Redevelopment of the Historic Genoese Aqueduct – Trensasco – PNNR

The Historic Genoese Aqueduct is a 30 km long infrastructure, which was built in successive phases starting from the Roman era in the 2nd century BC; its current form is the result of expansions that took place between the 15th and 19th centuries. The Municipality of Genoa is implementing a systematic series of restoration projects for the Historic Aqueduct and the pedestrian path that passes along its roof, allowing visitors to visit the structure and the rich landscape that testifies to the rural tradition of the areas of the Bisagno Valley that the aqueduct crosses.

The project involves the Trensasco area, where the aqueduct collapsed due to flooding generated by the Rio Costafredda, pouring its parts into the riverbed. The project consists of restoring the continuity of use of the pedestrian path, with the restoration of the aqueduct’s ‘abutments’ and the creation of a new path resting on a curvilinear embankment that reproduces the geometry of the original route. The continuity of the riverbed through the embankment is guaranteed by the placement of two large finsider-type ‘tubes’. which allow water to flow; the embankment’s banks are lined with ballast using locally sourced boulders; upstream of the route, terraces are constructed with gravity walls and bioengineering techniques to harmoniously re-naturalize the landscape and allow native vegetation to thrive.

The path’s deck is constructed with wooden sleepers typically used for railway tracks, which echo the geometric tripartite division of the aqueduct’s roof, deliberately discontinuing the use of aqueduct stone to distinguish the new structure from its original authentic context.