At the end of the 1800s, the energy produced by the water wheels on the Maestra Canal or on the canals flowing into the Leogra was no longer sufficient to move the machines of the imposing wool industry.
Alessandro Rossi had already absorbed the small wool factories in Schio some time before and at that time was extending his entrepreneurial horizon beyond the Schio area; he was multiplying the productive sectors by opening a whole range of occupations, and intervening as a Senator of the Realm to support an economic policyof protectionism: he saw industry as the only one real form of progress, however, in order to move the machines, another kind of energy was needed.
Therefore it was not surprising that the small companies and concerns connected with the canals were progressively dismantled, absorbed by the incessant requirements of industry; in this way, between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, a whole world connected with the courses of water patiently constructed by man physically disappeared.

Giovanni Rossi, son of Alessandro, purchased the water rights on all the artificial canals in the Leogra Valley, channelled the water from these through his penstocks to reach the sites of his power stations, to transform water energy into electric energy.
In 1901, the Lanerossi Power Stations which supplied the factories in Torrebelvicino, Pievebelvicino and Schio were the following: Bariola, 400 HP, Forno di Ressalto 400 HP, Ressalto new fall 150-300 HP, Ponte delle Capre 300 HP and Rillaro.
Later even the Cazzola Wool Mill provided for its own energy needs by purchasing water rights (Ceolati Hydroelectric Power Station , 1925) or used sites in the Maso Valley which were particularly favourable for the construction of the Chiumenti Power Station (1930).

Leaving from the north and following the course of the Leogra, first of all we come to the Cazzola Wool Mill Power Stations.

The waters of the Leogra, which are channelled(1) into penstocks in Contrà Penzi, fall heavily on the turbines of the Ceolati Hydroelectric Power Station(2).

Dated 1925 on the façade, the edifice is in excellent condition and has recently been restored. This consists of the body of a one-storey(3) factory next to a taller building, the water from the penstock reaches this from the north; the single-storey section has a large luminous hall thanks to the arched windows along the two façades, and contains the turbines and the most modern electronic equipment. The discharge water is channelled into a small cement canal with sluice-gates and cleaning grates, and it is not uncommon to see trout swimming there.

The canal continues across the fields towards the Chiumenti Hydroelectric Power Station(4), in the Maso Valley.
The condition of this edifice is also excellent: the recent restoration work has exploited the sober lines of this building(5), painted yellow and having the date of construction - 1930 - on the façade. The architectonic structure is similar to Ceolati: the factory is in two parts, one taller than the other; it has a spacious room(6) containing the De Pretto turbines(7), large arched windows, external headers feeding the water coming from the 1st Power Station to the turbines, and finally the outlet(8) directly into the Leogra.

The Ressalto Hydroelectric Power Station(9), owned by Lanerossi, is situated on the right-hand side of the Leogra, on the ancient site of a copper forge, and collects the waters channelled from the Sterpa, the Puja and the section of the Leogra known as ‘Valli’, to provide a total of 700 HP(10).
The complex(11) comprises various extended sections; the three dates on the façade(12) - 1880, 1895 and 1906 - refer to the construction and the subsequent enlargement of the ancient original building of which very little remains. The side facing the Leogra shows a series of large arched windows which continues along the north side, where the water from the duct enters the power station by means of the powerful headers(13) to reach the turbines(14). The same side is reached by the waters of the historical canal(15) which fed the ancient copper forge, owned by Giuseppe Mengotto, recorded as the ‘Mulino al Forno’ on the maps of the second half of the eighteenth century; the water rights were purchased by Rossi.
One part of the water discharged from the power station flows into the Leogra and another part winds along the right bank of the torrent underground as far as Ponte Nuovo on Trunk Road No. 46; the stretch which continues above ground from here to Asse is rather suggestive, after that it is channelled into an overhead duct to reach the second Lanerossi Hydroelectric Power Station situated near Ponte delle Capre.

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