Water is Not Flowing Wireless, even in Smart Tunnels: Addressing Critical Issues for the New Stormwater and Wastewater Network in L'Aquila (Italy)

As a consequence of the earthquake that struck L’Aquila (central Italy) on April 2009, the city is undergoing a complex process of reconstruction, not only aimed at the physical rehabilitation of the buildings, but also at the modernization and improvement of the utilities for an enhanced resilience and sustainability, towards the creation of a Smart City. The design of the Smart Tunnel, extending over the historical center of L’Aquila, has translated this new vision into reality. The basic idea behind the project is to collect and integrate the critical services in an underground concrete tunnel, in order to protect them from external threats and make them easily accessible and repairable, in case of disasters and/or for ordinary maintenance. This paper discusses critical hydraulic issues in the original project of the Smart Tunnel, highlighting that, for stormwater and wastewater networks, the adoption of a local design approach, without an appropriate consideration of external boundary conditions, could lead to ineffective solutions, because “water is not flowing wireless” even in Smart Tunnels.