They will begin at 09: 00 on Sunday 23 August the blasting operations of the bomb found on the bed of the river Reno, near the “Pontelungo” site along the Via Emilia Ponente, near the town of Bologna, in the border area between the Borgo Panigale and Reno districts, during the consolidation works of the bridge present there.
The device, an American-made aircraft bomb of the Second World War weighing 100 pounds, in poor condition but still active and loaded with about 30 kg. of TNT, it was immediately placed in safety by the Army bomb squad effective at the Railway Engineers Regiment.
The operation, directed and coordinated by the prefecture of Bologna, will take place in two phases. The first, by the Army soldiers, involves the construction of some entrenchments and a special containment structure 6 meters high which will be completed tomorrow; both measures have been designed to reduce the clearance radius from 1500 meters. at 500 mt. and at the same time the number of citizens to be evacuated from the expected approximately 38.000 to just over 4.700. These works will make it possible to almost totally contain the effects of the shock wave and the splinter effect deriving from the explosion of the bomb, which will take place on the bed of the river, where it was found (second and last phase).
On Sunday morning the Army bomb squads will provide to uncover the bomb, currently covered for safety by a heap of land and subsequently, to the triggering of the charges of TNT prepared to guarantee the destruction of the bomb. Once these first operations have been completed, they will close the containment structure and leave in safety to finally proceed with the bomb blasting at a distance.
To guarantee the safety of the people and the surrounding infrastructures, the municipality of Bologna has established, with a special ordinance, the evacuation of approximately 4700 people residing within a radius of 500 meters from the place of the discovery as well as the prohibition of vehicular and pedestrian traffic until at the end of the operations.
The experience of the Castel Maggiore Army specialists is well evidenced by the over 100 interventions carried out since the beginning of the year in their area of competence (Marche Region, provinces of Bologna, Prato, Florence and Arezzo).
