Rockfall Risk Assessment and Management Along the “Via dell’Amore” (Lovers’ Lane) in the Cinque Terre National Park (Italy)

Abstract

The Via dell’Amore (Lovers’ Lane) is a 1 km long coastal path linking Manarola with Riomaggiore, the two eastern villages at the “Cinque Terre”. Realized at the start of the nineteenth century as a service road for the modernization of the railway, it’s now considered as one of the highlights of the Cinque Terre National Park. The trail has been historically affected by rockfall phenomena: the bedrock is made up of heterogeneous rock masses; blocks diameter ranges from 0.5 to 2 m, determining high speed values during their fall. The probability of a fatal event to occur is high, as recently proved by the four Australian women injured in September 2012: this occurrence caused the closure of the trail up to the present. The actual risk level is not acceptable, taking in consideration also the elevated vulnerability values. The main goal is to decrease both rockfall hazard and vulnerability: in the first place, through passive slope protection methods such as rockfall shelters and protecting wire meshes; in the second instance, through an early warning system connected to the civil protection corp and an environmental education program involving tourists and inhabitants.