Saltina Bridge

In the 1993 storm disaster in Brig-Glis, the city centre and entire outer quarters were flooded, buried and totally destroyed by the Saltina. Prolonged rainfall as well as a high snow line caused the precipitation to fall not as snow but as rain on the already saturated ground and to run off quickly. The resulting flood waters developed such a force that volumes of bedload were moved and transported down to the valley. Due to the record values of 150 litres of water per m2 and 1.5 tonnes of bedload per second, the water dammed up at the Saltina bridge and then flooded both the inner city of Brig and the less densely built-up neighbourhoods in Glis. The disaster claimed two lives. The reconstruction of the city centre was completed extremely quickly in one year with an investment of around CHF 1 billion. The reconstruction of the city centre was completed extremely quickly in one year. Various protective measures were also taken along the Saltina (bank protection, bedload management in the Grindji, construction of a new type of lift bridge) and the Gamsa. In 2000, it was only thanks to these protective measures that flooding could be prevented again. Today, the municipality of Brig-Glis is, by human standards, safe from floods.