ITER - Magazzini del sale

Between 1950 and 1951, in Tortona, two salt warehouses were built after engineer Pier Luigi Nervi’s project on behalf of the Amministrazione Monopoli di Stato, which had reconverted a large ground, originally the premises of Anonima Ligure Fonderia Acciaio and had destined it to stock salt and raw tobacco.

Both buildings and the entire area were abandoned for a few years and are presently in poor condition; in fact, the springers connecting with the ground have been ruined by the chemical aggression of the sodium chloride.

By a decree dated March 30, 2004, the Piedmont Regional Superintendency for Cultural Heritage and Activities included the warehouses in the protection scheme established in Legislative Decree number 490 dated October 29, 1999; the resolution claims that the designer masters the use of reinforced concrete to solve static problems connected with specific functionalities of use and excels in the adoption of special executive systems that stand out for their inexpensiveness.

Presently, the warehouses and the entire area belong to the Monopoli di Stato and are managed by Fintecna, a company fully controlled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which is considering a global revitalization of the area.

This is a reinforced concrete work of great technical and architectural importance: two large, stretched rectangular plan industrial sheds, covered with a parabolic vault, which is 25 meters wide, 100 and 130 meters long respectively and 12 meters high at the top. The salt stocking was carried out from the top by a carrying cradle positioned on a platform on top of the parabolic arches and equipped with side openings.

“The structures form, at ground-level, a kind of portico on top of which a lintel closes the vault, which enhances the portals and the ribbed panels stretching between them. Outside, there are some shelters: they were used to protect the trains from bad weather during the salt loading and unloading operations. The internal space features an extraordinary quality: a kind of Renaissance-style gallery with approximately 100-meter-long and 20-meter-wide coffered ceilings, from whose top two shafts of light cut the indoor semidarkness (which is strongly reminiscent of Étienne Loius Bullée’s 1785 utopian project for the new National Library hall). The floor, covered with bricks, is shaped like a humpback, because salt was placed here in large heaps for drying up: this way, water could drain easily.”

From the static point of view, these sheds “are formed by a series of parabolic portals that transfer the weight to the ground through reinforced concrete, isolated foundation plinths, sloping to the floor level to contrast the thrust of the above-mentioned arches, which are interconnected by small size lengthwise beams. Nervi’s genius is confirmed once again: maximum technical and formal result with the minimum effort”.

(from Costruire, 197, p. 72)

Nervi’s salt warehouses are an integral part of a complex owned by the Monopoli di Stato consisting of some 15 industrial buildings, some of which, probably dating back to the late 19th century (made of supporting brick walls and covering supported by wooden roof trusses), may be considered significant instances of industrial archaeology because of their architectural quality.

The Salt warehouses were opened to the public in the FAI spring days of March 24 and 25, 2007; however, they cannot normally be accessed by the public. For information: FAI, Segreteria regionale Piemonte e Valle d’Aosta, via Dellala, 8, Torino, tel. 011-539212, fax 011-5611324, e-mail segreteriafaipiemonte@fondoambiente.it, www.fondoambiente.it.