Methodological critical issues for the assessment of the environmental impacts from transport of marble; a case study

The marble mining is very important for the Italian economy and has important traditions, especially in some areas of the Country. Among these, the area of the Dolomites in Val Venosta, located in Trentino, one of the North-East italian regions. In many cases, these quarries are very old and often are located in areas with high natural value. This work regards two quarries, which are located within an important national park. The need to reduce the environmental effects related to the traffic of trucks used for the transport of marble from the quarries to the processing plants, has led us to make assessments on the methodology to be applied. This paper presents the methodological approach identified to determine the best technical solution among several alternatives regarding the transport of marble. The validation of the methodology has its natural outlet in the application of a real case.