Yes, I’m talking about the blocked road on the way to Stupici, the town further south on the highway which passes through Gornje Tucepi (which is about 10 minutes from here), and links up with the austostrada. I know it was a bit confusing for those tourists who didn’t realize that if there was a red X through a road sign it meant that you couldn’t get through… I mean, how much more direct could that message be? And yes, it has meant that some excursions have taken longer than normal, because that road has had to be circumnavigated.
The (recent) history is that 8 months ago, there was a landslide above the road – part of the wonderful Biokovo slipped, which is in itself a fearsome thought. There is a lot of rock up there, and there was an earthquake in this area in 1962 – enough of that line of thought though….
Fortunately when the rock came a-sliding, there was no one there waiting to fall prey to it. A few cars did a quick reversal back up from whence they came but there were no injuries. It was just that the road was incredibly blocked. It would seem that there are various types of rocks up there – the more friable ones that move easily (which this landslide was not) and the really solid dense rocks which this landslide was. In fact the main culprit blocking the road was mainly one huge mother of a rock, a bit like pooh bear in the doorway after a few honeys.
It took a few weeks to consider the situation and the decision was made that it was far too dangerous to try and move the rock – and then another three months to devise a cunning plan – which cunning plan has now been beautifully executed and will soon be completed. The tunnel is 200 metres long and the final few metres were pushed through to the Vrgoracke side this week. It's in all the papers, it's very exciting!
A tunnel has been bored through the rocks, reinforced, given the final touches and…. there is light at the end!
I’m impressed by the tunnels in various spots where they are required here – long winding tunnels on the austostrada, even a few on the coastal road between Makarska and Split – rock in the way? Make a tunnel!
The villages which have been isolated by the closed road will be celebrating with the tunnel makers at the opening on the 15th of July. And those who have been having to go the long way round will breathe a sigh of relief at less time sitting in a hot car! They just need to take the red crosses from the road signs so we all know exactly where we are heading.
No comments:
Post a Comment