Green Infrastructures
2022 Bellosguardo Service Area
For the extension of the third lane of the A1 motorway between Milan and Naples, in the section between Barberino di Mugello and Florence North, the construction of a service area with access from the southbound lane is planned. The intervention area falls within a former agricultural and wooded valley area in a general state of abandonment, overlooked by a very steep relief with the old rural center of Montebuiano now uninhabited. The project since 2004 has envisaged the storage of the excavation material (over three million cubic meters) from the works for the long S. Lucia tunnel (7.7 km), with a radical modification of the current valley morphology, almost completely “filled” and with the loss of large strips of vegetation, including woodland. The spaces resulting at the end of the storage have been planned for the construction of the service gas area for cars and heavy vehicles.
WHERE
Municipality of Barberino di Mugello – Province of Florence – Tuscany Region – Italy
WHEN
2008-2009. Preliminary Project, Final Project, Executive Project
2019-2022. Morphological Functional Project Variant 2019
2023-2024. Work in progress
WHO
Clients / Autostrade per l’Italia SpA Roma, SPEA Engineering SpA, Milano/Roma
Designers – Technical Group / Project 2008-2009 – SPEA SpA Milano (group leader), ArchLandStudio di Arch. Lorenzo Vallerini Firenze, Eng. Massimo Mulé M&B Roma / Morphological Functional Project Variant 2019 – TECNE SpA Milano (group leader), Landscape design: ArchLandStudio di Arch. Lorenzo Vallerini Firenze; Buildings, installations and sites: Eng. Massimo Mulé M&B Roma.
WHAT
The area is approximately 36 hectares, of which 25 are modelled by the landscape park and new wooded areas, while 11 are occupied by parking, roads, services and relevant green areas. The landscaping works have as their primary objective that of “adhering” to the existing morphology and connecting to the emerging elements of the landscape with a total change in the state of the places. The project includes a morphological modelling of the storage ground, organized on two levels placed at different heights and connected to each other by a ramp, which is inserted into the system of embankments supporting the connecting slope between the two levels. The parking areas are not very dense, with small commercial and service buildings, interspersed with green areas, shaded picnic areas and rows of trees. In the wide external perimeter strip connecting the Service Area and the surrounding landscape the “naturalistic” diversion of a watercourse, meadows, rows, olive groves and new reforestation is planned. The soil resulting from the storage ground is very dense and hard, with a highly alkaline pH, and, therefore, with characteristics that are totally inhospitable for the survival of plants. Consequently, one of the most important problems that had to be faced was that of reconstructing the fertility of the soil, planning a series of preliminary operations of the soil in order to make it suitable for the development of plant life, with a deep “working” of the soil and its chemical and organic correction. On this “reconstructed” land (27 hectares out of a total of 36) the landscaping, furnishings and new plantings involve:
- areas with existing vegetation maintained for approximately 6 hectares
- areas with newly planted vegetation for approximately 18 hectares
- paved and green areas newly planted for approximately 3 hectares
- new trees with 1,469 plants
The final cost for the construction of the Bellosguardo Service Area is €13,287,150.00, excluding the earthworks and the inlet ramps, of which €5,239,738.33 for the naturalistic-landscape works.
