The tunnel used only thirteen times

Why build a nearly ten-kilometre tunnel just to use it a handful of times? Because when the Adige river gets angry, Verona needs a way to bleed off the pressure. Completed in 1959, the Galleria Adige-Garda is a massive hydraulic bypass that redirects excess water into Lake Garda. It reduces the risk of flooding in Verona and its environs from once every seventy years to once every two centuries.

Construction was a long, interrupted saga. It started in 1939, stopped for the war, and resumed in the 1950s. During construction, Lake Loppio was drained to prevent water leaks as the tunnel approached the lake and to reduce the danger posed to the workers. It is a brutal, industrial achievement connecting Mori to Nago-Torbole. The tunnel handles 500 cubic metres of water per second at max capacity, moving it at speeds up to 11 metres per second.

They use it sparingly because the sudden influx of river water is a shock to the lake's ecosystem. It brings in mud and threatens the fish populations, so they only open the gates when the flood risk is real. It is a quiet, subterranean guardian. There is a memorial plaque here from 1959 to mark its completion - a small stone tribute to a hidden piece of infrastructure that keeps the valley dry.

Is it open to the public? Not really. It is a functional water diversion system, not a tourist gallery. The tunnel originates on the right bank of the Adige near Ravazzone, a subdivision of Mori, where it serves as a vital piece of infrastructure that stands ready for the next big flood.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons