L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano would be loaded on ships. Transporting the marble down the mountain is still a v e r y d a n g e r o u s j o b a n d requires skilled driving of heavy trucks. Even just w a t c h i n g t h e s e h u g e machines manoeuvre down the mountain and execute 3 point turns to get around some of the sharp turns can provoke anxiety! There are sprinklers operating along t h e r o a d s , k e e p i n g t h e ground wet. This is impor- tant to stop the trucks tyres slipping on dry gravel as they come down the mountain carrying the large marble blocks. W h e n o n e v i s i t s t h e Carrara marble quarries, the appreciation for the work and workers that contribute to each stage of the journey, from the mountain to the fin- ished product, can be fully understood. In the Carrara marble basin, there are three areas designated to quarries, they are the known as the Torano, Colonnata and Fantiscritti quarries. I visit- ed the Fantiscritti quarries a n d t h e y a r e t h e m o s t famous of the once existing R o m a n c i t y o f L u n i . I booked a tour with Carrara Marble Tour company and o u r g u i d e D a v i d e w a s a wealth of knowledge. D a v i d e t o l d o f a n o t h e r group of men who work on the Apuan Alps and play an important and integral role, alongside that of the quarry- men. These men are required to listen to the sounds of the mountain, and to detect and prevent danger. They have one of the oldest and most demanding, yet fascinating professions in the world. They are called the tecchi- aioli, also nicknamed ragni bianchi (white spiders) and they are the unsung guardian angels of the quarrymen. They work in extreme condi- tions to provide safety of other workers. They work in the Apuan marble quarries to monitor and clean the quarry front (the tecchia, in the Carrarese d i a l e c t ) t o e l i m i n a t e a n y unsafe boulders, or sheets of marble that could potentially cause injuries (or death) if t h e y w e r e t o f a l l o n t h e u n s u s p e c t i n g q u a r r y m e n working below. Until the 1990s, it was the same quar- rymen who descended into the overhangs harnessed to a r u d i m e n t a r y h e m p r o p e . N o w , p r o f e s s i o n a l r o c k climbers do it with the same techniques and equipment used in mountaineering and caving. They go from quarry to quarry, stopping for two or three months at a time to secure the rocky face. The tecchiaioli move along the walls of the Apuan Alps and remain suspended for hours on the white chasms of the marble quarries. They lis- ten to the mountain, observe it, take care of it, silently and meticulously getting the job done, just like hanging spi- ders. Very few know of the exis- tence of this figure, the tec- c h i a i o l o . M a n y p e o p l e assume the quarrymen have the hardest jobs, but few k n o w o f t h e h a r s h a n d exhausting conditions of tec- c h i a i o l i , w h o f a c e r i s k , fatigue, and sometimes even fear daily. Their white sur- roundings are the breathtak- ing scenery of the quarries, yet they work in the most e x t r e m e c o n d i t i o n s a n d w e a t h e r : h e a t , c o l d , a n d w i n d . E v e r y d a y , a l l y e a r round, hanging, immersed in the blinding white of the marble. They are a tight-nit team, and the responsibility on their shoulders is great, so this means it's also a job that causes great stress on a daily basis. During the mining pro- cess, the shape of the moun- tainous peaks and the marble f a ç a d e a r e c o n t i n u o u s l y modified and the aesthetics of the Alps can change bru- tally in a matter of weeks: in a few hours walls of tens of meters can disappear. One thing people may not consid- er is that extracting marble blocks from the mountain causes much wasted marble. Sometimes the blocks shatter as they fall and, once upon a time, all this marble "rubble" created problems as it accu- mulated in the valleys below. Today, marble waste is utilised in many industries. The bits that have broken off, blocks that have shattered, or the cut-offs created when cutting a perfect block of marble, can be made into small stones that are used for paving or they are ground to make marble dust. This dust of calcium carbonate is used in toothpaste, soaps, cosmet- i c s , p a p e r p r o d u c t i o n , cement production, to make glue, etc. Nothing is wasted anymore. This "recycling" has only been taking place since 1980 and, before that, the three Carrara marble basins were submerged in 2000 years of accumulated marble waste. T h i s w a s a h u g e i s s u e because it had covered areas where there was good quality marble that could be mined. T h i s " p r o b l e m " h a s n o w become a valuable resource, especially if you consider that from a productive quarry, a b o u t 4 0 % o f t h e m a r b l e extracted becomes waste, with some quarries reaching 80% . Seeing the quarries for the first time close up can be quite shocking – they seem l i k e a g i a n t w o u n d i n t h e m o u n t a i n . W e w e r e a t 1000m above sea level, but the mountains rise to about 1 7 0 0 m – 1 8 0 0 m a n d i t ' s important to realise that they are all marble. It has been calculated that the marble extends also to at least 2 km below sea level, so although it seems shocking that marble h a s b e e n t a k e n f r o m t h e Apuan Alps for so long, there is still plenty to last for at least the next 500 years. T w o t h o u s a n d y e a r s passed where there wasn't any regulation on the num- ber of quarries created or the amount of marble extracted. O n e c o u l d c u t w h a t t h e y wanted, use explosives and not face any consequences. T o d a y t h e w h o l e p r o c e s s must abide by strict laws. Every two years, every com- pany that manages a marble quarry must produce a plan t o t h e r e g i o n o f T u s c a n y where they must detail exact- ly how many metres they plan to excavate. The envi- ronmental impact, the stabil- ity of the mountains and the estimated waste is evaluated before they receive authori- sation to proceed. The Apuan Alps are now protected by UNESCO, (The United Nations Educational, S c i e n t i f i c a n d C u l t u r a l Organization) and the regu- lation of mining is so strict today, there is no talk what- soever of creating new quar- ries other than the ones that already exist. If you do find yourself in northern Tuscany, take the time to visit the Carrara mar- ble quarries and book a tour with CARRARA MARBLE TOUR company. It will def- initely make you appreciate so much more when you see white Carrara marble any- where around the world. * * C A R R A R A M A R B L E T O U R T o u r s – C a r r a r a Marble Tour company also organise private customised tours that can include a visit to the quarries, the marble museum, followed by lunch and tasting of traditional regional recipes including the f a m o u s l a r d o d i Colonnata. LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE Marble has been excavated on the Apuan Alps for thousands of years (Photo courtesy of Toni Brancatisano) Continued from page 13

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