Friday, September 4, 2009

An Useless Dig

Works for a new canal, Venezia quarter, LivornoYou won't believe this. Yesterday you have read how long time ago “Piazza della Repubblica” was built covering an historic canal. Today I'm trying to explain you how a perfectly good square would be dug up to reopen a scarcely historic and useless canal.Works for a new canal, Venezia quarter, LivornoSome of you will probably recognize the square as the “Luogo Pio”. The canal will cut in half this place and will be crossed by a road bridge and two footbridges.Works for a new canal, Venezia quarter, LivornoA short tract of the canal has been dug few years ago and is now nothing more than a trash collector, dirty and without any charm.Works for a new canal, Venezia quarter, LivornoThis photo was taken from the gray bridge you can see in the middle of the third image, at the other end of the projected canal. Imagine a straight dig in the middle, few meters wide, and you could see the impact of the works. Local papers say that the cost would be at least 3 million euro: our wiser forefathers must be scratching their heads...

Search labels: new canal
See also: Canale dei Navicelli - Viale Caprera - Micropoles - New Venice - A New Canal - Crash - The Dig - Building the Canal - Venice's Canal - The Old “Cantina” - Along the New Canal - Under Construction - The Bomb - The Buried Bomb - The Wall - Modulblock

22 comments:

James said...

I bet you will soon get a new tax for "maintenance" of this project.

Maybe your wise forefathers and mine can get together because I'm sure they would be doing more than head scratching if they could see the crazy things that go on now in government.

brattcat said...

But the canal you show us is full of charm. I know you're not crazy about this project, VP, but it has potential to turn out well, doesn't it?

Lowell said...

One must never try to second-guess city planners. It will drive you crazy! Insanity is catching!

P.S. I'll probably continue to post on The Villages and Cedar Key but less frequently...

tapirgal said...

I agree. If you wanted us to hate the canal, you should have taken a picture showing the trash :) It looks pretty nice in your photo. Maybe we all like to look at water (if it doesn't smell too bad). What do the city planners think they will do with this canal? Will it have boats or only trash?

B SQUARED said...

Must be a bored politician with many relatives that came up with this one.

Hilda said...

I have to agree with Jacob. If this were in the Philippines, I'd say the contractor was a relative of one of our politicians.

cieldequimper said...

They probably think there isn't enough water already.

Julie said...

This is similar to what happened in Sydney in the late 50s early 60s when all the trams were removed and the tracks ripped up. Ever since there have been rumblings to have trams return. The cost will be mind-numbing.

stromsjo said...

So what is the official reason for doing this? Increasing the happiness of prospective tourists?

joo said...

Why did the decide to do it - are there any 'official' reasons?

Wolynski said...

Livorno must have Venice envy. I agree the canal is a bad idea - mosquitoes, rats, you name it. I mean, Venice smells bad.

Zyzzyz said...

Good canals can be useful places. Whether this isor not I wouldn't know.

VP said...

My only problem with this, as with many other projects, is about priorities and limited resources.
A real historical landmark as the 'Fortezza Nuova' is closed since January for lack of funds to repair some acts of vandalism.
The public library of Villa Maria has been closed for three years because unsafe and in need of works.
You have seen something of Villa Regina...

margaret said...

There's something about being elected to municipal government that turns people's brains to mush and creates a severe psychotic disorder which makes them think they know where the money tree grows.

And, Julie, beware resurrected trams. in Edinburgh we got rid of ours in the 50s and now we are reviving them at the cost (and rising) of 90 million for ONE, yes one, line.

Cezar and Léia said...

Oh dear friend, I'm so sorry to know about the canal.And about the other one as well,that was dug and now is full of trash!It's really a pity!
Léia

Halcyon said...

What a silly idea. Who knows why city planners come up with them. Hope it all works out in the end.

tapirgal said...

@Vogon. I see it in a different light now. Yes, this project seems insane!

Anonymous said...

Are they in need of more canals? Apart from the historic reason, is there any other practical need for this? Seems to be a waste of a perfectly nice square. What will it add to the city?

Saretta said...

Go figure...

Baruch said...

I was watching a digger this morning, thinking how skilled the driver was at what he was doing

Gunn said...

Nice photos. The top one is my favorite.( sorry about the road work, but as a photo I find it interesting!:-)

Stefan Jansson said...

What Jacob said!