Adige-Garda Tunnel Opens Briefly for Maintenance Check

It was certainly not due to an imminent threat of flooding from the Adige River, but simply for routine maintenance, that yesterday morning (Thursday, March 22), the Adige-Garda tunnel was opened. This tunnel connects, from Mori to Garda in case of dangerous floods, the river itself. It runs along a path carved into the mountain, perfectly straight, about ten kilometers long.

Indeed, the unexpected opening only lasted a few hours. Just enough time for the force of the water to clear the entrance in Mori from silt and other solid debris that can accumulate and inadvertently block the complex system of gates when needed.

The opening also served as a check of the systems themselves. A system that includes three large gates, operated electrically (if necessary, also using an emergency generator) or manually, in case of total power outage.

Operation and capacity of the gates

It was naturally enough to introduce a limited amount of water: roughly fifty cubic meters per second at the moment when all three gates in Mori were fully opened. The maximum flow rate is estimated to be around 500 cubic meters per second.

In any case, it was still the usual violent influx of the coffee-colored waters of the Adige into the much bluer waters of Garda. A diversion, to tell the truth, reserved this time for a few, since no one from the local area (not even the local fire brigade) except for the mayor of Nago-Torbole, Parolari, had been informed about the maneuver.

Future interventions on the tunnel

The tunnel will soon undergo a major maintenance intervention, with an estimated cost of 14 billion euros.