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This water intake is the most important and significant structure in this area. It was named after Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the very promoter of this great public work which was built in 1863, after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy and when Cavour was already dead. The construction was eventually completed in 1866.

This water intake is the main element of an extensive network of canals which have allowed the transformation and the development of a vast territory of about 741.000 acres over the centuries.
The main watercourse originates from the Po River in Chivasso and, flowing over the Dora Baltea River and the Farini canal runs across the entire Vercelli plain from south-west to north-east. It touches the Municipality of Greggio, goes under the Sesia River and enters the Novara area, thus receiving water from Ticino River. The canal ends its 53-mile course in the Municipality of Galliate.

During the construction of the canal, only bricks and stones were used: even today, it remains the largest hydraulic engineering work ever built in Italy.

The intake building, also known as the “entrance lock”, has two floors: it is as long as the width of the canal, 131 ft, and 26-ft wide; it is divided into 21 compartments measuring 4.9 ft each, repeated in two superimposed orders. Such compartments consist of jambs made with bare stone structured to contain three orders of gates (which used to be regulated manually, but are currently operated by electricity): two used for the normal water regulation service and the third one which would work only during repairs or maintenance of the first two.

The canal bed is paved for another 49 ft along its own shaft. Two draining ditches are part of the structure as well: the first one is intended to keep the building free from floating materials and logs coming from the river in the event of a flood; the second one allows the removal of the excess waters of the Po River.

The building and the system of canals in the areas of Vercelli, Novara and Pavia were managed by the General Administration of State Irrigation Channels until 1977; then, Piedmont and Lombardy Regions took care of them and have been managing the whole facility ever since.

The Cavour Canal water intake building is owned by Coutenza Canali Cavour (Novara, Tel. +39 0321 675211) and, therefore, it is not open to the public, but only on special occasions.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)