From tomorrow you can go back to the former 209 road "Valnerina" in the town of Visso, on the Umbrian-Marche border, where the earthquake of the 30 October had upset the hydrogeological structure of the entire slope causing the collapse of part of the rocky ridge and diverting the course of the Nera river.
The news was made official in the presence of the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Graziano Delrio, the CEO of Anas Gianni Vittorio Armani and the Head of the Civil Protection Department Angelo Borrelli, who this morning carried out a technical inspection in the main construction sites for the restoration of the road network throughout the earthquake area. During the day the local administrators also took part: the presidents of the Marche and Lazio regions, Luca Ceriscioli and Nicola Zingaretti, the councilor for infrastructures of the Umbria Region, Giuseppe Chianella, the presidents of the provinces of Ascoli Piceno, Perugia and Macerata, Paolo D'Erasmo, Nando Mismetti and Antonio Pettinari, as well as the Extraordinary Commissioner of Ussita Mauro Passerotti and the mayors of Visso, Giuliano Pazzaglini, of Castelsantangelo sul Nera, Mauro Falcucci, of Norcia, Nicola Alemanno and of Arquata del Tronto, Aleandro Petrucci.
"For the restoration of the roads hit by the earthquake - said the CEO of Anas, Gianni Vittorio Armani - Anas immediately invested the maximum of its strength, both in the emergency phase and in the reconstruction phase, with the aim to return to this area the fundamental infrastructures for the return to normality in the shortest possible time, despite the serious and widespread damage caused by the earthquake. In the earthquake area - he added - Anas currently has restoration works underway for over 122 million euros and works in the award phase for a further 168 million euros, while the planning and approval of the remaining interventions provided for by the Roads Restoration Program (first and second phase) which provides for a total of 501 fully funded interventions for 474 million euros ".
For the reconstruction phase, Anas has been commissioned by the Government (DL 205 of 4 / 11 / 2016) to provide for the restoration and securing of roads under its jurisdiction as well as those of local and regional authorities, as a subject actuator.
MAIN FRONTS OF INTERVENTION
EXSS209 VALNERINA
The works necessary for the reopening of the former SS 209 "Valnerina" road began last August, after a complex phase of geological and design investigations. A large part of the rocky slope, due to the seismic shocks, had in fact collapsed both the road and the course of the river Nera with 60 thousand cubic meters of material that had occupied an area of 18 thousand square meters and with accumulations up to 15 meters thick. In addition, 4,5 street-bordering miles were affected by a widespread fall in boulders, with sizes of more than one cubic meter in size.
The works, for an investment of over 10 millions of euro, have required the use of specialized rock climbers and have concerned: the reclamation of the rocky slopes from the unsafe rocks, the restoration of the rockfall networks, the construction of new barriers at high altitude and protection of the roadway, the construction of a temporary link that allowed the transit of local traffic starting from October 2017, the removal and reprofiling of the landslide, the demolition of a tunnel, the reconstruction of a bridge, the reconstruction of the riverbed of the Nera river (initially channeled into a temporary riverbed to allow work) as well as the permanent restoration of the roadway.
From tomorrow the transit will be allowed to all vehicles without time limitations, with one-way adjustment alternated in a short section to allow the completion of the interventions, expected by March.
685 STATE ROAD "OF THE THREE VALLI UMBRE"
Work continues on the 685 road "delle Tre Valli Umbre" for the reopening of the section between Norcia and Arquata del Tronto (SS4 grafting Via Salaria). Here the 30 earthquake in October severely damaged 10 tunnels and 8 viaducts, as well as causing instability of the slopes with consequent falling rocks spread along the route.
The works for the structural restoration of the works and for the securing of the slopes, currently underway, have required an investment of 95 millions of euro.
The interventions on the Umbrian stretch, which includes the "San Benedetto" tunnel, are nearing completion. On the Marches side, the first part of the SS4 Salaria will be re-opened at the Pescara del Tronto junction, which includes the "Vezzano" tunnel, while work on the other works continues.
Starting from the end of February, partial and temporary opening of the itinerary will gradually be possible, in provisional mode and under monitoring, also using the adjacent secondary road in order to allow a first level of provisional viability between Norcia, via Salaria and the province of Ascoli Piceno.
The completion of all interventions is expected by the end of the year.
ACCESSIBILITY TO CASTELLUCCIO DI NORCIA
As for the accessibility to Castelluccio di Norcia, on the Umbria-Norcia-Castelluccio side, the interventions are underway by the Province of Perugia and the reopening is scheduled for March. On the Arquata del Tronto-Forca di Presta-Castelluccio (SP89-SP34-SP477) side, the transit to the built-up area of Castelluccio is currently permitted in temporary mode to authorized vehicles, thanks to the first restoration work completed; the works for the final completion will be contracted in the next weeks.
Finally, the director Visso-Castelsantangelo-Castelluccio (SP134-SP136), currently only passable by authorized vehicles, has suffered damage to the road body and is exposed to high risk of falling rocks and landslides, requiring work to restore and secure the slopes for a total of 45 million euros. After the complex geological surveys and planning activities, the interventions on the Visso-Castelsantangelo section have been contracted and will be launched in the coming days. The works in the Castelsantangelo-Castelluccio section, much more affected by the earthquakes, are currently underway and it is planned to start work by February, which will be completed in 12 months: an intermediate phase is planned, after about 60 days, in which allow the itinerary to be used with limitations and in time slots.