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Eleven years of work, seven times the “normal” cost, i.e. 700 million instead of 100. The Rome metro station in Piazza Venezia immediately became famous throughout the world for its negative records. But the reality is different. And it deserves to be told because in the end, here we are talking about a planetary excellence, which even beats Elon Musk’s famous Hyperloop tunnel in California, his high-speed transport system. Yes, because while Musk’s project is already dead (the inaugural tunnel built in 2018 in Hawthorne, California, has already been demolished to make room for new parking spaces for SpaceX employees) this one is moving forward.
Ok, it’s young, but it promises wonders because we’re talking about a crazy engineering challenge: the route of Line C extends below Via dei Fori Imperiali, to reach Piazza Venezia. That is, the place in the world with the most historical finds ever. Right here a 45 meter deep station will be built, with perimeter walls to contain the excavation that reach a depth of 85 metres. To clarify, the Venice station will develop on eight underground floors connected by 27 escalators, 6 elevators and 110 meter platforms.
In order to be able to dig to a depth of up to 85 meters in a place where everything from Noah’s Ark to the Holy Grail can come out, and then, at the same time, safeguard the surrounding ancient monuments and buildings, innovative techniques have been identified, a benchmark for the creation of similar works, in highly complex and anthropized contexts.
Among these there is that of “freezing”, a technique of waterproofing and consolidating the ground for digging safely in urban environments and that of “compensation grouting” which consists of injections of cement under the foundations of the buildings to be preserved, done at the same time to the excavation, to stabilize the structures in the excavation area and eliminate settlements. And that’s not all: here the “archaeological top-down” will also be used, which consists in the archaeological excavation method up to a maximum of 15 meters deep, creating the floors sloping down and minimizing the impact on the surrounding elements and restoring the surface activities while excavations continue. And then the technique of “sacrificial diaphragms” will also be used, which allow excavation work to be carried out without causing damage to the historical-artistic heritage of the city and, indeed, preserving it. In practice, unreinforced transversal walls, created to counterbalance the thrust of the excavation and stabilize the perimeter.
So, in practice, there will be three museum areas underground. With three direct accesses, to see what was found during the excavations, dismantled and repositioned exactly where it was found: from Palazzo Venezia via two escalators, a fixed staircase and an elevator; from Hadrian’s University and Fori Imperiali, via two escalators, a fixed staircase and a glass elevator; from the Vittoriano, via an escalator and a fixed one.
Museums, these too, unique in the world. A museum atrium will be created on the first level. The objective, shared with the Archaeological, Fine Arts and Landscape Superintendence, is to relocate the various archaeological finds found during the excavation, so that they are visible to passengers and tourists, while creating, at the same time, an integrated system with the museums surroundings. The original route of the Via Flaminia will be reconstructed with a design along which three unique finds will be relocated. That is, the remains of some commercial buildings and an insula, a large popular house with several houses, dating back to the 2nd-3rd century AD; then the facade of a building with tabernae, a place where commercial activities were carried out; and – finally – the three large rectangular halls that make up Hadrian’s Auditoria.
These finds can be visited inside the station, thanks to the setting up of exhibition areas and display cases, arranged along the route of the ancient Via Flaminia, and of wall inserts where the story of the archaeological finds will be told. The goal is to create an integrated system with the surrounding museums, a place where passengers and tourists can combine mobility and cultural experience. Will all this wonder be enough to keep the wrath of the Romans condemned to 11 years of additional traffic at bay? Obviously not. “Aridatece piazza Venezia”.
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