Lake Brasimone

Lake Brasimone

Lake Brasimone (also known as the Scalere basin and the Brasimone basin) is an artificial lake located on the Bolognese Apennines along the Brasimone stream, in the municipal territory of Camugnano and is included within the Suviana and Brasimone.

History

At the beginning of the 20th century, the construction of the reservoir was taken into consideration by the growing demand for electricity for domestic and industrial uses by the city of Bologna.

The project, born from an intuition of the engineer. Fausto Baratta, was presented to the Civil Engineers on 24 April 1906.

In 1910, the Società Bolognese di Elettricità (SBE), on behalf of the Società Strade Ferrate Meridionali of Florence, started work on the construction of the dam near the Scalere mill, where the Brasimone valley narrowed and the stream formed a suggestive series of jumps, while at the same time the hydroelectric power station of Santa Maria was built further downstream, near the ancient church of the same name.

On 27 April 1910, the excavation works were completed, while on 1 November 1911, after just 15 months and the employment of around 1200 labourers, the dam was completed and the roads running along the two banks were connected.

The realization of the project brought about a new layout of the territory and notable transformations of the landscape, but it also allowed the passage of a new road that connected Castiglione to Riola passing through Camugnano, allowing the Porrettana and the Bologna-Pistoia railway to be reached.