A massive rockslide initially made a road into the Schnalstal valley in South Tyrol impassable and narrowly missed a bus. Locals and holidaymakers can now use the important route again – albeit with restrictions.
In the South Tyrolean holiday region of Vinschgau, a massive rockfall almost caused a tragedy on Wednesday, June 5th. As the “tz.de” reports, several boulders weighing several tons broke off from the western valley slope and fell onto the main road that leads to the popular Schnalstal valley. At exactly that moment, a bus was passing through the tunnel near the village of Neuratheis.
The incident occurred below the residence of mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner at Juval Castle. According to reports from “Südtirol News”, one of the large boulders landed in front of a bus with around 20 passengers that was just before the end of the tunnel. Other drivers were also lucky enough to be able to avoid the accident. According to “tz.de”, no one was injured in the incident.
The road had to be closed initially. The head of the road construction department of the province of South Tyrol, Philipp Sicher, described the situation in Schnals in an interview with “tz.de” as “very complex”. There are small cave-ins and geologists are in the process of assessing the situation.
“There will then be a meeting about how to proceed, which means that the road will remain closed until further notice until we have been able to define a suitable measure as to how the road can be safely reopened to traffic,” the official explained to “tz.de”.
The rockslide also has consequences for the tourists who are currently staying in the hotels and restaurants in the valley. The press office of the province of Bolzano announced: “In consultation with the representatives of the municipality and the volunteer fire brigade, it was agreed that the road would be open to traffic in the morning from 7 a.m. to 8.30 a.m., at lunchtime from 12.30 p.m. to 2 p.m. and in the evening from 6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.”
A laser scanning flight is planned for this Friday. This should result in a 3D model of the affected area being available by Tuesday so that a decision can be made regarding protective structures. “It will be necessary to build one or more protective dams – we will probably be able to determine the location and height on Tuesday,” says state geologist Volkmar Mair.
This incident is not the first of its kind. In May, a rockfall blocked the road to the Schnalstal. The Danube riverside road in Aggsbach, Austria, and a riverside road on Lake Garda have also been hit by rockfalls in the past.
At the beginning of April, a similar incident occurred in Taiwan, in which a driver narrowly escaped death. An earthquake caused huge boulders to break off from a hillside and roll down it, heading straight towards a road. The driver’s dashcam filmed the lucky break.
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