Limone Calls for Urgent Artificial Tunnel Near Landslide-Prone Road
“It’s time to put an end to patchwork measures: we need to develop an artificial tunnel similar to the one constructed just south of Riva last year, at the site where another landslide occurred, claiming the life of an elderly person.” Antonio Girardi, Secretary of the Limone sul Garda Hotel Association and a hotel owner himself, expresses the frustration of the category.
Girardi, who returned to Limone just a few hours ago, faced a problem that has now become almost routine. “That stretch of road has always been plagued by boulders —” he observes, “— The latest landslide has highlighted the emergency, and it’s time to take action.” The Gardesano tourism operator has very clear ideas:
Innovations and proposals for safety
“In the section south of the tunnel, close to Hotel San Giorgio (the same location where the latest landslide occurred, ed.), up to the start of the artificial tunnel, a few hundred meters towards Salò, intervention has become unavoidable.”
Among the solutions, Girardi is not in favor of constructing a tunnel that pierces through the mountain. “Core samples taken at that point to verify the rock’s consistency have shown that such an operation would only be feasible with a tunnel approximately 800 meters long, running about fifty meters inside the mountain.” For the Limone hotelier, this solution is not ideal, as “it would take years before it could be completed.”
Instead, urgent works on the Gardesana road are needed. The best design proposal would be to build an artificial gallery that allows tourists to enjoy the lake view and, above all, enables transit to avoid severe risks, with a cover that leaves space for the eye to see the lake.”
Institutional interventions and future projects
The Mayor of Limone, Giambattista Martinelli, is certain: “It’s no longer time for words, but for concrete actions, especially since everyone knows that rocks have always fallen from certain points on Gardesana.”
Now that Lombardy Region has allocated 40 billion euros, we hope this is the right moment to see some projects realized. Among the top priorities was, in fact, the Nanzel area, the site of the last landslide. The time available has run out.” Bruno Festa