight. Gravity tends to make it slide downward and exerts pressure on the massif of Monte Baldo, which, unable to shift eastward (blocked by the Lessini), lifts upwards.

It’s a matter of millimeters per year, but the uplift continues: measurements confirm this. This weight presses on the marl layers in which the Dom tunnel is excavated and causes the displacements that have become very visible over time: to the extent that the tunnel has become misaligned, despite the multitude of anchors drilled into the rock above the concrete lining.

Conclusions on the stability of the gallery

The consequence? That tunnel will never remain completely still. The pressure exerted on the fault line cannot be opposed or contained. We must learn to live with it.