WWF Criticizes Mount Englo Tunnel Proposal: Environmental and Safety Risks
The WWF of Basso Sarca considers completely unacceptable the tunnel solution underneath Mount Englo, as developed by the province as an alternative to the current route of the 45 bis.
In the city council, during last week’s meeting, the opposition parties limited themselves to raising objections about the exit at Monte Oro, regarded as less favorable than that south of the Ponale power plant (which everyone agrees on: only that the majority, in order to pass the long-awaited variant, is willing to accept what the province deems best, reserving the right to object at a later time).
The WWF goes further, entirely dismissing the tunnel hypothesis as outlined in the Gentilini project, which environmentalists have identified as containing “culpable omissions and gaps.”
Geological and Safety Issues
The main reason for the WWF’s reservations is of geological nature. The tunnel would be located right at the border between the Trentino platform and the Lombard basin, “characterized by numerous faults and dislocations primarily running north-south, the main one being the Garda-Ballino line.”
The most dangerous and unstable area “is the tunnel entrance, densely populated, near via Monte Oro in the paleorift of Mount Englo.” Specifically, the report sent by WWF to the province’s urban planning department notes that the geological assessment in the Gentilini project itself admits “construction difficulties, such as possible slips in the debris of the fault and reduced shear resistance, but solutions to these issues are delegated to future and hypothetical investigations.”
Developing a detailed project without first ensuring safety in the most at-risk areas is entirely unacceptable.” The methods of excavation for the tunnel are not clarified, particularly whether mechanical drills will be used or if explosives will be employed. What guarantees are in place for neighboring buildings, some of which “represent ancient architectural heritage (dating back almost to the early 20th century like Villa Betta) and are built on incoherent material (fault debris), thus more susceptible to vibrations”? There is a risk of rockfalls, similar to what can occur in the entire mountain chain west of Lake Garda.
The project could lead to a significant alteration of subsurface water flow, affecting the water table. “Besides the technical concerns mentioned earlier,” concludes WWF’s objection, “there are issues inherent in such projects.”
High implementation costs (over 18 billion euros) and, most importantly, environmental impact: landscape scar, increased atmospheric and noise pollution for houses near the tunnel entrances, and additional traffic impact on Gardesana Occidentale, already heavily affected.”