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dry stone wall Magletsch

Realized:

2021

performed by:

Naturnetz Mobil

In the municipality of Wartau, a few kilometers northeast of Sargans in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley, is the Magletsch, an elevation of around 800 m above sea level in front of the Werdenberg. Due to its strategically favorable location, it was converted into an underground defense system at the beginning of the Second World War and is still under the care of the Swiss Army today. A little south of the highest point of the Magletsch, highly exposed and with a view to the south, there is a popular viewing point above a rock face around 20 meters high. To ensure the safety of visitors, a massive, around 25 meter long parapet wall was built along the edge of the rock an estimated 100 years ago. Built from local limestone, it became unstable over the years and was in a state of severe disrepair until recently. In a five-week project, Naturnetz renovated and extended the wall from the end of November to the end of December 2021 on behalf of Armasuisse.


First, the old masonry was dismantled to the highest points where it was still intact, according to a stability assessment carried out before construction began. In two places on the southern side, all material was removed down to the rock on which the wall is founded. In order to counteract the gradient and thus prevent the new wall from collapsing soon, it was necessary to adjust the subsoil there using a pick hammer. The stones from the old wall that had been dismantled were initially used for reconstruction. When these were used up, new stones were used, obtained from a nearby quarry and weighing a total of around 32 tonnes. Due to the difficult accessibility of the construction site for transport vehicles, the Swiss army dropped them off directly on site by helicopter in flexible bulk containers. When the southern side of the wall had been rebuilt to ground level, the free-standing part was erected. Free-standing masonry is a particular challenge, but one that was successfully mastered. Finally, the capstones were laid, which form the end of the wall. The new wall is 25 metres long, one metre high on the northern side and three metres high on the southern side, and tapers off gradually at both ends towards the ground level. The few remaining stones were used to create a stone lens to encourage the local occurrence of the endangered smooth snake.


A scaffolding drilled into the rock on the southern side of the wall, which had been erected by a scaffolding company, ensured safety during work above the abyss. A tunnel entrance from the World War era, located directly next to the construction site, was used to store tools and is home to the spiny cave grasshopper, an extremely rare and secretive species of grasshopper that, apart from the tunnels on the Magletsch, only occurs at one other location in Switzerland. Equipped with flashlights, they discovered it, along with cave weavers and cross spiders, in the cracks of the dark vault - a special experience.


In parallel with the construction of the wall, various woodland work was carried out over a two-week period. This included tending to the forest edges and hedges, clearing bushes, clearing a logging area and removing barbed wire and vegetation around old anti-aircraft positions from the Second World War.


Over the five weeks of construction, six civil servants were on duty every day. They devoted themselves to their task with great joy and dedication, braving sometimes harsh conditions; a period of bad weather in the second and third weeks with temperatures below freezing, snowfall and wind speeds of up to 80 km/h required a lot of perseverance. This was rewarded with sunshine and pleasant temperatures in the last two weeks. The construction site was successfully completed just before Christmas. The new dry stone wall not only serves optical and safety purposes, but is also a usable habitat for the local flora and fauna.

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