Keystone-SDA
This content was published on
June 26, 2024 – 6:58 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) The A13 motorway should reopen to traffic from July 10 on one track per direction, following bad weather which damaged it in the Mesolcina valley (GR). FEDRO announced this on site on Wednesday. The other slopes will be reopened at the end of the year.
The rehabilitation work is progressing quickly, rejoiced Marco Fioroni, director of the Bellinzona branch of the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO), to the media gathered in Lostallo (GR). The excavators are hard at work, at the limits of their capacities, in the Moesa river.
Risky work and decisive weather
This work is not without risk, adds Marco Fioroni. They aim to allow the watercourse to resume its natural course, once cleared of the rock rubble which prevents it from doing so. Around thirty people work on site. About twenty others, including engineers and technicians, are busy in the background.
After the blocks of rock were blasted, their rubble was extracted from the watercourse. At the same time, work continues along the A13 to fill in the broken roadway. Tarring will only be possible once the land has been filled and consolidated.
The reopening of the A13 on one track per direction, in two weeks, is not yet certain. It depends heavily on the weather. If the weather remains stable, deadlines will be met. If further severe storms occur, the highway will likely not be able to reopen until later.
Additional rail connections
On Tuesday, Transport Minister Albert Rösti called on holidaymakers going to Ticino to take the train. The SBB will offer additional north-south connections on weekends. The federal councilor also announced that the nighttime closures of the Gotthard road tunnel, planned due to work, were canceled.
Friday evening, the Moesa came out of its bed, following the bad weather. Its course moved laterally by 50 meters. The river flooded the A13 and destroyed it over a length of 200 meters. The San Bernardino axis has been closed since the disaster.
Bad weather left at least one dead in the village of Sorte, located in the commune of Lostallo. This man was found lifeless on Sunday in Moesa. An injured person was rescued on Saturday. Two other residents are still missing.
Search for the missing by helicopter
The search continued on Wednesday along the Moesa River with police and army helicopters. On the ground, firefighters and civil protection have stopped searching in the flow of rubble, which destroyed part of the village, a spokesman for the regional general staff told Keystone-ATS. The two people being sought were probably in one of the three houses swept away on Friday.
It is still unknown when the 15 evacuated villagers will be able to return home. Work to clear the village can only begin when the slope above it has been secured.
