By Federica Villa

Article published in Elevatori Magazine No. 3/2024

A lready 2500 years ago, the inhabitants of ancient Puteoli lived with the effects of the uplift and subsidence of the earthʼs surface. As then, today Pozzuoli and the entire Campi Flegrei area are characterised by the phenomenon of bradyseism, a form of volcanism that affects Naples and its surroundings, but not to be confused with the seismic phenomenon.

In 2023, bradyseismic activity in the municipalities of the Phlegraean area has resumed intensely, so much so that it is reminiscent of what happened in the 1980s, when the ground rose by one metre and 80 cm, resulting in the displacement of the residents of Pozzuoli’s Rione Terra due to the risk of buildings and civil infrastructure collapsing.

Pozzuoli, Naples (Italy). © M. Gariboldi

Now the situation in the volcanic area is again on the move (as the chronicles of recent weeks testify, ed), but constantly monitored by the Civil Protection and institutions. The Campi Flegrei Italian Decree, enacted in the autumn of 2023, envisages the establishment of a perimeter of intervention within the volcanic area that will affect a ʻrestricted area of interventionʼ, about 5,000 people and 15,000 buildings.

At the basis of the approach for the definition of risk and intervention plans seems to be the distinction between the seismic phenomenon and bradyseism, two distinct events, even though they can sometimes coexist.

EARTHQUAKE AND BRADYSEISM

After the reconstruction of the recent past, it is necessary to ask what the difference is, also from a technical anti-seismic regulatory point of view, between earthquake and bradyseism. “Bradyseism and earthquake are different,” answers Paolo Tattoli, an engineer and expert in earthquakeproofing regulations, “because, simplifying to the utmost, in the first case the movement of the earth is very slow and almost imperceptible, while in the case of an earthquake the movement of the earth is very fast. Consequently,” continues Tattoli, “the Standard for earthquake-proof lifts cannot apply to bradyseism phenomena and in fact these are not included in the scope of UNI EN 81-77.”

And he concludes, “in the case of bradyseism, solutions must be studied by implementing a serious and complete risk assessment in which experts in the phenomenon and experts in the lift sector collaborate.”

A UNIQUE APPROACH

Another date marked the chronicle of this peculiar territory and the lift industry. On 6 September 2018, Massimiliano Del Vecchio, owner of the maintenance company of the same name, lost his life due to toxic fumes in the pit.

During an inspection at a school in the Fuorigrotta (Na) district, the victim breathed in a lethal amount of carbon dioxide. Subsequently, the agent who had arrived at the scene of the tragedy was also intoxicated by the concentration of CO2 in the lift shaft.

The crucial question of how to approach the problem is answered by Antonio Lizza, engineer and technical director of the VIS notification body. “Bradyseism in itself does not create problems,” Lizza argues, “but, following the problem of exhalations (especially carbon dioxide linked to volcanic activity in the subsoil)
and numerous investigations, a number of prescriptions have been put in place to ensure the pit of maintenance workers. In practical terms, Lizza continues, “before going down into the shaft in a relative urban perimeter, it is necessary to carry out surveys with special instruments, use forced aerators, employ more personnel, etc.. A unique situation in Italy”.