Throughout the town of Cagli, in the streets or the piazza, strides the familiar figure of Romano Romanini. A tall, suave-looking man always dressed in slacks and a sweater, Romanini often stops to greet familiar faces. Though sociable and free with his time and attention, he still works as a full-time geologist.

Born in 1937 in Pescara, in the region of Abruzzo, Romanini moved to Pesaro when he was two because that’s where his father, an employee of a prominent insurance company, was transferred. A few years later, Romanini’s father was promoted to head insurance agent in Le Regione Marche.

After eighth grade, Romanini chose to further his interest in the sciences. He attended Collegio Sant ‘Arcangelo Liceo Scientifico, a private scientific high school in Fano, a town located about 10 kilometers from Pesaro. After graduating, he majored in geology at the University of Bologna. His thesis was a geological survey of the Trento area, focusing on the radioactivity of the Val Gardena sandstone.

Upon graduation, Romanini formed a geology partnership with a friend, but the business soon failed. Out of a job, he heard about an opening for a teaching position in math and science in Cantiano, about 20 minutes from Cagli. In 1964, he also taught in S. Sepolcro, Tuscany, as well as Cagli, but simultaneously continued his graduate studies in geology. In the early 1980s, Romanini opened his own private Studio di Geologia, adjacent to his home in Cagli.

From 1985 to 1994, Romanini served on the National Council of Geologists. In his third term, he was elected vice president.

In 1991, Romanini retired from teaching and has concentrated primarily on his consulting business, accepting contracts that called him to apply his knowledge of geology to engineering. He works with construction planners, who ask him to analyze the rock formations of the area and determine whether the land is stable enough for building projects. Other typical projects of his include hydrological research, foundation studies, quarry planning, and landslide renovation.

When a landslide covered Leontina Road in Tausano mountain on Oct. 18, 1969, in an area between San Marino and San Leo, Romanini applied his knowledge of the local geology to engineering and solved the problem.

Romanini was working in a private studio in Pesaro. The province of Pesaro had discovered the problem and asked him to join in the solution.

The land surrounding Leontina road had been saturated with water, and had begun to seep out. Over time, the excess water formed a small body similar to a lake. The surplus water pressed on the land, causing a landslide that fell over Leontina Road, pulling part of it into the Torrente Mazzocco River.

Because Leontina Road is as an important transportation route, the province of Pesaro reacted immediately. Romanini and a colleague analyzed the land from the landslide and concluded that the rock contained too much water. Together, they devised a plan to drain all the water and stop the landslide.

In the interim an off-road detour was opened. After two years, the landslide was stopped.
Romanini deems the experience, “my most important accomplishment because I helped devise a plan to fix a problem.” Fixing the landslide is an example of the way Romanini uses his education in geology as a consultant to solve regional engineering problems. This project, one of the first in Italy applying geology to engineering, made Romanini a pioneer in his field.

When presented with a problem, Romanini consults area geological maps. However, it takes more than maps to solve the problem.

“Geologic maps contain such small scales and these tools alone are not enough to do the job. Like an explorer of Africa, you begin with a map. But you must also go there to see exactly what you are going to find. Only when you can venture and study the structures, when you can touch, feel, and even smell them, can you begin to analyze them,” he said.

In a lab connected to his Studio di Geologia, Romanini analyzes rock samples. First, he weighs them in their natural form and dries the samples in an oven at 110∞ C from about four to seven hours. Then he weighs the dry samples and records their weight and water percentage, and tests their texture and particle composition. He looks for clues such as color, size of crystals, fossil formations, and the like. Finally, he draws his conclusions and proposes solutions.

“If you know the different animals that existed in various time periods, you can tell the age of the rock by looking at the fossils within it,” said Romanini.

“Man could always adapt to its environment but the ammonites (a 200 million-year-old species located in Gola del Burano), couldn’t; they became extinct and exist now as fossils of the land that once was.”

Romanini said Cagli contains the widest variety of rock categories in Italy, with the oldest ones about 200 million years old, mostly located in the region of Gola del Furlo, Gola del Burano, and in the Gola del Bosso.

“Everything in Cagli has already been discovered. I observe the types of rocks which exist here and work on jobs elsewhere when I am called. There have only been a few specific problems I have attended to in Cagli. One example is the study I participated in on Mount Petrano. It was a search for water in order to rebuild the national television tower because it fell.”

Millions of years ago, Mount Petrano was one large mountain, but now exists as an example of a geologic phenomenon of river and weather erosion.

Over time, the natural course of the river dug into the weakest spot in the rock, gradually eroding the bottom of the mountain.

Simultaneously, rain and wind pushed down on top of the mountain, causing similar erosion. Eventually, both the river and weather pushed hard enough to form two new separate mountains.

“If you look close enough, you will notice that the two pieces appear to fit together like a puzzle,” he said. “That’s how you know the truth of their history.”