HELLOMAC – Ponza – Cala Fonte

Ponza is the largest of the Pontine Islands, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of the Lazio region in Italy.

The island is a popular destination for tourists mostly thanks to its incredible beaches with amazing sea cliffs. Unfortunately, sea cliff instabilities are increasing and rockfall failures are becoming more recurrent, both for wave action and the presence of fault lines. In addition to the loss of natural heritage, these failures are damaging the island’s economy, mostly based on tourism and fishing.

Cala Fonte became inaccessible in 2020 because of a rockfall event: a strong rockfall protection was needed and it was supplied by Maccaferri. A geocomposite with reinforced double twist rockfall drapery mesh was placed over the full height of the cliff; the upper part of the rock face was more liable to instabilities and therefore it was reinforced with HEA PLUS panels (300×300 mm panels made of 10 mm dia. GalMac coated rope) and stabilizing nail anchors. However, even the strongest protection system needs confirmation that everything is functioning to design.

Detecting deteriorating conditions early is the best way to achieve risk prevention and traditional monitoring can only be done occasionally, with resource-intensive and time-consuming measures.