A mechanical hammer broke through the 2m thick diaphragm of the new Tenda tunnel between Italy and France on July 31, 2023.
The breakthrough is a significant milestone in the new 3.2km tunnel construction by the Edilmaco corporation. Anas and the Commissioner Structure, in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport Infrastructures and under the guidance of the Italian-French Intergovernmental Conference, are executing the construction works of the new Tenda tunnel, a remarkably complex construction site burdened by the vast damage caused by the Alex storm of October 2020, by the problems stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic and lastly by the very sharp rise in material costs.
The tunnel’s commencement to international traffic in an alternating one-way direction is anticipated by June 2024.
Simultaneously, the equipment for the 13 bypasses whose boring has already been finished, the concrete lining of the new tube (more than 1,500m on the Italy side and 300m on the French side), and the construction of the invert are advancing.
The preparatory works for the new bridge construction over the collapsed valley of the Rio della Ca’ are underway in France. Moreover, the tunnel adits are said to be transferred to converge on the new bridge.
The future of the historic tunnel could be re-discussed on 29 September in Rome, once the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) of the Southern Alps meets to approve the budget, which has gone from the primary EUR140 million to nearly EUR300 million.
The modernization of the historic tunnel is said to be completed by 2025, which could be disjoined from the Edilmaco contract and assigned to another firm, the third since the beginning of the construction site.
Further information on the project is available here and here.
