Mapping Rome's underground passageways

Recent discoveries such as the network of tunnels beneath the Roman Emperor Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, Italy, confirm the existence of a labyrinth of underground passageways in the area. Although these tunnels tell of a magnificent underground city, their empty spaces are a threat to the above structures.

According to Live Science, an increasing number of incidents of road and building collapses has been reported over the last three years. Attempts have been made to prevent such damages, including the use of 3-D lasers to scan the tunnels and a further mapping of the high-risk areas that geologists and geographic experts have started. "There might be cracks, so they will be showing as veins almost, or openings, so we map the openings and map any kind of detachment," Giuseppina Kysar Mattietti, a George Mason University geoscientist, explained. "What the municipality wants to do is to basically have a map of the risk so at that point they can on their side decide what kind of intervention needs to be done."