CENTRALE IDROELETTRICA DELL’ARDO [IT]

Exploration #270 Centrale idroelettrica dell’Ardo. The idea of bringing electric lighting to Belluno dates back to 1890, when the opportunity to replace oil lamps was considered. Initially, it was thought to exploit the Ardo torrent, but its inconstant flow forced the search for alternatives. Thus, in 1897, the first power station was built on the Caorame stream, 25 km from the city, guaranteeing the lighting of 260 incandescent lamps.

The increasing demand for energy soon made a new plant necessary. In 1907, the Società Bellunese Industria Elettrica started the construction of the Ardo power station, which went into operation in 1910 with two Francis turbines, manufactured by the Riva company of Milan. The facility, with a capacity of almost 500 kW, supplied energy for public lighting and local industries.

After passing under the control of SADE and then ENEL, the power station operated until 1966, when a flood of the torrent severely damaged the hydraulic works. In 1968, ENEL decided not to renew the concession, judging the restoration to be unsustainable. Since then, the building has been left to decay, a victim of theft, vandalism and, finally, the collapse of the roof, which has made any hypothesis of recovery impossible.
Today, the Ardo power station is reduced to a ruin: without a roof, the interior is invaded by vegetation and the structure continues to deteriorate..

EX MONTECATINI DI MORI – ALUMETAL [IT]

Exploration #253. The Alumetal aluminium factory, also known as Montecatini di Mori, was one of the leading Aluminium factories in Italy. In operation from 1928 to 1983, the factory presented technologically advanced and innovative solutions.

Alumetal was built along the right bank of the Adige River starting in 1926 by the Società Italiana dell’Alluminio (SIDA), which was the result of an agreement between Montecatini and the German company Vereinigte Aluminium Werke (VAW). Work was completed two years later, in 1928. In 1935, following the breakdown of the agreement between Montecatini and the German company, the Società Nazionale Alluminio (SNAL) was born. The factory later passed to Montedison and in 1973 was acquired by EFIM and changed its name to Alumetal.

The factory presented technologically avant-garde and innovative solutions: it was the first plant in Trentino that exploited the energy created on site for its own needs, by means of imposing hydraulic intake works on the Adige River; its derivation canal was the longest in Italy and one of the most important in Europe (2450 m); inside the hydroelectric plant (one of the most beautiful and artistically appreciable in the entire region) were located the four most powerful dynamos on the continent. The factory also patented new models of melting furnaces, experimented with new mechanical beating systems and industrially developed smoke and dust purification and washing systems that became the object of study for the world’s leading specialists.

During the Second World War, the Montecatini di Mori was declared a war factory and depended on Fabbriguerra in Bologna. The factory’s production supplied not only the Italian but also the German war industry and, with the exception of a few classes of young men, the furnace workers were not called to arms. It was during this period that the highest number of employees was reached, at 1224. The recovery after the Liberation was slow and difficult: the crisis made its effects felt, causing a drastic reduction in the workforce, which reached a low of 250 workers. This was also due to a general mechanisation of work; the worker no longer worked in direct contact with the furnace as in the early days, but controlled the pressure by sitting on a trolley equipped with a mechanical arm to beat, thus speeding up the operation.

The last years of its life were spent in a minor tone, with a reduced number of employees. The nationalisation of electricity adversely affected the company’s course. As long as Montecatini had its own power stations, this cost a few cents, but with ENEL the prices increased tenfold. With this burden, Montecatini faced the 1970s. In the meantime, competing factories had sprung up around the world and the Mori plant was no longer competitive and susceptible to further production development. The company’s new owner, the state-owned E.F.I.M., was only a bureaucratic presence.

In March 1983, the closure became definitive.

DIESEL POWER STATION [IT]

Exploration #242 This was a small diesel power station that powered engines to operate a system of floodgates and sluice gates along the terminal section of a river in central Italy, in order to allow land to be reclaimed for agriculture by regulating the water.

HYDRO POWER PLANT C. [IT]

Exploration #205 Hydroelectric PP C. Hydroelectric PP C. is a small hydroelectric power plant that was equipped with a Francis-type turbine and an alternator built by the San Giorgio company of Sestri Ponente. The power station was built at the beginning of the last century and decommissioned a few years ago. To bring water to the power station, an impressive and majestic bridge consisting of six limestone arches was built in 1897. The bridge is still in use as a cycle path.

This cycle path was built on the former site of a water channel that supplied the hydroelectric power station. This makes the track almost entirely flat and has many gratings that allow a glimpse of the original water course under the wheels of the bike.

If you like this exploration you can also have a look to others abandoned power plants: the small hydroelectric power plant, Officine Netti.

HYDRO POWER PLANT T. [IT]

Exploration #200. This small hydroelectric power plant served an old paper mill, now demolished. The power station retains in excellent condition two BBC Brown Boveri alternators built in 1931, along with the turbine regulation systems and an elegant marble control desk. The turbines, however, are no longer accessible due to accumulated debris on the level below.

The power plant has been vandalized and the instrumentation no the panel stolen.

ROCCHETTE 1 [IT]

Exploration #171. Lanificio Rossi (later abbreviated to Lanerossi) in Schio was one of the largest wool mills in Italy. Lanerossi was founded in 1873, transforming Industrie Rossi, established in 1817 by Francesco Rossi, into a limited company. Rossi was originally from Santa Caterina di Lusiana and handed over the management of the wool mill to his son Alessandro Rossi in 1849, who over the years transformed it into one of Italy’s leading industries.

Piovene doubled its population, the only municipality in the Vicenza area and possibly the Veneto. It became richer: the first car in Italy circulated in Piovene. It was 1893 and the Peugeot 3 was purchased by Gaetano Rossi. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Lanificio Rossi was the largest Italian wool company, with numerous factories in the Vicenza area. The ‘Rocchette 1’ factory was built for a capacity of 12,000 spindles in 1869 on the right bank of the Astico torrent.

Despite this, due to wrong management choices and financial speculation, the Lanerossi group experienced a period of crisis after the mid-nineteenth century. In 1987 the company was taken over by its competitor Marzotto from nearby Valdagno, who, however, no longer invested in the Lanerossi brand. The various plants were gradually dismantled.

LANEROSSI [IT]

Exploration #170. This wool mill has its origins at the end of the 19th century, in 1873 to be precise. In a short time it became one of the major national industries, so much so that at the beginning of the twentieth century Lanificio Rossi was the largest Italian wool company, with numerous factories in the region. Many other activities were set up in parallel with the factory: workers’ housing, schools, after-work clubs and many social works.

Lanerossi produced woolen fabric for various purposes and exported it all over the world. In spite of this, at the height of the economic boom, Lanerossi went through a period of crisis from 1955 to 1957, due to poor management decisions. In 1956, in order to revive and restructure the wool mill, Giuseppe Eugenio Luraghi was called in as president and managing director and in a very short time he was able to achieve prodigious results. The share price’s spectacular gains on the stock exchange led to a great deal of speculation on it, which initially caused the main shareholders to leave, and then the success of an acrobatic and unscrupulous stock market “climb”.

In the following decade, however, the linificio again experienced a period of severe crisis. In 1987, the group was acquired by its competitor Marzotto, who, however, no longer invested in the Lanerossi brand. The various factories were gradually closed and dismantled. This plant was closed in 2005 and emptied of all machinery, with the exception of the thermoelectric plant, which was finally demolished in 2021.

LOST HYDROPOWER [IT]

Exploration #168. This small hydroelectric power station is hidden in a woods on the banks of a river. Not even satellite images can make out its presence any more, as it is overgrown with vegetation. The building is very old, built as it used to be with blocks of stone, and still contains the remains of the generator connected by a belt drive to a Francis-type turbine located on the floor below. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any information about its history, but it was probably used to supply power to one of the many cotton mills in the area, which no longer exists. Although the small power station is now in ruins, it was a pleasant exploration, very bucolic, especially for an industrial archaeology lover like me.

NOVACETA [IT]

Exploration #161. Novaceta S.p.A. was an Italian company operating in the chemical-textile sector, producing continuous acetate yarn (Rayon Acetate) from cellulose triacetate derived from trees. This was a highly complex and specialised process, only achievable by a few companies in the world: Novaceta was the European (60% of the European market share in 2001) and world leader in the sector. The quality of the products was very high and appreciated by all customers. Novaceta brand Rayon Acetate was used to produce fabrics with a soft and delicate hand, silky appearance, bright and vivid colours, good breathability, hygroscopicity, antistaticity and comfort. Foulards, ties, shirts, ladies’ dresses, velvets and tapestries were just some of the final products.

The company was founded in 1951 as a joint venture between SNIA and Courtaulds to create cellulose acetate-based fibres. In 2003 it was sold to GZ Fin, as part of a process of rationalisation of SNIA’s activities. On the impetus of the new ownership, together with Bemberg and Nuova Rayon, it gave life to BembergCell, with the aim of creating an Italian cellulosic pole of excellence. But the project was never fully realised and the world crisis in the sector caused difficulties that proved to be irresolvable, leading to the bankruptcy of BembergCell and a 66% reduction in production at the Magenta plant.

Subsequently, the site, together with its 400 employees, was taken over in 2007 by MCM Holding, which presented an ambitious industrial plan that foresaw an increase in production and turnover, which for that year amounted to 27 million. Unfortunately, the plan did not take off and in June 2008 production was stopped, an event that raised the suspicions of the trade unions, who feared property speculation on the vast and centrally located area. In 2009 the employees were laid off and in 2010 the company was admitted to bankruptcy proceedings and went into liquidation. Since then, the site has been abandoned. After many years of abandonment, the site was demolished in 2023.

These factory was in the same industrial group with the SNIA Viscosa di Varedo, also abandoned.

Site reporting the history and historical images of Novaceta in magenta: Stabilimento Novaceta Magenta.

UMSPANNWERK HUMBOLDT [DE]

Exploration #142. The Humboldt substation, together with the Kottbusser Ufer and Wilhelmsruh substations, forms a group of buildings designed in the mid-1920s by architects Hans Heinrich Müller and Felix Thümen for Berliner Städtische Elektrizitätswerke AG (BEWAG).

A distribution substation transfers power from the transmission system to the distribution system of an area. It is uneconomical to directly connect electricity consumers to the main transmission network, unless they use large amounts of power, so the distribution station reduces voltage to a level suitable for local distribution. Each building was reserved for one function: switcher room, power factor correction room, transformer room and control room. This was located in a separate building in the centre of the complex in its inner courtyard. The Humboldt substation served northern Berlin as an electrical transformer station until 1993. Since then, the buildings have been designated as a protected monument by the city of Berlin.

Since 2015, the digital marketing company Glispa together with the companies Movinga, Quandoo and Hometogo, have moved their headquarters to the complex now known as ‘Ampere’. The beautiful, perfectly preserved control room has now been converted as a social entertainment space for the employees of the Glipsa company.