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Vajont Dam

The Vajont Dam or Vaiont Dam is a disused dam in northern Italy. It is one of the tallest dams in the world, with a height of 262 m (860 ft).[5][6] It is in the valley of the Vajont (river) under Monte Toc, in the municipality of Erto e Casso, 100 km (62 mi) north of Venice.

Vajont Dam
Vajont Dam in 2002
Location of Vajont Dam in Italy
Official nameItalian: Diga del Vajont
LocationItaly
Coordinates46°16′02″N 12°19′44″E / 46.26722°N 12.32889°E / 46.26722; 12.32889
Construction began1956[1]
Designed byCarlo Semenza
Owner(s)ENEL
Operator(s)SADE – Società Adriatica di Elettricità (today part of Edison)
Dam and spillways
Type of damConcrete double curvature arch dam
ImpoundsVajont River
Height262 metres (860 ft)
Length160 metres (520 ft) (chord)[1]
Width (crest)3.40 metres (11.2 ft).[2]
Width (base)27 metres (89 ft)
Reservoir
CreatesLago del Vajont
Total capacity168,715 thousand cubic metres (5,958,100×10^3 cu ft)
Power Station
Turbines4[3]
The Vajont Dam as seen from the village of Longarone in 2005, showing roughly the top 60–70 m (200–230 ft) of concrete. The wall of water that overtopped the dam by 250 m (820 ft)[1] and destroyed this village and all nearby villages on 9 October 1963 would have obscured virtually all of the blue sky in this photo.[4]

The dam was conceived in the 1920s and eventually built between 1957 and 1960 by Società Adriatica di Elettricità, at the time the electricity supply and distribution monopoly in northeastern Italy. The engineer was Carlo Semenza (1893–1961). In 1962, the dam was nationalized and came under the control of ENEL as part of the Italian Ministry for Public Works.

On 9 October 1963, during initial filling, a landslide caused a megatsunami in the lake in which 50,000,000 m3 (1.8×109 cu ft) of water overtopped the dam in a wave of 250 m (820 ft), which brought massive flooding and destruction to the Piave Valley below, leading to the destruction of several villages and towns, causing an estimated 1,900 to 2,500 deaths.[1] The dam remained almost intact and two-thirds of the water was retained behind it.

This event occurred after ENEL and the Italian government concealed reports and dismissed evidence that Monte Toc, on the southern side of the basin, was geologically unstable. They had disregarded numerous warnings, signs of danger, and negative appraisals. Underestimating the size of the landslide, ENEL's attempt to safely control the landslide by lowering the lake's level came when disaster was almost imminent.[citation needed]

Construction edit

The dam was built by Società Adriatica di Elettricità (SADE), the electricity supply and distribution monopoly in northeastern Italy. The owner, Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, had been Mussolini's minister of finances for several years. The "tallest dam in the world", across the Vajont Gorge, was conceived in the 1920s to harness the Piave, Mae, and Boite Rivers, to meet the growing demand for power generation and industrialization. The project was not authorized until 15 October 1943, after the confusion following Mussolini's fall during World War II was resolved.[7]

The dam wall had a volume of 360,000 m3 (13×10^6 cu ft) and held up to 168.7×10^6 m3 (5.96×10^9 cu ft) of water. The dam and basin were intended to be at the centre of a complex water-management system in which water would have been channeled from nearby valleys and artificial basins at higher levels. Tens of kilometres of concrete pipes and pipe bridges across valleys were planned.[citation needed]

In the 1950s, SADE's monopoly was confirmed by post-fascist governments, and it bought the land despite opposition by the communities of Erto and Casso in the valley, which was overcome with government and police support.[citation needed] SADE stated that the geology of the gorge had been studied, including analysis of ancient landslides, and that the mountain was believed to be sufficiently stable.[citation needed]

Construction work started in 1957. By 1959, shifts and fractures were noticed while building a new road on the side of Monte Toc. This led to new studies in which three experts separately told SADE that the entire side of Monte Toc was unstable and would be likely to collapse into the basin if the filling were completed.[8] SADE took no notice and construction was completed in October 1959; in February 1960, SADE was authorised to start filling the basin.[citation needed] In 1962, the dam was nationalized and came under the control of ENEL as part of the Italian Ministry for Public Works.

Early signs of disaster edit

On 22 March 1959, during construction of the Vajont Dam, a landslide at the nearby Pontesei Dam created a 20-metre-high (66 ft) wave that killed one person.[9] Throughout the summer of 1960, minor landslides and earth movements were noticed. Instead of heeding these warning signs, the Italian government chose to sue the handful of journalists reporting the problems for "undermining the social order".[citation needed][10]

On 4 November 1960, with the water level in the reservoir at about 190 m (620 ft) of the planned 262 m (860 ft), a landslide of about 800,000 m3 (30×10^6 cu ft) collapsed into the lake. SADE stopped the filling, lowered the water level by about 50 m (160 ft), and started to build an artificial gallery in the basin in front of Monte Toc to keep the basin usable even if additional landslides (which were expected) divided it into two parts.[11]

In October 1961, after the completion of the gallery, SADE resumed filling the narrow reservoir under controlled monitoring. In April and May 1962, with the basin water level at 215 m (705 ft), the people of Erto and Casso reported five "grade five" Mercalli intensity scale earthquakes. SADE downplayed the importance of these quakes,[12] and was then authorized to fill the reservoir to the maximum level.[citation needed]

In July 1962, SADE's own engineers reported the results of model-based experiments on the effects of further landslides from Monte Toc into the lake. The tests indicated that a wave generated by a landslide could top the crest of the dam if the water level were 20 m (66 ft) or less from the dam crest. SADE therefore decided that a level 25 m (82 ft) below the crest would prevent any displacement wave from over-topping the dam. A decision was made to fill the basin beyond that, because the engineers thought they could control the rate of the landslide by controlling the level of water in the reservoir.[citation needed]

In March 1963, the dam was transferred to the newly constituted government service for electricity, ENEL. During the following summer, with the basin almost completely filled, slides, shakes, and movements of the ground were continuously reported by the alarmed population. On 15 September 1963, the entire side of the mountain slid by 22 cm (8.7 in). On 26 September 1963, ENEL decided to slowly empty the basin to 240 m (790 ft). In early October 1963, the collapse of the mountain's south side looked unavoidable; in one day, it moved almost 1 m (3 ft).

Tests of the hydraulic model of the Vajont tank edit

 
The hydraulic model, during the first series of tests.

After the discovery of the landslide on the northern slopes of Monte Toc, it was decided to deepen the studies on these effects:

  • Dynamic actions on the dam
  • Wave effects in the reservoir and possible dangers for nearby locations, with particular attention to the town of Erto
  • Hypothesis of a partial breakage of the dam and consequent examination of the rout wave and its propagation along the last stretch of the Vajont and along the Piave, up to Soverzene and beyond

The study of point 1 was performed at the Experimental Institute for Models and Structures (ISMES) of Bergamo, while for the others, the SADE decided to build a physical-hydraulic model of the basin, in which to perform some experiments on the effects of a landslide fall in a reservoir.

The 1: 200 scale model of the basin, which can still be visited today, was set up at the SADE hydroelectric plant in Nove (Borgo Botteon di Vittorio Veneto), and became the Hydraulic Models Centre. The experiments were entrusted to professors Ghetti and Marzolo, university professors of the Institute of Hydraulics and Hydraulic Constructions of the University of Padua, and were carried out with funding of SADE, under the control of the study office of the company itself.

The study aimed to verify the hydraulic effects on the dam and on the banks of the landslide reservoir, so was directed in this sense rather than reproducing the natural phenomenon of the landslide. The experiments were carried out in two different series (August–September 1961 and January–April 1962), of which the first served substantially to refine the model.

First set of experiments edit

The first series of five experiments began on August 30, 1961, with a sliding surface of the flat landslide inclined by 30°, consisting of a wooden plank covered with a sheet. The sliding mass was simulated with gravel, held in place by flexible metal nets, which were initially held in position by ropes that were then suddenly released. At the beginning of September, another four tests were carried out intended for orientation purposes. The first always with a 30° inclined plane, the following three with a 42° inclined plane. Having found it impossible to reproduce the natural geological phenomenon of the landslide in the model, the model was elaborated by modifying the movement surface of the landslide, which was replaced with a masonry one (the relative profiles were elaborated by Semenza, who also used the surveys that had already been carried out and that had provided sufficient elements of judgment in this sense), to make it possible to vary the speed of the landslide fall into the reservoir (made difficult by the new "back" shape of the movement surface). To simulate the compactness of the moving material (which in the model remained the gravel), rigid sectors were inserted that were towed by ropes pulled by a tractor.

Second set of experiments edit

In the second set of 17 experiments, conducted from January 3, 1962, to April 24, 1962, the "collapsing" material was still gravel, this time held in place by hemp nets and cords. Starting from the Muller hypothesis relating to the different characteristics of the mass moving between the downstream part of the Massalezza stream (west) and the upstream part of the same (east), all the experiments were performed by making those two hypothetical parts of the landslide descend separately. In the model, however, the two landslides were initially made to descend at different times, so that their effects were totally separate, and subsequently, when the wave produced by the first came back, so as to obtain a total increase in the water of the even greater lake.

Final Ghetti report edit

The total increase of the water in the tank (measured by means of special instruments) was broken down into "static increase", which was the nontransient effect of increasing the level of the water left in the tank after the landslide due to the immersion of the landslide in the tank (once the state of rest is reached again), and in "dynamic boost", due to the temporary wave motion produced by the landslide. The static boost depended on the volume of the landslide that remained immersed in the tank, while the dynamic boost depended almost exclusively on the speed of the landslide fall (while it was negligibly linked to the volume of the same).

Based on this simulation (following the disaster object of criticism, as considered approximate by some), placing a reservoir limit at an altitude of 700 m (2,300 ft) predicted that no damage would occur above 730 m (2,400 ft) above mean sea level along the banks of the reservoir, while a minimum quantity of water would have exceeded the edge of the dam (722.5 m (2,370 ft)), causing negligible damage downstream of the same.

With the reported experiences, carried out on a 1:200 scale model of the Vajont lake-reservoir, we tried to provide an evaluation of the effects that will be caused by a landslide, which is possible to occur on the left bank upstream of the dam. . Given that the extreme limit downstream of the landslide is more than 75 m from the embankment of the dam, and that the formation of this embankment is of compact and consistent rock and well distinct, even geologically, from the aforementioned mass, it is absolutely not to be fear of any static perturbation to the dam with the occurrence of the landslide, and therefore only the effects of the wave rise in the lake and in the overflow on the dam crest as a consequence of the fall are to be considered.

INSTITUTE OF HYDRAULICS AND HYDRAULIC CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PADUA MODEL CENTER "E. SCIMEMI"

EXAMINATION ON THE HYDRAULIC MODEL OF THE EFFECTS OF A POSSIBLE LANDSLIDE IN THE VAJONT LAKE TANK
... The forecasts on the modalities of the landslide event are very uncertain from a geological point of view. Partial falls of limited extent occurred in the last months of 1960 in the lower part of the moving bank in conjunction with the initial, and still partial, filling of the reservoir. The landslide formation extends over a total front of 1.8 kilometres (0.97 nmi; 1.1 mi), from an altitude of 600 metres (2,000 ft) to an altitude of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) asl (maximum height of the reservoir lake-reservoir 722.50 metres (2,370.4 ft) a.s.l.). The geological examination leads to the recognition of a presumable conchoidal flow surface, on which the landslide mass, consisting mainly of incoherent material and groundwater debris, reaches a thickness of 200 metres (660 ft) in the central part (astride the shaft of the Massalezza stream). The slope of the slope is steeper in the lower part overlooking the lake; a collapse of this part would probably have been followed by the steepening of the upper mass. It is to be considered that any descent of the landslide is unlikely to occur simultaneously on the entire front; on the other hand, the hypothesis that one or the other of the two areas located upstream or downstream of the Massalezza stream will descend first, and that this steep slope will be followed, at a more or less short interval, by that of the remaining area. ...
... These data seem sufficiently indicative of the extent that the wave phenomenon can present even in the most unfavorable forecasts of the fall of the landslide. It should be noted that the rise found near the dam is always higher than that which occurs in the more distant areas along the shores of the lake. Moving on to consider the effects of the landslide that occurs in the lake that is not completely encased, we have from the evidence that already with the reservoir brought to an altitude of 700 m s.l.m. the most unfavorable event, namely the fall of the valley area in 1 min. following a previous fall in the upstream area, it barely causes, with a 27 metres (89 ft) rise. Near the dam (and a maximum of 31 metres (102 ft) at 430 metres (1,410 ft) from it) an overflow just over 2,000 cubic metres (71,000 cu ft) / s. Starting from the reservoir altitude 670 metres (2,200 ft) a.s.l. even with the fastest landslide, the rise is very limited and well below the overflow ridge.
Therefore, it seems to be possible to conclude that, starting from the reservoir to the maximum flooded, the descent of the expected landslide mass only in catastrophic conditions, i.e. occurring in the exceptionally short time of 1-1.30 minutes, could produce an overflow point of the order of 30,000 cubic metres (1,100,000 cu ft) / s, and a wave rise of 27.5 metres (90 ft). As soon as this time is doubled, the phenomenon is attenuated below 14,000 cubic metres (490,000 cu ft) / s of overflow and 14 metres (46 ft) of elevation.
By decreasing the altitude of the initial reservoir, these overflow and overflow effects are rapidly reduced, and already the altitude of 700 metres (2,300 ft) a.s.l. can be considered absolutely certain with regard to even the most foreseeable catastrophic landslide event. ...
... It will in any case be opportune, in the foreseen continuation of the research, to examine on the suitably prolonged model the effects in the Vajont bed and at the confluence in the Piave of the passage of flood waves of an entity equal to that indicated above for possible dam. In this way there will be more certain indications on the possibility of allowing even greater reservoirs in the lake-reservoir, without danger of damage downstream of the dam in the event of a landslide ...
Padua 3 July 1962
THE RESEARCH DIRECTOR
(Prof. Ing. Augusto Ghetti)[13]

Landslide and wave edit

Vajont Landslide
 
View of the village of Longarone, which was below the dam, showing the extent of the damage after the megatsunami had passed through
Native name Italian: Disastro del Vajont
DateOctober 9, 1963 (1963-10-09)
Time22:39 (CET)
Coordinates46°16′02″N 12°19′44″E / 46.26722°N 12.32889°E / 46.26722; 12.32889
TypeDam failure
CauseUnderestimated speed and mass of landslide of Monte Toc
Casualties
1,900-2,500 fatalities (estimated)
Deaths1,917
Missing1,300[citation needed]
Property damage500,000,000,000 Lira (1963)
ChargesManslaughter and causing the disaster
TrialL'Aquila

On 9 October 1963, engineers saw trees falling and rocks rolling down into the lake where the predicted landslide would take place. Before this, the alarming rate of movement of the landslide had not slowed as a result of lowering the water, although the water had been lowered to what SADE believed was a safe level to contain the displacement wave should a catastrophic landslide occur. With a major landslide now imminent, engineers gathered on top of the dam that evening to witness the tsunami.[citation needed]

At 10:39 pm, a massive 2-kilometre-long (1.1 nmi; 1.2 mi) landslide, with around 260×10^6 m3 (9,200×10^6 cu ft) of forest, earth, and rock, fell from the northern flank of Monte Toc into the lake below at up to 110 km/h (31 m/s; 59 kn; 68 mph) (another source gives 25 m/s (90 km/h; 49 kn; 56 mph)[14]), generating a seismic shock. In 20 seconds it reached the water level; by 45 seconds the landslide (now at rest) had completely filled the Vajont reservoir. The impact displaced 115×10^6 m3 (4,100×10^6 cu ft) of water in about 25 seconds, 50×10^6 m3 (1,800×10^6 cu ft) of which overtopped the dam in a 14 km-high (250 m; 820 ft) wave.[1][15][4]

The impact with the water generated three waves. One went upwards, reached the houses of Casso, fell back onto the landslide, and went on to dig the basin of the pond of Massalezza. Another headed toward the shores of the lake, and through a washout action of the same, destroyed some localities in the municipality of Erto e Casso. The third (containing about 50×10^6 m3 (1,800×10^6 cu ft) of water) climbed over the edge of the dam, which remained intact except for the ring road that led to the left side of the Vajont, and fell into the narrow valley below.

The roughly 50×10^6 m3 (1,800×10^6 cu ft) of water that managed to climb over the work reached the stony shore of the Piave Valley and swept up substantial debris, which poured into the southern sector of Longarone and destroyed the town except for the town hall, the houses north of it, and other neighboring towns. The death toll was about 2,000 people (official data speak of 1,917 victims, but determining with certainty the number is impossible).[16]

The firefighters who departed from Belluno, after receiving reports about the raising of the level of the Piave, could not reach the location, since from a certain point onwards, the road coming from the valley had been completely ripped off. Longarone was reached by firefighters who departed Pieve di Cadore, who were the first to realize what had happened and were able to communicate it. At 5:30 am on 10 October 1963, the first soldiers of the Italian Army arrived to bring relief and recover the dead. The soldiers involved were mostly Alpini, some of whom belonged to the combat engineers, who dug by hand to seek the bodies of the missing. They also found safes of the banks of the country, no longer able to be opened with normal keys, as they were damaged.[17] The firefighters from 46 Provincial Commands also participated in the rescue, with 850 men, including divers, land and helicopter teams, and many vehicles and equipment. The Nucleo Sommozzatori of Genoa, with eight personnel, was used in the basin in front of the Busche Dam, for dredging to search for bodies and drums of toxic substances (61 cyanide drums), with subsequent patrol by immersion and final removal of sludge when the basin was dry. Of the nearly 2,000 fatalities, only 1,500 bodies have been summarily recovered and recomposed, half of which are impossible to recognize.[15]

The flooding in the Piave Valley from the wave destroyed the villages of Longarone, Pirago, Rivalta, Villanova, and Faè, killing approximately 2,000 people and turning the land below the dam into a flat plain of mud[18] with an impact crater 60 m (200 ft) deep and 80 m (260 ft) wide.[citation needed] Many small villages near the landslide along the lakefront suffered damage from a giant displacement wave. Villages in the territory of Erto e Casso and the village of Codissago [it], near Castellavazzo, were largely wrecked.[19]

Estimates of the dead range from 1,900 to 2,500 people, and around 350 families lost all members. Most of the survivors had lost relatives and friends along with their homes and belongings.[20] The dam was largely undamaged. The top 1 m (3.3 ft) or so of masonry was washed away, but the basic structure remained intact and exists today.[citation needed]

Causes and responsibility edit

 
Overview of the Vajont Valley shortly after the disaster of 9 October 1963: Note the 260×10^6 m3 (9.2×10^9 cu ft) landslide, which broke off from Monte Toc and fell into the artificial basin.

Immediately after the disaster, the government (which owned the dam), politicians, and public authorities insisted on attributing the tragedy to an unexpected and unavoidable natural event.[citation needed] The debate in the newspapers was heavily influenced by politics. The paper l'Unità, the mouthpiece of the Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI), was the first to denounce the actions of the management and government, as it had previously carried a number of articles by Tina Merlin [it] addressing the behaviour of the SADE management in the Vajont project and elsewhere. Indro Montanelli, then the most influential Italian journalist and a vocal anticommunist, attacked l'Unità and denied any human responsibility; l'Unità and the PCI were dubbed "jackals, speculating on pain and on the dead" in many articles by La Domenica del Corriere and a national campaign poster paid for by the Christian Democracy, the party of Prime Minister Giovanni Leone. They attributed the catastrophe only to natural causes and God's will.[21]

The campaign accused the PCI of sending agitprops into the refugee communities, as relief personnel; most of them were partisans from Emilia Romagna who fought on Mount Toc in the Second World War and often had friends in the stricken area.[22] The Christian Democracy accused the Communist Party of "political profiteering" from the tragedy. Leone promised to bring justice to the people killed in the disaster. A few months after he lost the premiership, he became the head of SADE's team of lawyers, who significantly reduced the amount of compensation for the survivors and ruled out payment for at least 600 victims.[23][24]

 
The bell tower that remained standing at Longarone. The rest of the church building was swept away, as were almost all of the other structures in the village.

The DC's newspaper, La Discussione,[25] called the disaster "a mysterious act of God's love", in an article that drew sharp criticism from l'Unità.[26] Apart from journalistic attacks and the attempted cover-up from news sources aligned with the government, flaws in the geological assessments have been proven, with disregard of warnings about the likelihood of a disaster by SADE, ENEL, and the government.[citation needed] The trial was moved to L'Aquila, in Abruzzo, by the judges who heard the preliminary trial, thus preventing public participation, and resulted in lenient sentencing for a handful of the SADE and ENEL engineers. One SADE engineer (Mario Pancini) committed suicide in 1968. The government never sued SADE for damage compensation.[citation needed]

Subsequent engineering analysis has focused on the cause of the landslide, and debate continues about the contribution of rainfall, dam level changes, and earthquakes as triggers of the landslide, as well as differing views about whether it was an old landslide that slipped further or a completely new one.[27] A number of problems existed with the choice of site for the dam and reservoir; the canyon was steep-sided, the river had undercut its banks, and the limestone and claystone rocks that made up the walls of the canyon were interbedded with the slippery, clay-like Lias and Dogger Jurassic-period horizons and the Cretaceous-period Malm horizon, all of which were inclined towards the axis of the canyon. In addition, the limestone layers contained many solution caverns that became only more saturated because of rains in September.[28] Prior to the landslide that caused the overtopping flood, the downhill creep of the regolith had been 1.01 cm (0.40 in) per week. In September, this creep reached 25.4 cm (10 in) per day until finally, the day before the landslide, the creep was measured at 1 m (3.3 ft).[28]

Reconstruction edit

 
The area of the 1963 landslide on Monte Toc, taken in 2005

Most of the survivors were moved into a newly built village, Vajont, 50 km (31 mi) southeast on the Tagliamento River plain. Those who insisted on returning to their mountain life in Erto e Casso were strongly discouraged. Longarone and other villages in the Piave Valley were rebuilt with modern houses and farms.[citation needed] The government used the disaster to promote the industrialization of northeastern Italy. Survivors were entitled to "business start-up" loans, public subsidies, and 10 years of tax exemption, all of which they could "sell on" to major companies from the Venice region. These concessions were then converted into millions of lira for industrial plants elsewhere. Among the corporations were Zanussi (now owned by Electrolux), Ceramica Dolomite (now owned by American Standard), Confezioni SanRemo, and SAVIC (now owned by Italcementi).[29]

Compensation measures did not clearly differentiate between victims and people who lived nearby; thus, much of the compensation went to people who had suffered little damage, creating a negative public image.[citation needed] A pumping station was installed in the dam basin to keep the lake at a constant level, and the bypass gallery was lengthened beyond the dam to let the water flow down to the Piave Valley. The dam wall is still in place and maintained, but no plans exist to exploit it. The dry basin, filled with landslip, has been open to visitors since 2002.[citation needed]

The dam today and memorials edit

In recent years, revival of interest has occurred both by researchers with specialist interest and sightseers. The dam, now owned by ENEL, was partially opened to the public in 2002 with guided tours and access to the walkway along the top and other locations. In September 2006, an annual noncompetitive track event, called "Paths of Remembrance", was inaugurated, which allows participants to access some locations inside the mountain. On 12 February 2008, in launching the International Year of Planet Earth, UNESCO cited the Vajont Dam tragedy as one of five "cautionary tales" caused by "the failure of engineers and geologists".[30]

For 2013, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the disaster, the region of Venice set aside one million euros for safety works and recovery of tunnels inside the mountain, which were part of the Colomber Road (the old national road 251). The memorial church in Longarone—constructed over the strong opposition of the surviving parish priest— was built by architect Giovanni Michelucci.[citation needed]

In the media edit

After the initial worldwide reporting,[31] the tragedy became regarded as part of the price of economic growth in the 1950s and 1960s. Interest was rejuvenated by a 1997 television program by Marco Paolini and Gabriele Vacis [it], Il racconto del Vajont. In 2001, a docudrama about the disaster was released. A joint production of Italian and French companies, it was titled Vajont—La diga del disonore ("Vajont—The Dam of Dishonour") in Italy, and La Folie des hommes (The Madness of Men) in France. It stars Michel Serrault and Daniel Auteuil. The tragedy was included in the 2008 documentary series Disasters of the Century.[32]

The TV show Seconds from Disaster featured the event in episode two, "Mountain Tsunami", of its fifth season in 2012.[3][33] In 2013, the 11th stage of the Giro d'Italia finished in Vajont to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the disaster.[34] In March 2018, the dam and the disaster were also covered in season two, episode one ("Armageddon Highway") of Science Channel's Mysteries of the Abandoned.[35]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Petley, Dave (11 December 2008). . The Landslide Blog. Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  2. ^ "The Malpasset Dam Disaster – could the Var suffer again? – Riviera Reporter". www.rivierareporter.com. from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Seconds from Disaster, Schedule, Video, Photos, Facts and More – National Geographic Channel: Episode Guide – Series 5 – National Geographic Channel". from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  4. ^ a b (PDF). 20 January 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  5. ^ . University of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  6. ^ "Capolavoro d'ingegneria nel posto sbagliato". La Repubblica. from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  7. ^ 1 Verbale del voto n. 692 del Consiglio superiore dei lavori pubblici relativo all'esposto della Sade, del 10 novembre 1944, sulla derivazione delle acque (5 agosto 1946) 16 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine, p. 1, in Senate Archives (ASSR), Vajont (IV leg.), 6.1.
  8. ^ T. Merlin, Sulla pelle viva, Cierre Edizioni, Verona, 1993, pp. 59 and 73.
  9. ^ See:
    • "Release of 50,000,000 cubic metres (1.8×109 cu ft) of water at the Vajont Dam [on] 9 October 1963 [in] Erto e Casso (PN), Italy," French Ministry for Sustainable Development, November 2010, pp. 1–2. Available at: ARIA 7 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    • Lago di Pontesei in Italian Wikipedia (in Italian)
  10. ^ at the Wayback Machine (archived 14 December 2021)
  11. ^ A. De Nardi, Il bacino del Vajont e la frana del M. Toc, 1965, p. 27.
  12. ^ T. Merlin, ibidem, p. 102.
  13. ^ Claudio Datei (2005). Vajont la storia idraulica (2 ed.). Padua: International bookshop Cortina. pp. 119–130.
  14. ^ eng-resources.uncc.edu/failurecasestudies/dam-failure-cases/vaiont-dam/
  15. ^ a b . La Stampa. 9 October 2008. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  16. ^ "Quell'onda that swept two thousand lives". Messaggero Veneto. 2017. from the original on 21 September 2019.
  17. ^ Davide Pasquali (6 November 2011). . Alto Adige. Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso SpA. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  18. ^ . La Stampa. 9 October 2008. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  19. ^ 3 Relazione statistica dell'Amministrazione provinciale di Udine sulla situazione dei nuclei familiari del comune di Erto e Casso (13 gennaio 1964) 16 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine, in Senate Archives (ASSR), Vajont (IV leg.), 9.3.
  20. ^ 4 Longarone anno zero (1963) 16 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine, in Senate Archives (ASSR), Vajont (IV leg.), 7.4.
  21. ^ "Vajont" (in Italian). Mattolinimusic.com. Retrieved 29 October 2012.[dead link]
  22. ^ "La rabbia e la speranza". Tinamerlin.it. from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  23. ^ Vastano, Lucia (6 June 2002). "La diga e' ancora li', come il dolore". Liberazione (in Italian). from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023 – via SopravvissutiVajont.org.
  24. ^ "Vajont, Due Volte Tragedia". Narcomafie (in Italian). 9 October 2002. Retrieved 6 August 2023 – via SopravvissutiVajont.org.
  25. ^ "La Discussione", Wikipedia (in Italian), 22 January 2022, from the original on 16 September 2023, retrieved 18 June 2022
  26. ^ L'Unità, 24 October 1963
  27. ^ David Petley. . Land-man.net. Archived from the original on 13 August 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
  28. ^ a b M. Dane Picard, Mountains and Minerals, Rivers and Rocks: A geologist's notes from the field, Pub. Chapman & Hall (1993)
  29. ^ L. Vastano, Vajont, l'onda lunga, Salani Editore, Varese, 2008, pp. 80–3.
  30. ^ "Five Cautionary Tales and Five Good News Stories". International Year of Planet Earth – Global Launch Event. Latest Science Web News-lswn.it. 11 February 2008. ISSN 1827-8922. from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  31. ^ Towns wiped out in night of horror (Newsreel). MCA/Universal Pictures. 14 October 1963. National Archives Identifier 2050680. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  32. ^ History Television, Vajont Dam Collapse 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 2008.
  33. ^ "Mega Disasters – Mountain Tsunami". YouTube. 7 June 2015.[dead YouTube link]
  34. ^ Cycling News, Giro d'Italia 2013 Stage 11 16 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  35. ^ "Mysteries of the Abandoned". Science Channel. from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2022.

Further reading edit

  • Franco Mantovania and Claudio Vita-Finzi, 'Neotectonics of the Vajont dam site', Geomorphology, Vol. 54, Issues 1–2, 2003, pp 33–37.
  • David Petley, Landslide information: The Vajont (Vaiont) Landslide 13 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine, 2001. Retrieved January 2008.
  • Suburban Emergency Management Project (SEMP), 'Epic Vajont Dam Disaster, Italy, 1963: Manmade or Natural?', Biot #373: 17 June 2006. Retrieved January 2008.

Video edit

Video on YouTube of 3D simulation of the wave generated by the Vajont rockslide.

External links edit

  • (in English)
  • Vajont dam disaster: a fascist legacy (in English)
  • Vajont forecast manslaughter (in English)
  • Sito documentale antimafia Vajont (in Italian)
  • Eyewitnesses, 1964's original movie (2.000 condanne) (in Italian)
  • The last outrage: in fact, a mere commercial business. Again... (in Italian)
  • ...Testuale: i festeggiamenti del cinquantesimo della tragedia (in Italian)
  • Vajont, l'onda lunga, Lucia Vastano. Libro inchiesta, testo di corso IUAV Venezia (in Italian)
  • Il disastro del Vajont 15 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian)
  • Comitato Sopravissuti del Vajont (in Italian)
  • Vajont: Almost a Greek Tragedy (in English)
  • Vajont, La diga del disonore at IMDb  
  • . Retrieved 2 July 2009

vajont, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, november, 2019, lea. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Vajont Dam news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Vajont Dam or Vaiont Dam is a disused dam in northern Italy It is one of the tallest dams in the world with a height of 262 m 860 ft 5 6 It is in the valley of the Vajont river under Monte Toc in the municipality of Erto e Casso 100 km 62 mi north of Venice Vajont DamVajont Dam in 2002Location of Vajont Dam in ItalyOfficial nameItalian Diga del VajontLocationItalyCoordinates46 16 02 N 12 19 44 E 46 26722 N 12 32889 E 46 26722 12 32889Construction began1956 1 Designed byCarlo SemenzaOwner s ENELOperator s SADE Societa Adriatica di Elettricita today part of Edison Dam and spillwaysType of damConcrete double curvature arch damImpoundsVajont RiverHeight262 metres 860 ft Length160 metres 520 ft chord 1 Width crest 3 40 metres 11 2 ft 2 Width base 27 metres 89 ft ReservoirCreatesLago del VajontTotal capacity168 715 thousand cubic metres 5 958 100 10 3 cu ft Power StationTurbines4 3 The Vajont Dam as seen from the village of Longarone in 2005 showing roughly the top 60 70 m 200 230 ft of concrete The wall of water that overtopped the dam by 250 m 820 ft 1 and destroyed this village and all nearby villages on 9 October 1963 would have obscured virtually all of the blue sky in this photo 4 The dam was conceived in the 1920s and eventually built between 1957 and 1960 by Societa Adriatica di Elettricita at the time the electricity supply and distribution monopoly in northeastern Italy The engineer was Carlo Semenza 1893 1961 In 1962 the dam was nationalized and came under the control of ENEL as part of the Italian Ministry for Public Works On 9 October 1963 during initial filling a landslide caused a megatsunami in the lake in which 50 000 000 m3 1 8 109 cu ft of water overtopped the dam in a wave of 250 m 820 ft which brought massive flooding and destruction to the Piave Valley below leading to the destruction of several villages and towns causing an estimated 1 900 to 2 500 deaths 1 The dam remained almost intact and two thirds of the water was retained behind it This event occurred after ENEL and the Italian government concealed reports and dismissed evidence that Monte Toc on the southern side of the basin was geologically unstable They had disregarded numerous warnings signs of danger and negative appraisals Underestimating the size of the landslide ENEL s attempt to safely control the landslide by lowering the lake s level came when disaster was almost imminent citation needed Contents 1 Construction 2 Early signs of disaster 3 Tests of the hydraulic model of the Vajont tank 3 1 First set of experiments 3 2 Second set of experiments 3 3 Final Ghetti report 4 Landslide and wave 5 Causes and responsibility 6 Reconstruction 7 The dam today and memorials 8 In the media 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 Video 13 External linksConstruction editThe dam was built by Societa Adriatica di Elettricita SADE the electricity supply and distribution monopoly in northeastern Italy The owner Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata had been Mussolini s minister of finances for several years The tallest dam in the world across the Vajont Gorge was conceived in the 1920s to harness the Piave Mae and Boite Rivers to meet the growing demand for power generation and industrialization The project was not authorized until 15 October 1943 after the confusion following Mussolini s fall during World War II was resolved 7 The dam wall had a volume of 360 000 m3 13 10 6 cu ft and held up to 168 7 10 6 m3 5 96 10 9 cu ft of water The dam and basin were intended to be at the centre of a complex water management system in which water would have been channeled from nearby valleys and artificial basins at higher levels Tens of kilometres of concrete pipes and pipe bridges across valleys were planned citation needed In the 1950s SADE s monopoly was confirmed by post fascist governments and it bought the land despite opposition by the communities of Erto and Casso in the valley which was overcome with government and police support citation needed SADE stated that the geology of the gorge had been studied including analysis of ancient landslides and that the mountain was believed to be sufficiently stable citation needed Construction work started in 1957 By 1959 shifts and fractures were noticed while building a new road on the side of Monte Toc This led to new studies in which three experts separately told SADE that the entire side of Monte Toc was unstable and would be likely to collapse into the basin if the filling were completed 8 SADE took no notice and construction was completed in October 1959 in February 1960 SADE was authorised to start filling the basin citation needed In 1962 the dam was nationalized and came under the control of ENEL as part of the Italian Ministry for Public Works Early signs of disaster editOn 22 March 1959 during construction of the Vajont Dam a landslide at the nearby Pontesei Dam created a 20 metre high 66 ft wave that killed one person 9 Throughout the summer of 1960 minor landslides and earth movements were noticed Instead of heeding these warning signs the Italian government chose to sue the handful of journalists reporting the problems for undermining the social order citation needed 10 On 4 November 1960 with the water level in the reservoir at about 190 m 620 ft of the planned 262 m 860 ft a landslide of about 800 000 m3 30 10 6 cu ft collapsed into the lake SADE stopped the filling lowered the water level by about 50 m 160 ft and started to build an artificial gallery in the basin in front of Monte Toc to keep the basin usable even if additional landslides which were expected divided it into two parts 11 In October 1961 after the completion of the gallery SADE resumed filling the narrow reservoir under controlled monitoring In April and May 1962 with the basin water level at 215 m 705 ft the people of Erto and Casso reported five grade five Mercalli intensity scale earthquakes SADE downplayed the importance of these quakes 12 and was then authorized to fill the reservoir to the maximum level citation needed In July 1962 SADE s own engineers reported the results of model based experiments on the effects of further landslides from Monte Toc into the lake The tests indicated that a wave generated by a landslide could top the crest of the dam if the water level were 20 m 66 ft or less from the dam crest SADE therefore decided that a level 25 m 82 ft below the crest would prevent any displacement wave from over topping the dam A decision was made to fill the basin beyond that because the engineers thought they could control the rate of the landslide by controlling the level of water in the reservoir citation needed In March 1963 the dam was transferred to the newly constituted government service for electricity ENEL During the following summer with the basin almost completely filled slides shakes and movements of the ground were continuously reported by the alarmed population On 15 September 1963 the entire side of the mountain slid by 22 cm 8 7 in On 26 September 1963 ENEL decided to slowly empty the basin to 240 m 790 ft In early October 1963 the collapse of the mountain s south side looked unavoidable in one day it moved almost 1 m 3 ft Tests of the hydraulic model of the Vajont tank editYou can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Italian January 2021 Click show for important translation instructions View a machine translated version of the Italian article Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 3 021 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at it Disastro del Vajont see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated it Disastro del Vajont to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation nbsp The hydraulic model during the first series of tests After the discovery of the landslide on the northern slopes of Monte Toc it was decided to deepen the studies on these effects Dynamic actions on the dam Wave effects in the reservoir and possible dangers for nearby locations with particular attention to the town of Erto Hypothesis of a partial breakage of the dam and consequent examination of the rout wave and its propagation along the last stretch of the Vajont and along the Piave up to Soverzene and beyondThe study of point 1 was performed at the Experimental Institute for Models and Structures ISMES of Bergamo while for the others the SADE decided to build a physical hydraulic model of the basin in which to perform some experiments on the effects of a landslide fall in a reservoir The 1 200 scale model of the basin which can still be visited today was set up at the SADE hydroelectric plant in Nove Borgo Botteon di Vittorio Veneto and became the Hydraulic Models Centre The experiments were entrusted to professors Ghetti and Marzolo university professors of the Institute of Hydraulics and Hydraulic Constructions of the University of Padua and were carried out with funding of SADE under the control of the study office of the company itself The study aimed to verify the hydraulic effects on the dam and on the banks of the landslide reservoir so was directed in this sense rather than reproducing the natural phenomenon of the landslide The experiments were carried out in two different series August September 1961 and January April 1962 of which the first served substantially to refine the model First set of experiments edit The first series of five experiments began on August 30 1961 with a sliding surface of the flat landslide inclined by 30 consisting of a wooden plank covered with a sheet The sliding mass was simulated with gravel held in place by flexible metal nets which were initially held in position by ropes that were then suddenly released At the beginning of September another four tests were carried out intended for orientation purposes The first always with a 30 inclined plane the following three with a 42 inclined plane Having found it impossible to reproduce the natural geological phenomenon of the landslide in the model the model was elaborated by modifying the movement surface of the landslide which was replaced with a masonry one the relative profiles were elaborated by Semenza who also used the surveys that had already been carried out and that had provided sufficient elements of judgment in this sense to make it possible to vary the speed of the landslide fall into the reservoir made difficult by the new back shape of the movement surface To simulate the compactness of the moving material which in the model remained the gravel rigid sectors were inserted that were towed by ropes pulled by a tractor Second set of experiments edit In the second set of 17 experiments conducted from January 3 1962 to April 24 1962 the collapsing material was still gravel this time held in place by hemp nets and cords Starting from the Muller hypothesis relating to the different characteristics of the mass moving between the downstream part of the Massalezza stream west and the upstream part of the same east all the experiments were performed by making those two hypothetical parts of the landslide descend separately In the model however the two landslides were initially made to descend at different times so that their effects were totally separate and subsequently when the wave produced by the first came back so as to obtain a total increase in the water of the even greater lake Final Ghetti report edit The total increase of the water in the tank measured by means of special instruments was broken down into static increase which was the nontransient effect of increasing the level of the water left in the tank after the landslide due to the immersion of the landslide in the tank once the state of rest is reached again and in dynamic boost due to the temporary wave motion produced by the landslide The static boost depended on the volume of the landslide that remained immersed in the tank while the dynamic boost depended almost exclusively on the speed of the landslide fall while it was negligibly linked to the volume of the same Based on this simulation following the disaster object of criticism as considered approximate by some placing a reservoir limit at an altitude of 700 m 2 300 ft predicted that no damage would occur above 730 m 2 400 ft above mean sea level along the banks of the reservoir while a minimum quantity of water would have exceeded the edge of the dam 722 5 m 2 370 ft causing negligible damage downstream of the same With the reported experiences carried out on a 1 200 scale model of the Vajont lake reservoir we tried to provide an evaluation of the effects that will be caused by a landslide which is possible to occur on the left bank upstream of the dam Given that the extreme limit downstream of the landslide is more than 75 m from the embankment of the dam and that the formation of this embankment is of compact and consistent rock and well distinct even geologically from the aforementioned mass it is absolutely not to be fear of any static perturbation to the dam with the occurrence of the landslide and therefore only the effects of the wave rise in the lake and in the overflow on the dam crest as a consequence of the fall are to be considered INSTITUTE OF HYDRAULICS AND HYDRAULIC CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PADUA MODEL CENTER E SCIMEMI EXAMINATION ON THE HYDRAULIC MODEL OF THE EFFECTS OF A POSSIBLE LANDSLIDE IN THE VAJONT LAKE TANK The forecasts on the modalities of the landslide event are very uncertain from a geological point of view Partial falls of limited extent occurred in the last months of 1960 in the lower part of the moving bank in conjunction with the initial and still partial filling of the reservoir The landslide formation extends over a total front of 1 8 kilometres 0 97 nmi 1 1 mi from an altitude of 600 metres 2 000 ft to an altitude of 1 200 metres 3 900 ft asl maximum height of the reservoir lake reservoir 722 50 metres 2 370 4 ft a s l The geological examination leads to the recognition of a presumable conchoidal flow surface on which the landslide mass consisting mainly of incoherent material and groundwater debris reaches a thickness of 200 metres 660 ft in the central part astride the shaft of the Massalezza stream The slope of the slope is steeper in the lower part overlooking the lake a collapse of this part would probably have been followed by the steepening of the upper mass It is to be considered that any descent of the landslide is unlikely to occur simultaneously on the entire front on the other hand the hypothesis that one or the other of the two areas located upstream or downstream of the Massalezza stream will descend first and that this steep slope will be followed at a more or less short interval by that of the remaining area These data seem sufficiently indicative of the extent that the wave phenomenon can present even in the most unfavorable forecasts of the fall of the landslide It should be noted that the rise found near the dam is always higher than that which occurs in the more distant areas along the shores of the lake Moving on to consider the effects of the landslide that occurs in the lake that is not completely encased we have from the evidence that already with the reservoir brought to an altitude of 700 m s l m the most unfavorable event namely the fall of the valley area in 1 min following a previous fall in the upstream area it barely causes with a 27 metres 89 ft rise Near the dam and a maximum of 31 metres 102 ft at 430 metres 1 410 ft from it an overflow just over 2 000 cubic metres 71 000 cu ft s Starting from the reservoir altitude 670 metres 2 200 ft a s l even with the fastest landslide the rise is very limited and well below the overflow ridge Therefore it seems to be possible to conclude that starting from the reservoir to the maximum flooded the descent of the expected landslide mass only in catastrophic conditions i e occurring in the exceptionally short time of 1 1 30 minutes could produce an overflow point of the order of 30 000 cubic metres 1 100 000 cu ft s and a wave rise of 27 5 metres 90 ft As soon as this time is doubled the phenomenon is attenuated below 14 000 cubic metres 490 000 cu ft s of overflow and 14 metres 46 ft of elevation By decreasing the altitude of the initial reservoir these overflow and overflow effects are rapidly reduced and already the altitude of 700 metres 2 300 ft a s l can be considered absolutely certain with regard to even the most foreseeable catastrophic landslide event It will in any case be opportune in the foreseen continuation of the research to examine on the suitably prolonged model the effects in the Vajont bed and at the confluence in the Piave of the passage of flood waves of an entity equal to that indicated above for possible dam In this way there will be more certain indications on the possibility of allowing even greater reservoirs in the lake reservoir without danger of damage downstream of the dam in the event of a landslide Padua 3 July 1962THE RESEARCH DIRECTOR Prof Ing Augusto Ghetti 13 Landslide and wave editYou can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Italian January 2021 Click show for important translation instructions View a machine translated version of the Italian article Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 3 021 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at it Disastro del Vajont see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated it Disastro del Vajont to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation Vajont Landslide nbsp View of the village of Longarone which was below the dam showing the extent of the damage after the megatsunami had passed throughNative nameItalian Disastro del VajontDateOctober 9 1963 1963 10 09 Time22 39 CET Coordinates46 16 02 N 12 19 44 E 46 26722 N 12 32889 E 46 26722 12 32889TypeDam failureCauseUnderestimated speed and mass of landslide of Monte TocCasualties1 900 2 500 fatalities estimated Deaths1 917Missing1 300 citation needed Property damage500 000 000 000 Lira 1963 ChargesManslaughter and causing the disasterTrialL AquilaOn 9 October 1963 engineers saw trees falling and rocks rolling down into the lake where the predicted landslide would take place Before this the alarming rate of movement of the landslide had not slowed as a result of lowering the water although the water had been lowered to what SADE believed was a safe level to contain the displacement wave should a catastrophic landslide occur With a major landslide now imminent engineers gathered on top of the dam that evening to witness the tsunami citation needed At 10 39 pm a massive 2 kilometre long 1 1 nmi 1 2 mi landslide with around 260 10 6 m3 9 200 10 6 cu ft of forest earth and rock fell from the northern flank of Monte Toc into the lake below at up to 110 km h 31 m s 59 kn 68 mph another source gives 25 m s 90 km h 49 kn 56 mph 14 generating a seismic shock In 20 seconds it reached the water level by 45 seconds the landslide now at rest had completely filled the Vajont reservoir The impact displaced 115 10 6 m3 4 100 10 6 cu ft of water in about 25 seconds 50 10 6 m3 1 800 10 6 cu ft of which overtopped the dam in a 1 4 km high 250 m 820 ft wave 1 15 4 The impact with the water generated three waves One went upwards reached the houses of Casso fell back onto the landslide and went on to dig the basin of the pond of Massalezza Another headed toward the shores of the lake and through a washout action of the same destroyed some localities in the municipality of Erto e Casso The third containing about 50 10 6 m3 1 800 10 6 cu ft of water climbed over the edge of the dam which remained intact except for the ring road that led to the left side of the Vajont and fell into the narrow valley below The roughly 50 10 6 m3 1 800 10 6 cu ft of water that managed to climb over the work reached the stony shore of the Piave Valley and swept up substantial debris which poured into the southern sector of Longarone and destroyed the town except for the town hall the houses north of it and other neighboring towns The death toll was about 2 000 people official data speak of 1 917 victims but determining with certainty the number is impossible 16 The firefighters who departed from Belluno after receiving reports about the raising of the level of the Piave could not reach the location since from a certain point onwards the road coming from the valley had been completely ripped off Longarone was reached by firefighters who departed Pieve di Cadore who were the first to realize what had happened and were able to communicate it At 5 30 am on 10 October 1963 the first soldiers of the Italian Army arrived to bring relief and recover the dead The soldiers involved were mostly Alpini some of whom belonged to the combat engineers who dug by hand to seek the bodies of the missing They also found safes of the banks of the country no longer able to be opened with normal keys as they were damaged 17 The firefighters from 46 Provincial Commands also participated in the rescue with 850 men including divers land and helicopter teams and many vehicles and equipment The Nucleo Sommozzatori of Genoa with eight personnel was used in the basin in front of the Busche Dam for dredging to search for bodies and drums of toxic substances 61 cyanide drums with subsequent patrol by immersion and final removal of sludge when the basin was dry Of the nearly 2 000 fatalities only 1 500 bodies have been summarily recovered and recomposed half of which are impossible to recognize 15 The flooding in the Piave Valley from the wave destroyed the villages of Longarone Pirago Rivalta Villanova and Fae killing approximately 2 000 people and turning the land below the dam into a flat plain of mud 18 with an impact crater 60 m 200 ft deep and 80 m 260 ft wide citation needed Many small villages near the landslide along the lakefront suffered damage from a giant displacement wave Villages in the territory of Erto e Casso and the village of Codissago it near Castellavazzo were largely wrecked 19 Estimates of the dead range from 1 900 to 2 500 people and around 350 families lost all members Most of the survivors had lost relatives and friends along with their homes and belongings 20 The dam was largely undamaged The top 1 m 3 3 ft or so of masonry was washed away but the basic structure remained intact and exists today citation needed Causes and responsibility edit nbsp Overview of the Vajont Valley shortly after the disaster of 9 October 1963 Note the 260 10 6 m3 9 2 10 9 cu ft landslide which broke off from Monte Toc and fell into the artificial basin Immediately after the disaster the government which owned the dam politicians and public authorities insisted on attributing the tragedy to an unexpected and unavoidable natural event citation needed The debate in the newspapers was heavily influenced by politics The paper l Unita the mouthpiece of the Partito Comunista Italiano PCI was the first to denounce the actions of the management and government as it had previously carried a number of articles by Tina Merlin it addressing the behaviour of the SADE management in the Vajont project and elsewhere Indro Montanelli then the most influential Italian journalist and a vocal anticommunist attacked l Unita and denied any human responsibility l Unita and the PCI were dubbed jackals speculating on pain and on the dead in many articles by La Domenica del Corriere and a national campaign poster paid for by the Christian Democracy the party of Prime Minister Giovanni Leone They attributed the catastrophe only to natural causes and God s will 21 The campaign accused the PCI of sending agitprops into the refugee communities as relief personnel most of them were partisans from Emilia Romagna who fought on Mount Toc in the Second World War and often had friends in the stricken area 22 The Christian Democracy accused the Communist Party of political profiteering from the tragedy Leone promised to bring justice to the people killed in the disaster A few months after he lost the premiership he became the head of SADE s team of lawyers who significantly reduced the amount of compensation for the survivors and ruled out payment for at least 600 victims 23 24 nbsp The bell tower that remained standing at Longarone The rest of the church building was swept away as were almost all of the other structures in the village The DC s newspaper La Discussione 25 called the disaster a mysterious act of God s love in an article that drew sharp criticism from l Unita 26 Apart from journalistic attacks and the attempted cover up from news sources aligned with the government flaws in the geological assessments have been proven with disregard of warnings about the likelihood of a disaster by SADE ENEL and the government citation needed The trial was moved to L Aquila in Abruzzo by the judges who heard the preliminary trial thus preventing public participation and resulted in lenient sentencing for a handful of the SADE and ENEL engineers One SADE engineer Mario Pancini committed suicide in 1968 The government never sued SADE for damage compensation citation needed Subsequent engineering analysis has focused on the cause of the landslide and debate continues about the contribution of rainfall dam level changes and earthquakes as triggers of the landslide as well as differing views about whether it was an old landslide that slipped further or a completely new one 27 A number of problems existed with the choice of site for the dam and reservoir the canyon was steep sided the river had undercut its banks and the limestone and claystone rocks that made up the walls of the canyon were interbedded with the slippery clay like Lias and Dogger Jurassic period horizons and the Cretaceous period Malm horizon all of which were inclined towards the axis of the canyon In addition the limestone layers contained many solution caverns that became only more saturated because of rains in September 28 Prior to the landslide that caused the overtopping flood the downhill creep of the regolith had been 1 01 cm 0 40 in per week In September this creep reached 25 4 cm 10 in per day until finally the day before the landslide the creep was measured at 1 m 3 3 ft 28 Reconstruction edit nbsp The area of the 1963 landslide on Monte Toc taken in 2005Most of the survivors were moved into a newly built village Vajont 50 km 31 mi southeast on the Tagliamento River plain Those who insisted on returning to their mountain life in Erto e Casso were strongly discouraged Longarone and other villages in the Piave Valley were rebuilt with modern houses and farms citation needed The government used the disaster to promote the industrialization of northeastern Italy Survivors were entitled to business start up loans public subsidies and 10 years of tax exemption all of which they could sell on to major companies from the Venice region These concessions were then converted into millions of lira for industrial plants elsewhere Among the corporations were Zanussi now owned by Electrolux Ceramica Dolomite now owned by American Standard Confezioni SanRemo and SAVIC now owned by Italcementi 29 Compensation measures did not clearly differentiate between victims and people who lived nearby thus much of the compensation went to people who had suffered little damage creating a negative public image citation needed A pumping station was installed in the dam basin to keep the lake at a constant level and the bypass gallery was lengthened beyond the dam to let the water flow down to the Piave Valley The dam wall is still in place and maintained but no plans exist to exploit it The dry basin filled with landslip has been open to visitors since 2002 citation needed The dam today and memorials editIn recent years revival of interest has occurred both by researchers with specialist interest and sightseers The dam now owned by ENEL was partially opened to the public in 2002 with guided tours and access to the walkway along the top and other locations In September 2006 an annual noncompetitive track event called Paths of Remembrance was inaugurated which allows participants to access some locations inside the mountain On 12 February 2008 in launching the International Year of Planet Earth UNESCO cited the Vajont Dam tragedy as one of five cautionary tales caused by the failure of engineers and geologists 30 For 2013 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the disaster the region of Venice set aside one million euros for safety works and recovery of tunnels inside the mountain which were part of the Colomber Road the old national road 251 The memorial church in Longarone constructed over the strong opposition of the surviving parish priest was built by architect Giovanni Michelucci citation needed In the media editAfter the initial worldwide reporting 31 the tragedy became regarded as part of the price of economic growth in the 1950s and 1960s Interest was rejuvenated by a 1997 television program by Marco Paolini and Gabriele Vacis it Il racconto del Vajont In 2001 a docudrama about the disaster was released A joint production of Italian and French companies it was titled Vajont La diga del disonore Vajont The Dam of Dishonour in Italy and La Folie des hommes The Madness of Men in France It stars Michel Serrault and Daniel Auteuil The tragedy was included in the 2008 documentary series Disasters of the Century 32 The TV show Seconds from Disaster featured the event in episode two Mountain Tsunami of its fifth season in 2012 3 33 In 2013 the 11th stage of the Giro d Italia finished in Vajont to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the disaster 34 In March 2018 the dam and the disaster were also covered in season two episode one Armageddon Highway of Science Channel s Mysteries of the Abandoned 35 See also edit nbsp Energy portal nbsp Water portal nbsp Italy portalList of natural disasters by death toll List of dams and reservoirs Malpasset Dam Seiche St Francis DamReferences edit a b c d e Petley Dave 11 December 2008 The Vaiont Vajont landslide of 1963 The Landslide Blog Archived from the original on 14 January 2016 Retrieved 5 December 2019 The Malpasset Dam Disaster could the Var suffer again Riviera Reporter www rivierareporter com Archived from the original on 26 January 2021 Retrieved 23 April 2018 a b Seconds from Disaster Schedule Video Photos Facts and More National Geographic Channel Episode Guide Series 5 National Geographic Channel Archived from the original on 8 January 2014 Retrieved 26 February 2014 a b The Vajont Dam Disaster TeLL Net Kick off Assembly Kobe Japan 19 20 January 2006 PDF 20 January 2006 Archived from the original PDF on 27 March 2009 Retrieved 5 December 2019 Vaiont Dam photos and virtual field trip University of Wisconsin Archived from the original on 14 May 2008 Retrieved 1 July 2009 Capolavoro d ingegneria nel posto sbagliato La Repubblica Archived from the original on 26 October 2020 Retrieved 19 September 2014 1 Verbale del voto n 692 del Consiglio superiore dei lavori pubblici relativo all esposto della Sade del 10 novembre 1944 sulla derivazione delle acque 5 agosto 1946 Archived 16 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine p 1 in Senate Archives ASSR Vajont IV leg 6 1 T Merlin Sulla pelle viva Cierre Edizioni Verona 1993 pp 59 and 73 See Release of 50 000 000 cubic metres 1 8 109 cu ft of water at the Vajont Dam on 9 October 1963 in Erto e Casso PN Italy French Ministry for Sustainable Development November 2010 pp 1 2 Available at ARIA Archived 7 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine Lago di Pontesei in Italian Wikipedia in Italian Release of 50 million m3 of water at the Vajont Dam at the Wayback Machine archived 14 December 2021 A De Nardi Il bacino del Vajont e la frana del M Toc 1965 p 27 T Merlin ibidem p 102 Claudio Datei 2005 Vajont la storia idraulica 2 ed Padua International bookshop Cortina pp 119 130 eng resources wbr uncc wbr edu wbr failurecasestudies wbr dam failure cases wbr vaiont dam wbr a b Today the forty fifth anniversary Vajont the wall of water that killed Longarone La Stampa 9 October 2008 Archived from the original on 30 September 2012 Retrieved 9 October 2010 Quell onda that swept two thousand lives Messaggero Veneto 2017 Archived from the original on 21 September 2019 Davide Pasquali 6 November 2011 Vajont the memory of the bolzanini alpini Hands in the mud to free the bodies Alto Adige Gruppo Editoriale L Espresso SpA Archived from the original on 26 April 2016 Retrieved 9 April 2016 Vajont il muro d acqua che ha ucciso Longarone La Stampa 9 October 2008 Archived from the original on 30 September 2012 Retrieved 29 October 2012 3 Relazione statistica dell Amministrazione provinciale di Udine sulla situazione dei nuclei familiari del comune di Erto e Casso 13 gennaio 1964 Archived 16 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine in Senate Archives ASSR Vajont IV leg 9 3 4 Longarone anno zero 1963 Archived 16 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine in Senate Archives ASSR Vajont IV leg 7 4 Vajont in Italian Mattolinimusic com Retrieved 29 October 2012 dead link La rabbia e la speranza Tinamerlin it Archived from the original on 17 April 2012 Retrieved 29 October 2012 Vastano Lucia 6 June 2002 La diga e ancora li come il dolore Liberazione in Italian Archived from the original on 6 August 2023 Retrieved 6 August 2023 via SopravvissutiVajont org Vajont Due Volte Tragedia Narcomafie in Italian 9 October 2002 Retrieved 6 August 2023 via SopravvissutiVajont org La Discussione Wikipedia in Italian 22 January 2022 archived from the original on 16 September 2023 retrieved 18 June 2022 L Unita 24 October 1963 David Petley Landslide information The Vajont Vaiont Landslide 2001 Land man net Archived from the original on 13 August 2006 Retrieved 1 January 2008 a b M Dane Picard Mountains and Minerals Rivers and Rocks A geologist s notes from the field Pub Chapman amp Hall 1993 L Vastano Vajont l onda lunga Salani Editore Varese 2008 pp 80 3 Five Cautionary Tales and Five Good News Stories International Year of Planet Earth Global Launch Event Latest Science Web News lswn it 11 February 2008 ISSN 1827 8922 Archived from the original on 3 May 2019 Retrieved 1 January 2009 Towns wiped out in night of horror Newsreel MCA Universal Pictures 14 October 1963 National Archives Identifier 2050680 Retrieved 7 October 2013 History Television Vajont Dam Collapse Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved January 2008 Mega Disasters Mountain Tsunami YouTube 7 June 2015 dead YouTube link Cycling News Giro d Italia 2013 Stage 11 Archived 16 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine Mysteries of the Abandoned Science Channel Archived from the original on 29 September 2020 Retrieved 2 July 2022 Further reading editFranco Mantovania and Claudio Vita Finzi Neotectonics of the Vajont dam site Geomorphology Vol 54 Issues 1 2 2003 pp 33 37 David Petley Landslide information The Vajont Vaiont Landslide Archived 13 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine 2001 Retrieved January 2008 Suburban Emergency Management Project SEMP Epic Vajont Dam Disaster Italy 1963 Manmade or Natural Biot 373 17 June 2006 Retrieved January 2008 Video editVideo on YouTube of 3D simulation of the wave generated by the Vajont rockslide External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vajont Dam Kiersch G A The Vajont Reservoir Disaster Mineral Information Service July 1965 pp 129 38 in English Vajont dam disaster a fascist legacy in English Vajont forecast manslaughter in English Sito documentale antimafia Vajont in Italian Eyewitnesses 1964 s original movie 2 000 condanne in Italian The last outrage in fact a mere commercial business Again in Italian Testuale i festeggiamenti del cinquantesimo della tragedia in Italian Vajont l onda lunga Lucia Vastano Libro inchiesta testo di corso IUAV Venezia in Italian Il disastro del Vajont Archived 15 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine in Italian Comitato Sopravissuti del Vajont in Italian Vajont Almost a Greek Tragedy in English Vajont La diga del disonore at IMDb nbsp Vajont dam photos and virtual field trip University of Wisconsin Retrieved 2 July 2009 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Vajont Dam amp oldid 1186828168, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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