Modena, ancient Cervaro Bridge is in danger, weather damage: Take urgent action

The bad weather that battered theModena Apennines in early December further affected the single-arch bridge, known as the Cervaro Bridge after the name of the stream it crosses, which is located in Gombola, in the municipal territory of Polinago: it is one of the symbolic monuments of the area and, as stated in the deed of entry on the list of listed assets (an entry that dates back to 1989), the current appearance of the “ancient bridge” (as it is called) presumably dates back to the 19th century. However, as stated in the deed of the then superintendent of Bologna, Lucia Gremmo, the bridge insists on an ancient road route that connected Serramazzoni, Prignano, Sassuolo and the Polinago territory itself: the crossing of the Cervaro therefore probably has even older origins (the locals moreover traditionally call it a “Romanesque bridge”).

The situation had already been communicated to the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio of Bologna, Modena, Ferrara and Reggio Emilia last February (the date to which important damage dates back) by the Noi Polinago council group, in a report signed by engineer Simona Magnani, and even earlier, in 2011, the municipal administration of Polinago had reported the collapse of some stones of the extrados of the right abutment of the bridge. In fact, the structure is crossed by cracks and is continuously affected by detachments of stone blocks that could affect its stability.

Now the case also reaches Parliament with no less than two questions, all signed by Leghist MPs: one is by Senator Stefano Corti, the other by MPs Guglielmo Golinelli and Elena Murelli. According to Corti, the floods that occurred in the first weekend of December 2020 did not spare the bridge, “further aggravating the stability conditions with an additional collapse of a part of the right abutment. ”The Lega parliamentarians claim that since the report last February, which was taken in charge by the superintendence, there has been no intervention and the damage has progressed. Corti, Golinelli and Murelli are therefore asking what “urgent interventions” the MiBACT intends to prepare to prevent the destruction of the bridge, and Corti’s question states, “whether and what structural and periodic restoration interventions are intended to be implemented to restore luster to an asset of great historical and cultural importance.”

Pictured: the Cervaro Bridge. Ph. Stefano Corti

Modena, ancient Cervaro Bridge is in danger, weather damage: Take urgent action

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