Our commitment towards the environment

The development and management of main domestic roads is an activity which is instrumental for the economic and social growth of the country. The service offered by the 1,400 km of motorway networks operated by the SIAS group and the road safety performances achieved in managing them are a concrete contribution to mobility, to communications and thus to the prosperity of north-western Italy: a highly industrialised sector, crucial for the overall economy of the Country and of Europe.

However, all infrastructures have a potential impact on the environment. The Operators and the engineering firms of the SIAS group are aware of these possible implications and thus base their action on the principles and criteria of environmental protection, exploiting their assigned tasks to contribute to a virtuous course of sustainable development.

The territory is a precious resource, in Italy maybe more so than in other places. Indeed Italy expresses a high population density with indicators even as much as one and a half times the European average. Furthermore, an extremely important portion of the domestic territory is occupied by the mountain chains of the Alps and the Apennines, less inhabited areas with obvious difficulties and criticalities in using the territory and in constructing the infrastructural works. The projects for improving the SIAS motorway network take account of the environmental and territorial needs, attempting to adapt the characteristics of the environment with the programmes of the institutions and with the needs of the community. The ambition of the SIAS group companies is to create and manage infrastructures according to the most recent and innovative criteria, not only minimising the negative impacts and respecting the environment, but by devising the works as true opportunities for reconstructing the environment and the landscape and for generating positive and long lasting effects on the territory.

Each intervention on the network is preceded by a careful assessment of the environmental impact (VIA), which is discussed and shared with the institutions and made available to the community in accordance with the legal principles and with public evidence. The specialists of the SIAS Group thus assess the risk of environmental impact for the various components: geological, hydrological, acoustic, atmospheric, etc.

The results of these analyses are summarised in the intervention planning phase and they direct the project implementation phase and the monitoring of the executive phase (environmental parameter evaluation, environmental observers, etc.), which aims at verifying the effective manifestation of the predicted impact, the effectiveness of the environmental mitigation systems implemented and at evaluating and managing any environmental emergencies in a timely way.

Historical infrastructures then undergo continual and progressive improvement to achieve those objectives which are defined by the new laws and by the changing requirements of the civil society. The SIAS infrastructures for instance are subject to significant Noise abatement Plans in order to bring them into line with the domestic and European laws coming into force after the Motorway work was originally carried out.

Sed dictum justo mi, porta. efficitur. ultricies