Testimonies and memories of the men who worked on the Tunnel
Memories of the Gran Sasso. A series of videos in which the forgotten protagonists of a great work speak. Those men who worked for years in the bowels of the Gran Sasso. With their labor and their hands they created one of Italy’s greatest works, the longest double-bore tunnel in Europe. Their testimonies, charged with emotion, including the memory of those comrades who did not make it, gives us back a piece of our country’s history.
“In the tunnel the mountain commands my son. And Gran Sasso was a tough, tough mountain. It was not easy, not at all. I spent 22 years of my life there and I still remember how scary it was to go into it.”-Bread and Dust. History and stories of miners from Capistrello –
A total of 11 workers lost their lives in the construction of the work. Some workers were killed as a result of railroad and road accidents, and some were killed by rock slides and by explosions caused by the Grisu.
THE DIFFICULTIES The Abruzzi massif consists mainly of limestone permeated by substantial aquifers, except for the part towards Teramo, which consists of impermeable marly rocks. On the Assergi side (Rome direction) the aquifer present within the rocks, according to the geologist who had done the study, should have been below the level of the excavation. But the prediction did not turn out to be correct, and on September 14, 1970, at the Valle Fredda fault the water pressure broke through the face of the exploration shaft built on the face of the tunnel. Urgently implemented measures made it possible to have no damage to either people or property. The crossing of the fault, resulted in a halt in tunnel advancement of almost two years.
Attachments
