Vallesina dewatering pump

NAME: Idrovora Vallesina (Vallesina dewatering pump)

LOCATION: Porto Viro (Ro)

ORIGINAL CONSORTIUM OF BELONGING: Consortium for the Polesana Reclamation (1890-1970)

DATE OF CONSTRUCTION: 1894-1897

DESIGNERS: eng. Carlo Veronese

HISTORICAL NOTES:

The reclamation project within the grounds of the Acque Dolci di Contarina area was undertaken by the Consortium for the Reclamation of the Polesine area at the same time as the construction of the Padano Polesano Manifold. The work here was indispensable because the excavation of the new canal had suppressed the previously existing work and it was therefore vital to set up and put into operation as soon as possible the new machines on the right and left of the canal itself, the project started on the 14^th of December 1889 (Sadocca and Vallesina).

The work relating to the construction of the pumping station and the excavation of the main channel on the left (Vallesina), were contracted out on 27^th of June 1894. The original building included the engine room and a boiler room in which two Wolf steam engines with 30 HP each were installed; the two turbines came into operation in 1897.

In 1912 the old steam machines were dismantled and sold. In the meantime, the necessary adaptations were made for the installment of two 80HP diesel engines (Tosi) coupled to centrifugal pumps, based on the project from the 25^th of April 1911 (Cattelan company).

The Dossarello estate was added to the Bonifica Polesana in 1931, a part of it had to be drained by means of the Vallesina dewatering pump. In 1934 the S.A.C.A.I.M. company carried out the extension of the pumping station to install a new propeller pump and relative electric motor (project G. Costato 8^th of July 1932): in addition to the engine room, a new compartment was built on the arrival basin and ancillary work was carried out.

In 1959 the complex still consisted of a water pumping station, houses for the staff, a warehouse and a Venetian-style cistern for collecting rainwater and filtering it.

The plant had become insufficient and at risk of collapse because of the sinking ground (calculated in that year in m. 1.70) the infiltrations suffered by the perimeter walls due to the changed hydrostatic pressure. It was therefore decided to build a temporary drainage pump on the arrival basin, to house 3 Pellizzari propeller pumps, adapting the existing warehouse to house the engine-generator (project 18^th of June 1959, eng. GM Siviero). The work was carried out by the Panizzo company and the new machines were first turned on, on the 13^th of October 1960.

Considered unusable, the old dewatering pump was gradually dismantled and the old building had the sole function of an electrical cabin and warehouse. Subsequently, the new plant was further enhanced with new electric pumps, expanding the recent building, building a new electrical substation and walkway for acceding to the plant, and resecting the channels (G. Padoan project 23^rd of November 1976). Little or nothing remains of the original appearance of the site.

Index

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Project funded by Regione del Veneto – L.R. 5/09/1984 n. 50, art. 44 – DGRV n. 618 del 11 maggio 2021 e n.1411 del 12 ottobre 2021 – Decreto del Direttore della Direzione Beni Culturali e Sport n. 325 del 27.10.2021

Photos Alberto Bonatti